Apple's 'Hey Siri' Feature in iOS 9 Uses Individualized Voice Recognition

[mr.steevo]

I guess I'm the only one here who is creeped out by knowing my phone is listening to my environment all the time.

 

[2457282]

Because it has a new M chip. Without it your battery would be dead in a couple of hours.

Don't think so. The new M9 coprocessor probably has some kind of connection to the mic which the M7/M8 does not have and therefore would kill your battery.

Was wondering about this myself. Are you two sure about this or is this just a guess? It makes sense, but I have not found anything from Apple to validate this.

In any case, I do hope this helps when in noisy situations.

 

[2457282]

I guess I'm the only one here who is creeped out by knowing my phone is listening to my environment all the time.

NSA was already doing that.

 

[KJL3000]

Problem of user distinction solved, device distinction still a problem:

If I have two devices with hey Siri activated in the same area, both react... A possible solution would be that if two devices (with same iCloud account) get activated by the voice command, each one would give that information to the other devices before Siri reacts, and then determine the nearest by the voices level each device receives. Then only the nearest could respond.

Another option, instead of voice level detection could be to let Siri ask you on each device simultaneously which one was meant by asking for the device type (iPad, iPhone, etc...): "On what device do you want to ask me something?" - "iPad"

A last idea would be to let Siri ask first from the nearest device "did you mean me?" If users answers "yes", the user could go on with further commands on that device, or if he answers "no", the next device would ask the same question and so on ...

Just a thought, but maybe I am the only one with this "problem"

 

[displayblock]

Because it has a new M chip. Without it your battery would be dead in a couple of hours.

Nah. Jailbreakers have already demonstrated that with UntetheredHeySiri, the 6 and 6+ only lose about 30 minutes of battery life. Yes, it drains your battery more than not having it, but not to the point where your phone is dead after 2 hours sitting in your pocket. Also disproves the theory that the new M chip has a hardware tie to the microphone that prevents the 6/6+ from having the feature. A little disclaimer about slight battery drain is all it'd take on the 6/6+ for it to be a stock feature. https://github.com/hamzasood/UntetheredHeySiri

 

[NightFox]

Problem of user distinction solved, device distinction still a problem:

If I have two devices with hey Siri activated in the same area, both react... A possible solution would be that if two devices (with same iCloud account) get activated by the voice command, each one would give that information to the other devices before Siri reacts, and then determine the nearest by the voices level each device receives. Then only the nearest could respond.

Another option, instead of voice level could be to let Siri ask you on each device simultaneously (also if there's more then one device getting triggered), which one was meant by asking for the device type (iPad, iPhone, etc...)

A last idea would be to let Siri ask first from the nearest device "did you mean me?" If users answers "yes", the user could go on with further commands on that device, or if he answers "no", the next device would ask the same question and so on ...

Just a thought, but maybe I am the only one with this "problem"

Or just use your normal voice with one, a high-pitched chipmunk voice with the other. Sorted.

 

[Jason83]

Why isn't this on the 6? Absolutely no reason other than to up sell the 6s

Feel free to drain your battery always listening for Hey Siri without the M9.

 

[MrGimper]

Because it has a new M chip. Without it your battery would be dead in a couple of hours.

Whilst this is Apple's explanation, in layman's terms it doesn't follow.... Always-On Hey Siri is due to the M9 being built into the A9 and not a separate chip, so it's more power efficient (apparently). Surely a tiny separate M chip being powered up all the time is more efficient than the whole A9 being on? Especially as it's on anyway, responding to the accelerometer etc to log movement data while the phone is off.

 

[2457282]

Problem of user distinction solved, device distinction still a problem:

If I have two devices with hey Siri activated in the same area, both react... A possible solution would be that if two devices (with same iCloud account) get activated by the voice command, each one would give that information to the other devices before Siri reacts, and then determine the nearest by the voices level each device receives. Then only the nearest could respond.

Another option, instead of voice level could be to let Siri ask you on each device simultaneously (also if there's more then one device getting triggered), which one was meant by asking for the device type (iPad, iPhone, etc...)

A last idea would be to let Siri ask first from the nearest device "did you mean me?" If users answers "yes", the user could go on with further commands on that device, or if he answers "no", the next device would ask the same question and so on ...

Just a thought, but maybe I am the only one with this "problem"

This is similar to getting a phone call and getting the ring on the watch, phone, ipad, and mac all at the same time. although that may be worse since it totally drives me crazy. And when I answer I have to wait for a second or two for all the other devices to shut up (this has gotten better - it use to be several long seconds).

