With iOS 9, 'Hey Siri' gains a new setup process tailored to your voice
Starting with next week's launch of iOS 9, users will be prompted to speak a series of commands once enabling "Hey Siri," making the intelligent personal assistant more adept at understanding a person's unique voice.
Upon installing the golden master of iOS 9, "Hey Siri" functionality is turned off. If users delve into the Settings app, under General and then Siri, and turn "Hey Siri" back on, their device will begin a setup process.
Apple informs users that the new setup will help Siri to recognize their voice when using they "Hey Siri" command.
For current devices, "Hey Siri" requires the iPhone or iPad to be plugged into power. But with the forthcoming iPhone 6s series, as well as the iPad Pro, "Hey Siri" will be always listening, thanks to the M9 coprocessor built in to the A9 CPU.
Setting up "Hey Siri" is a simple, five-step process where users must speak a number of commands. If the iPhone or iPad does not properly hear the user, they are instructed to speak again.
Users say the words "Hey Siri" three times, then "Hey Siri, how's the weather today?" followed by "Hey Siri, it's me." Once this is completed, iOS 9 informs the user that "Hey Siri" is ready to use.
Previously, in iOS 8, "Hey Siri" was enabled without a setup process. On occasion, the voice-initiated function would not work properly and took multiple tries. Presumably Apple's new setup process will address some of those issues from iOS 8.
Users will be able to test out the new and improved "Hey Siri" when iOS 9 launches to the public next Wednesday, Sept. 16. Always-on Siri support will debut in the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus when they launch on Sept. 25, while support for the iPad Pro will arrive when the jumbo-sized tablet debuts in November.
Upon installing the golden master of iOS 9, "Hey Siri" functionality is turned off. If users delve into the Settings app, under General and then Siri, and turn "Hey Siri" back on, their device will begin a setup process.
Apple informs users that the new setup will help Siri to recognize their voice when using they "Hey Siri" command.
For current devices, "Hey Siri" requires the iPhone or iPad to be plugged into power. But with the forthcoming iPhone 6s series, as well as the iPad Pro, "Hey Siri" will be always listening, thanks to the M9 coprocessor built in to the A9 CPU.
Setting up "Hey Siri" is a simple, five-step process where users must speak a number of commands. If the iPhone or iPad does not properly hear the user, they are instructed to speak again.
Users say the words "Hey Siri" three times, then "Hey Siri, how's the weather today?" followed by "Hey Siri, it's me." Once this is completed, iOS 9 informs the user that "Hey Siri" is ready to use.
Previously, in iOS 8, "Hey Siri" was enabled without a setup process. On occasion, the voice-initiated function would not work properly and took multiple tries. Presumably Apple's new setup process will address some of those issues from iOS 8.
Users will be able to test out the new and improved "Hey Siri" when iOS 9 launches to the public next Wednesday, Sept. 16. Always-on Siri support will debut in the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus when they launch on Sept. 25, while support for the iPad Pro will arrive when the jumbo-sized tablet debuts in November.
Comments
This is the future if you want your digital personal assistance to respond only to your voice. I'd like Apple to take this even further with better training for people with different accents or even speak impediments so the system knows your speech pattern for every phoneme.
cirrus Logic new smart audio codec with voice processing embedded software.
In addition the 6S and 6S Plus have a fourth microphone so if you lay your phone down or it's in a purse, etc it is more likely to not have all Mic's blocked.
Earlier models do not have the latest cirrus logic hardware and require the device to be plugged in to avoid draining the battery
Alexa has it (below), I think from day one. It also allows you to see any previous command you've made so you can let Amazon know if it was accurate or not. Apple wants things to "just work" but some things do need to get to know your patterns before they do work well so I'm glad we're seeing Apple come partway on this with 'Hey, Siri.'
I'm not sure this will work in that direction with your son's name, but I guess give it a shot…
That's a disappointment, I had thought the necessity of training voice recognition systems was a thing of the past.
