It’s been more than a decade since Apple announced its voice-assistant Siri. The trigger phrase for Siri also hasn’t changed since it was integrated with iOS. Today, Siri is available on every Apple product that runs on the company’s iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and iPadOS operating systems. It can be triggered by saying the phrase “Hey Siri”. According to a report, this is about to change. Apple is reportedly working to make the phrase with the word “Siri” much shorter, similar to how Amazon’s Alexa digital voice assistant works when using its Echo range of devices.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman writes in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter that Apple is working on an initiative to remove the word “Hey” from the “Hey Siri” phrase used to wake up Siri. This change may seem like a simple one, but Gurman explains that it is a technical challenge that will require Apple to invest a lot of time and effort in AI training.
According to Gurman, Apple has been working on this change for the past several months, but the ability to use shorter phrases won’t be launched anytime soon. He estimates that the company will launch support for this abbreviated command next year or the year after that. Apple is currently testing the new phrase among its employees to gather the necessary training data, he added, adding that the complexity arises from Siri being able to understand and act on the same phrase in multiple accents and dialects. Is. Allegedly this is easier to do with two words than one.
Gurman also noted that Apple is also making some other changes to its voice assistant that will allow it to offer deeper integration with third-party apps and services. He says the shorter phrase will also allow for a faster response.
It remains to be seen whether Apple will announce these improvements to Siri at this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). Expectations from the event are currently sky-high, with the tech giant expected to announce a brand new mixed reality headset along with new Mac models. Apple is also expected to unveil general updates for iOS, macOS, watchOS at its WWDC 2023 event which will begin on June 5 and end on June 9.
