Apple asks Evi developers to make their app less Siri-like

UK-based developers True Knowledge have been warned that their Evi app faces removal from the App Store for being too similar to Siri. Speaking to TechCrunch, their CEO William Tunstall-Pedoe explained that an Apple representative had phoned and told the company they felt the app violated one of the App Store guidelines.

The guideline in question is 3.8, which states: “Apps which appear confusingly similar to an existing Apple product or advertising theme will be rejected”.

As you can see from the video above, while Evi does have some of the same features as Siri, it’s difficult to imagine somebody confusing the two. As a third-party app, Evi isn’t afforded the same level of system integration as Siri, so you can’t use it to set up reminders or add events to your calendar.

What Evi can do however, is look up British maps and businesses – which Siri can’t yet. It can also provide better results to questions like “How do I make apple pie?” – whereas Siri will ask you whether you would like to search the web for an answer – Evi gives you a list of links to different recipes.

According to The Verge, rather than simply pulling the app immediately, Apple are working with True Knowledge to alter its appearance and / or functionality. It will be interesting to see what changes are made.

If you fancy giving it a try, Evi costs just £0.69 ($0.99), and unlike Siri, is available for any iPhone, iPad or iPod touch running iOS 4.0 or later.