Also recall that Hey Siri on the 6s is running continuously on a low power processor. Speaker independent voice recognition is harder = more computation = more power consumption.
This is the future if you want your digital personal assistance to respond only to your voice. I'd like Apple to take this even further with better training for people with different accents or even speak impediments so the system knows your speech pattern for every phoneme.
Do you think it's a security ("my voice is my password") type thing? I was assuming it was just a learning thing.
If it's just a learning thing then it needn't be the future, because people are capable of meeting new people and understanding them right away with no training, so there must be some way to do it, which we will presumably learn how to program eventually.
I work with those every day, and if this is so it's the first I'm hearing about it.
I work with those every day, and if this is so it's the first I'm hearing about it.
Siri in iOS 8 does not require training, you just pick it up and start using it. The last time I had to train a voice recognition system would have been at least 5 years ago, a Dragon product I believe. I thought it was unnecessary now.
cirrus Logic new smart audio codec with voice processing embedded software.
In addition the 6S and 6S Plus have a fourth microphone so if you lay your phone down or it's in a purse, etc it is more likely to not have all Mic's blocked.
Earlier models do not have the latest cirrus logic hardware and require the device to be plugged in to avoid draining the battery
Cmon, it probably wants to isolate your voice from other voices. You don't want strangers to route bridge functions to engineering and lock it from the bridge if they gain access to your command codes.
1) I'm not sure you understand my post. YOUR device listening to YOUR voice can't possibly know all the different aspects of YOUR particular speech patterns until you speak to it. I suppose Apple could just have it learn slowly over time, but that would mean an extended duration where the always-on 'Hey, Siri' will respond to anyone's voice.
2) Biometrics for security are not the best way to ensure security. Only when they are done in lieu of no security because they are still convenient is where they shine. Note that Touch ID will not work until you input your memorized passcode if you restart your device or have too many failed attempts with Touch ID, too much time has passed between uses, or you send a remote lockdown to your device.
I'd like the ability to tell Siri how to dictate when making messages. For instance, my son is named Jax, yet Siri always writes Jacks. Or, certain towns, like Temecula when trying to get directions, Siri doesn't understand what I say but when Siri says it she pronounces it Tem e cula. They sound the same/similar but it would be great if I could tell Siri to change how it's written.
I wish Siri, and auto spell correction for that matter, could work within a bilingual environment. For me, I type messages and emails in English and Spanish and it is a pain to have to switch the languages in the settings. There should be a setting with checkboxes to select which languages you use. There are many people who use more than one language, like half the population of Europe and perhaps a third of us in Southern California. Most business people around the world use English as a second language.
Most of the time I use email to communicate with our other offices around the world, however, I needed to call our Japanese office awhile back. The receptionist answered the phone in Japanese naturally, but as soon as I said 'Hello' she switched to absolutely perfect English with no accent whatsoever. That is the type of digital assistant I need.
That's a disappointment, I had thought the necessity of training voice recognition systems was a thing of the past.
Not at all. With the millions of iPhones in the wild and the millions of potential users saying "Hey Siri", why wouldn't you want Siri to learn that it's you? This perfectly addresses some concerns that somebody could obtain other's personal info by asking Siri to call or text a certain number.
I'd like the ability to tell Siri how to dictate when making messages. For instance, my son is named Jax, yet Siri always writes Jacks. Or, certain towns, like Temecula when trying to get directions, Siri doesn't understand what I say but when Siri says it she pronounces it Tem e cula. They sound the same/similar but it would be great if I could tell Siri to change how it's written.
You can. Simply tell Siri. That's not how you spell Jax. Also, if Jax is a contact, it will take the spelling from there.
Cmon, it probably wants to isolate your voice from other voices. You don't want strangers to route bridge functions to engineering and lock it from the bridge if they gain access to your command codes.
That's true. Especially if they then lock you out with a nasty password like 17346721476C3278977763T732V731171888732476789764376.