Apple is Working to Drop the 'Hey' in 'Hey Siri' [Gurman]

Apple is working to drop the 'Hey' from the 'Hey Siri' command used to launch its digital personal assistant, reports Mark Gurman.

The company is working on an initiative to drop the "Hey in the trigger phrase so that a user only needs to say "Siri"—along with a command. While that might seem like a small change, making the switch is a technical challenge that requires a significant amount of AI training and underlying engineering work.

Having a two word trigger phrase makes it much easier for Apple to correctly identify command requests. However, a single word trigger, like 'Alexa' used by Amazon, allows users to speak to the assistant in a more natural way.


Gurman also says that Apple has plans to further integrate Siri into third party services.

Apple has also been engineering further changes. It will integrate the voice assistant deeper into third-party apps and services and improve its ability to understand users and take the correct course of action.

Apple has yet to introduce a rival to the popular Echo Show devices now found in many homes. Furthermore, the company has dropped support for iPad as a home hub for its new Home architecture. While there are rumors that Apple could introduce a standalone device that combines an iPad with a speaker, or even a docking station accessory for iPad, we've yet to see any evidence of an imminent release.

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