Apple announces you’ll no longer need to say ‘Hey, Siri’ to get the virtual assistant’s help

‘Hey, Siri.’

The iPhone’s pioneering digital assistant, Siri, developed by Stanford University research offshoot SRI International and acquired by Apple in 2010, will no longer require its signature salutation to be summoned to action, it was learned Monday at Apple’s
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annual developers conference WWDC in Cupertino, Calif.

Instead, according to Apple Insider and others, it will now, for those with the iOS 17 operating system installed, suffice to say “Siri.”

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Amazon’s
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virtual assistant is activated by either “Alexa” or “Hey, Alexa,” while Alphabet
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unit Google continues to require either a “hey” or an “OK” before the word Google is spoken, notes the Verge.

In addition to abbreviating the summoning phrase, Siri, built into Apple’s iOS, iPadOS, tvOS and other related operating-system variants, will now have the capacity to handle more than one assistance request at a time, Apple Insider reported.

Siri news from the MarketWatch archives:

Opinion: 3 ways Apple needs to improve Siri

Apple’s big push for iPhone, Siri in the car

Soon Siri won’t default to a female voice anymore

Apple to buy Pullstring in a bid to enhance Siri: report

In U.K., Apple users think new British Siri is bloody annoying

More about WWDC:

Apple could be gearing up for a ‘game changer’

Apple is gearing up for something it hasn’t done in 8 years

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