Apple is dropping its trigger phrase ‘Hey Siri!’ Here’s what’s next

According to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, if all goes according to plan, the change from Hey Siri to Siri could be rolled out next year or the year after. Apple has reportedly made the change to the trigger phrase for its employees and is collecting the necessary training data.

While the move to drop Hey from the trigger phrase may seem like a small change, it will require a lot of AI training and engineering work, as the virtual assistant needs to understand different dialects and accents, and decreasing the number of trigger words reduces the chances of the system picking up on the user prompt.

The change in trigger words will bring Siri in line with Amazon’s Alexa. Unlike other virtual assistants on the market, users only need to use the prompt ‘Alexa’ or ‘Hey Alexa’ to wake up the virtual assistant. Microsoft had also made the switch for Cortana from ‘Hey Cortana’ to ‘Cortana’ for its smart speakers in 2018.

Apple is planning to make a lot of changes to iPhones with the new iOS 17 operating system. iOS 17 is widely anticipated to be announced at Apple’s annual developer’s conference WWDC. The expected changes include a new journalling app, adding a Mood Tracker to the health app, a revamped Control Center, increased functionality for Dynamic Island and new features for Apple Music.

During the event, Apple is expected to announce the launch of the MacBook Air 13-inch and MacBook Air 15-inch. The company is also expected to unveil its much-anticipated Mixed Reality headset along with the new xrOS.

Updated: 04 Jun 2023, 08:53 AM IST