Siri no longer requires ‘Hey’ command to activate, now has back-to-back requests

June 5, 2023

3 min read

Since iPhone 6s, users can talk to Siri hands-free just by saying the command “Hey Siri.” This command was later added to pretty much every Apple device, and became crucial for HomePod – Apple’s smart speaker. But now with iOS 17, macOS 14, and other updates, users no longer need to say “Hey Siri” to talk to the viral assistant.

A new command for Siri

With the latest versions of Apple’s operating systems introduced today, users no longer need to say “Hey Siri” to talk to the assistant. Instead, you just say “Siri…” and the assistant will start listening to you. This approach is similar to what Amazon does with its Echo devices, which only require you to say “Alexa…” to talk to the assistant.

With this change, Apple expects that talking to Siri will become more natural. But more than that, there’s another major update coming for Apple’s virtual assistant. That’s because Siri finally has back-to-back requests. This means that once you’ve activated Siri, you can ask for multiple requests without having to reactivate it.

As an example, you can say “Siri, text Emma I’m on my way” and then “Remind me to water the plants when I get home” without having to say “Siri” again.

No generative AI-based Siri

Unfortunately, for those who were expecting Apple’s response to generative AI like ChatGPT, Siri continues to work in the same old way. There are no signs that iOS 17 adds any kind of AI-generated responses to Siri. However, rumors suggest that the company is indeed working on this, but it should take longer before this technology goes public.

The new Siri experience is part of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma, and HomePod Software 17. These software are now available to developers as beta and will be released to the public this fall. A public beta is expected to be released by July. More details can be found on the Apple Developer website.