 

[anthonymoody]

6/6+ - Needs to be plugged in
6s/6s+ - Any time

Exactly. This new set up process exists for the 6/6+ (had to do it on my 6+) but Always On doesn't work on the 6/6+.

 

[NightFox]

Whilst this is Apple's explanation, in layman's terms it doesn't follow.... Always-On Hey Siri is due to the M9 being built into the A9 and not a separate chip, so it's more power efficient (apparently). Surely a tiny separate M chip being powered up all the time is more efficient than the whole A9 being on? Especially as it's on anyway, responding to the accelerometer etc to log movement data while the phone is off.

The M9 could still be active without the A9 cores, even if it's part of the A9 which is effectively a whole computer on a chip rather than just a power-consuming CPU.

 

[MrMoonUK]

A new chip doesn't give you hey siri, it's just programming the phone to listen, I'm calling horse **** on the reasons being m9 they just didn't want to give it to anyone else to encourage upgrades

 

[NightFox]

This is similar to getting a phone call and getting the ring on the watch, phone, ipad, and mac all at the same time. although that may be worse since it totally drives me crazy. And when I answer I have to wait for a second or two for all the other devices to shut up (this has gotten better - it use to be several long seconds).

OT but yes, phone calls used to be embarrassing whilst I had to wait for all my devices to stop ringing, but I agree this seems to have got better recently, perhaps with El Capitane betas.

 

[mejsric]

A new chip doesn't give you hey siri, it's just programming the phone to listen, I'm calling horse **** on the reasons being m9 they just didn't want to give it to anyone else to encourage upgrades

always on siri is available on jailbreak... i tried it.. and it kills my battery... It makes your iPhone always hot to..

 

[NightFox]

A new chip doesn't give you hey siri, it's just programming the phone to listen, I'm calling horse **** on the reasons being m9 they just didn't want to give it to anyone else to encourage upgrades

The problem is that with the 6, the processor had to be active all the time to listen out for "hey Siri" - it physically wasn't something the M8 could do as M8 had no direct connection to the microphone. The M9, however, would appear to have direct access to the Mic so the processor doesn't have to be involved and can therefore remain in a lower power state.

I'm not disputing what some people are saying that you could achieve the same end result in the 6 with additional battery drain, but that's not the same as saying this could be done solely with the M8 in the 6 if that's what you're suggesting.

 

[KJL3000]

Or just use your normal voice with one, a high-pitched chipmunk voice with the other. Sorted.

I was thinking of that, too! Nice workaround! LOL

 

[nagromme]

I worry that my voice is too "neutral" to help, but then I remember that I can do a pretty decent Inspector Clouseau. Problem solved!

 

[blackcrayon]

Happened here! Was watching Netflix and I forget what show, but I believe they mentioned Siri and of course she turned on

I was watching the Keynote in my car via HDMI & power, (parked waiting for a bus) and when Phil Schiller was demoing the iPhone 6s, he said "Hey Siri" and of course my keynote video stopped and Siri came up. then I exited Siri, got the stream to continue... Then he said it again! Stopped my video again, exited Siri, refreshed the video

I was hoping they might allow changing the "command word"... "Yo Siri" "OK Siri" "Attention Siri" I don't know,,,

 

[Soccertess]

This is a fantastic feature!

I wonder why Apple didn't announce this feature, maybe because Motorola came out with it first? I'm happy it has come to iOS though!!!

 

[QuarterSwede]

This is a fantastic feature!

I wonder why Apple didn't announce this feature, maybe because Motorola came out with it first? I'm happy it has come to iOS though!!!

They did announce it. Right in the keynote. Even mentioned the M9 as the reason it works well with battery drain.

 

[Mac 128]

Why not announce this feature? iOS9 is days away, they just showed off the new hardware, seems silly to not even mention it.

Just because it's in the beta doesn't mean it will make it into the shipping OS, if it's not working properly at launch. My guess is it's not quite ready for prime time, however vital such a feature is to address the problems of always on Siri operation.

 

[rfahey79]

my iPhone 6 requires my phone to be plugged in for Hey Siri to work. Guess the cordless version is a 6S perk only. Strange that Apple didn't make mention to wether the 6S Plus had optical image stabilization? Or maybe they removed that?


EDIT: Tech Specs section specifies 6S+ only.

 

[AngerDanger]

Hmm, this all seems vaguely familiar…

Between that and Pokémon GO, iOS is shaping up to become slightly nostalgic for '00s gammers.

 

[odedia]

Great. Solves the problem I have when someone in a podcast says "hey Siri".

 

[Serban]

i hope will work only with your voice and accent..i hope this will be used and put in iOS only if deny others around you who said Hey Siri