APPLE

She Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken Unless You Say “Hey”

Was it that hard to say?

Everything I’ve read about the new IOS 17 Siri that will respond to both “Siri” and “Hey Siri” seems to be positive and welcoming. Apparently prefacing with “Hey” was quite onerous for the people now praising its demotion to being optional. You’d think that before this you had to say “Begging your pardon, Siri, but would you please” before every request.

Well, now you will have to be more careful when you talk about Siri. That is, when you invoke her name without wanting any response. This was easy in the olden days because you’d have to accidentally say “Hey Siri” and that’s pretty easy to avoid.

Apple did apparently think about this. I’ve found that Siri won’t light up when her name is buried betwixt words. Saying “I want to ask Siri something about turning on a light” is safe. Putting her name last — “Apple really needs to improve Siri” — also won’t get her attention.

Siri at the beginning of a sentence will always get her attention — the “I’m listening icon” will appear — but in most cases she’ll realize you weren’t talking to her and it will fade away.