On Monday, Apple could reveal changes to Siri coming in iOS 17
In most all tests that this writer has seen, whenever Apple's digital assistant Siri goes up against Google Assistant, the results are like the Florida Panthers going up against your kid's pee-wee hockey team. Google Assistant thrashes Siri when it comes to understanding queries and tasks and delivers more accurate results. Yeah, this is sad considering that Apple had an advantage when it introduced Siri in the iPhone 4s back in 2011.
But if a tweet from Bloomberg's top man on the Apple beat, Mark Gurman, is correct, on Monday Apple will take Siri ahead of Google in one important way. Instead of using the "Hey Siri" wake phrase to activate Siri, in iOS 17 users will just have to say "Siri" to get the old gal ready to take on your tasks, requests, and queries. Gurman, to his credit (although we will have to wait until after Monday's WWDC Keynote to get the confirmation from Apple), originally mentioned this last November.
Watch the WWDC live stream this Monday from the Apple channel on YouTube
Alas, this isn't something that Apple can claim as a "first." While the Cortana mobile app is no longer supported by Microsoft, in 2018 the company did change the "Hey Cortana" wake phrase to "Cortana." And of course, Amazon's Alexa is activated by saying "Alexa." The Google Assistant is summoned by saying "Hey Google" or "Ok Google." But considering that "Google" is a verb besides being a noun ("Google Matthew Tkachuk," for example), we might not see Google follow this path.
Gurman previously said that Apple needed to use two words to awaken Siri since it increased the chances that the signal would be received. "The complexity involves Siri being able to understand the singular phrase 'Siri' in multiple different accents and dialects. Having two words – 'Hey Siri' – increases the likelihood of the system properly picking up the signal," Gurman wrote.
Mark Gurman says that Apple might announce a big change to Siri on Monday
In addition to taking the "Hey" out of "Hey Siri," Apple could announce a change to Siri's interface in iOS 17. Tipster @analyst941 said back in April that in iOS 17 the Siri interface will move from the bottom of the screen to the Dynamic Island. Considering that all four iPhone 15 models are expected to sport the shape-shifting, multitasking, notifications system, this tip could be legit. It would prevent Siri from blocking some of the lower portions of an iPhone screen and streamline the assistant's responses.
WWDC takes place this coming Monday, June 5th, starting at 10 am PDT/1 pm EDT. You can watch the action as it is streamed live on the Apple Developer app (tap on the WWDC tab at the bottom of the screen). Or, you can watch the live stream from the Apple channel on YouTube. With the latter, you can tap to be notified when the Keynote starts.
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