Yes, you’ll be able to keep ‘Hey Siri’ as Siri’s only trigger phrase

Not everyone was thrilled with the news that Apple’s iOS 17 software would drop the need to say “Hey” before Siri’s trigger phrase, but if you’re in that camp, you can relax.

According to 9to5Mac, Siri users will be able to keep “Hey Siri” as Siri’s sole trigger phrase following the arrival of iOS 17, a relief to those of us wary of waking Siri unintentionally.

The developer beta of iOS 17, which is now widely available after Apple chose to drop the usual $99 developer’s fee, has revealed exactly how Siri’s trigger phrase options will work under the forthcoming version of iOS.

As 9to5Mac details, there will be three options for Siri’s trigger phrases. The first option is either “Hey Siri” or just “Siri,” while the second option is only “Hey Siri.” The third option is no trigger phrase at all, meaning you’d need to manually wake Siri with a button press.

You’ll find the Siri trigger phrase options under the “Siri and Search” menu, and once you install iOS 17, the first option (both “Hey Siri” and “Siri”) will be selected by default, 9to5Mac reports.

It’s not a huge surprise that Apple will allow users to continue using just the “Hey Siri” trigger phrase once iOS 17 arrives, but it’s a relief nonetheless.

Anyone with an Amazon Echo speaker at home knows the aggravation of waking Alexa by accident, either because Alexa misheard the wake word or because you happened to mention Alexa in passing.

It’s a lot harder to accidentally wake a voice assistant when you have to say “Hey” first, as is the case with Google Assistant (“Hey Google”) and Siri.

While it’s all well and good to have the option of dropping “Hey” from the “Hey Siri” trigger phrase, I’m glad that keeping “Hey Siri” as the sole wake word is still a thing, and that’s what I’ll be doing.

Apple announced the upcoming ability to drop “Hey” from the “Hey Siri” trigger phrase during its WWDC keynote on Monday. 

Besides serving up more options for the Siri trigger phrase, iOS 17 will also allow for back-to-back Siri voice commands without having to use the wake word again.

iOS 17 is expected to arrive this fall.