Apple is planning a major overhaul of its voice assistant Siri. While you currently have to say “Hey Siri” to activate the hands-free assistant, that may not be the case for much longer. According to Bloomberg, Apple engineers are planning to remove the “Hey” from “Hey Siri,” so that users will only need to say “Siri” followed by a command.
See also: Apple: A 'small portion' of iPhones record interactions with Siri
Siri is a voice assistant that was first introduced on the iPhone 4s in 2011. Since then, Siri has become an integral part of the Apple ecosystem, appearing on the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, HomePod, and even the company's AirPods.
Siri can do a lot of different things. She can answer general questions, like “What’s the weather like today?” or “What’s the capital of France?” She can also perform specific tasks, like sending a text message or setting a timer. And thanks to integration with apps , Siri can do even more – book a table at a restaurant, call a taxi, or play your favorite song from Spotify.
See also: Siri no longer rates Apple Music songs in iOS 15
In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter , Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that solving this issue requires a lot of AI training and engineering. According to sources, Apple has been working on it for a few months and is expected to launch it either next year or 2024. It all depends on how development and testing go by then.
Apple is implementing this change through employees and collecting the necessary training data for further review. One challenge is teaching Siri to recognize the wake word in many different accents and dialects.
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In addition to these developments, Apple is also working on further integrating Siri into other apps and services. According to a Bloomberg report, the new update will allow the voice assistant to better understand users and take appropriate actions, integrating it more deeply into third-party apps and services.
Apple's recent decision to change Siri's wake-up phrase probably won't come as a surprise. If Google does this, it would be similar to Amazon, where all you need to say is "Alexa" instead of "Hey Alexa." Plus, it would give Apple an advantage over Google, where the wake-up phrase is "Hey Google" or "OK Google."
