Siri could become easier to summon in the future. Photo: Apple
Apple is working on changing the “Hey Siri” hotword to just plain “Siri,” and the change could roll out as early as next year.
Introduced in 2015 with the iPhone 6s, the “Hey Siri” hotword remains unchanged to this day. You also can use the phrase to invoke Apple’s voice assistant on the Mac, iPad, HomePod and Apple Watch.
Siri always interrupts at the wrong time. Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Ever since it was introduced in 2011, Apple’s Siri voice assistant can often drive you mad. As if Siri’s unhelpful answers were not irritating enough when you actually want them, Siri often interrupts a conversation, meeting or TV show when you haven’t asked for anything at all. How do you stop Siri from randomly activating?
Get alerts for alarms, door bells, dogs, appliances and more. Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
The other day I was walking with music blasting through my AirPods when I almost stepped in front of a speeding ambulance.
Luckily, the magical Sound Recognition feature on my iPhone was turned on and my AirPods recognized the wailing sirens. They silenced the music and piped the sirens into my ears instead, saving my bacon. It was amazing and quite magical.
Your iPhone can also listen and alert you for crying babies, running water, knocks on the door, barking dogs and more.
That seems like a lot of storage space for a monitor. Photo: Apple
Studio Display’s surprisingly powerful internals allow it to enable “Hey Siri” on a number of older Mac models that don’t usually support the feature — including the 2019 Mac Pro and several Mac mini variants.
Users also discovered that Studio Display has a surprisingly large (64GB) amount of internal storage. We already knew that it runs the same version of iOS 15.4 as iPhone, but still, all that space seems pretty overkill.
Changing the iPhone or iPad default email application is now possible. And easy. Graphic: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Apple just removed one of the biggest remaining restrictions from the iPhone and iPad. It’s finally possible to change the default email application in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 to something other than Apple Mail.
Making the change is easy. However, a current limitation will delay many people from taking immediate advantage of it.
Almost exactly like Powerbeats Pro, only $100 cheaper. Photo: Apple
Apple on Tuesday made its new Beats Powerbeats headphones official after a series of big leaks. The $149 wireless buds pack the same technology as Powerbeats Pro, including the newest H1 chip, and last up to 15 hours in between charges.
Icons for Apple’s unreleased over-the-ear headphones were spotted by 9to5Mac, revealing a few features about the headphones’ design as well as a possible timeframe on when they might launch to the public.
Powerbeats3 are in desperate need of an update. Photo: Apple
Apple’s newest iOS 13.3 update is out, spilling yet more secrets about upcoming products. New code reveals upgraded Powerbeats4 headphones could be on the way with “Hey Siri” support.
Apple is promising tons of innovation. Photo: Apple
A whole lot of innovation is in the offing for Apple’s biggest hardware event of the year. CEO Tim Cook recently promised that Apple will unleash its strongest product lineup ever, and next week’s “By Innovation Only” event could be just the tip of the iceberg.
Thanks to a glut of leaked info, we have a pretty solid idea about what new hardware to expect during the event. iPhones obviously will steal the spotlight, but Apple might unleash a few surprises as well.
This is what we think we’ll see during the 2019 iPhone keynote, which starts at 10 a.m. Pacific on September 10. Apple will live-stream it from the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park in Cupertino, California.
The recent controversy surrounding Siri recordings is headed for the courts. Photo: Apple
A class action lawsuit has been proposed to prevent Apple from recording Siri commands without users’ express consent. And the plaintiffs want restitution, of course.
Apple admits it made recordings of people talking to the Siri voice-control system to improve the system. As part of the process, some of these were listened to by humans.