When the new iPad was showcased at the beginning of the month Apple also announced the immediate availability of the iOS 5.1 operating system for its mobile devices. With the updated software it seems that the iOS 5.1 update brings better Yelp integration to Siri.
Apple announced that with iOS 5.1 Siri would now support Japanese, but it seems that wasn’t the only Siri based enhancement Apple made with the new operating system. Siri has always returned Yelp rated businesses from a number of user’s queries, and tapping those didn’t always take you to the Yelp application, but according to an article 9To5 Mac it does now.
The new functionality was even noted by Yelp themselves who announced the news via its official blog. It stated when users now search for local businesses Siri will provide Yelp reviewed listings, and by simply tapping them it will take users directly to the Yelp business profile page.
This will mean users will now have quicker access to Yelp review highlights, phone numbers, hours of operation, address, quick tips, and much more. To some this may not seem as much of a move by Apple, but it seems the company is now willing to allow Siri to gather information from third party applications, so going forward we could see the likes of Facebook and Twitter getting in on the Siri action.
For users that don’t have the Yelp application installed on their iPhone 4S, tapping on a Yelp listing via Siri takes them to the App Store for it to be downloaded. Below you can see a video of Siri in action with Yelp. Do you have the Yelp application installed on your handset?