One of the key differences between the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S is the availability of Siri on the newer smartphone. There have been a few hacks and allegedly legal options that put Siri on older versions of the iPhone, but nothing officially sanctioned by Apple.
The latest Siri workaround comes from iOS hackers Grant Paul, known as chpwn, and Ryan Petrich. In a recent blog post, the duo unveiled Spire, which is a "new tool for installing Siri on previously unsupported, but jailbroken, devices," Paul said.
The 100MB download is available via Cydia and it will add Siri to any device running iOS 5.
If that sounds a bit too good to be true, though, it is. Actually getting Siri to work on a device other than the iPhone 4S will require some technical know-how.
"Apple still requires authorization to use Siri, so information from an iPhone 4S is still required," Paul wrote. "To insert this information, Spire allows you to enter your own proxy server address. I've put up a list of my ideas on how you might get access to a proxy; hopefully you can figure something out."
Why release it without a proxy? "Apple has made it very likely impossible to defeat the authorization requirement," Paul wrote. "I reverse engineered it, and it does not appear possible to connect Siri to the cloud without information from an iPhone 4S."
If you already have an iPhone 4S, you can use that, Paul said. "This is simple; you can just use the above proxy yourself."
You can also tap into a friend's device. "Then, you can share the authentication," he continued. "Or, maybe you gave your relative your old iPhone when you got your iPhone 4S: now you can share your token and give them Siri."
Down the line, it's possible that there will be a way to pay for space on a Siri proxy, Paul speculated. "I haven't seen anything like this yet, but I'll keep my eye out, and I would encourage anyone who is interested to set something like this up," he wrote.
For more, see Siri is Dumb. There, We Said It as well as 30 Questions and Commands for Siri and Siri, Are You Anti-Abortion?