According to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is seeking to replace “Hey Siri” with the word “Siri.” This means that to activate the smart assistant, all you would need to say is “Siri” followed by a command.
What’s New?
According to Gurman, Apple has been working on this feature for a while and is planning to release it either in 2019 or 2024.
To make the feature work effectively, Apple will need to invest in “substantial AI training and underlying engineering effort,” as the smart assistant would need to comprehend the single wake word in a variety of accents and dialects.
The two-word trigger phrase “Hey Siri” makes Siri more likely to recognize it.
What’s More?
Since Alexa from Amazon currently allows users to activate the smart assistant by saying “Alexa” rather than “Hey Alexa,” switching to a single wake word could help Siri stay up with Alexa.
Additionally, it would put Siri ahead of Google Assistant, which needs to be activated by saying “Ok Google” or “Hey Google” (although you don’t need to repeat the wake word while speaking consecutive requests).
Before discontinuing the voice assistant last year, even Microsoft changed the smart speaker command “Hey Cortana” to “Cortana.”
Digging Into More Details
There will be other changes to Siri in addition to the shorter trigger phrase. Gurman claims that Apple might enhance Siri’s comprehension and processing of user queries while also further integrating it into third-party apps and services.
The voice assistant recently received some minor updates from Apple, including the addition of a new voice recorded by a member of the LGBTQ+ community and a new Siri activation sound.
