Siri Gets Smarter: No More ‘Hey’ Needed in iOS 17
In a surprising update from Apple WWD on June 5, 2023, the tech giant has decided to drop the “hey” from “Hey Siri” in its latest iOS 17 update. This means that users no longer need to use the introductory phrase when interacting with Apple’s smart assistant via voice commands. This change is seen as a small but significant improvement to the operating system’s user experience.
This move by Apple follows a similar decision made by Amazon a few years ago, where they removed the need for the “Hey” greeting from Alexa. Google, on the other hand, still requires users to say “hey” or “okay” before issuing commands to its smart assistant, possibly due to the frequency of the term “Google” being used in everyday conversations.
The change in Siri’s interaction protocol is just one of the many new features introduced in iOS 17. Apple’s decision to drop the “hey” from “Hey Siri” is seen as a step towards making interactions with the smart assistant more natural and seamless. It remains to be seen how this change will be received by users and whether other tech companies will follow suit.