Apple is preparing to resolve an annoying problem that has affected its users since the introduction of the “Hey Siri” command with iOS 8. The Cupertino company is currently developing a solution to prevent the voice assistant from triggering unexpectedly during streaming advertisements on television.
A solution based on Shazam
The new “AdBlocker” framework, spotted in the beta version of tvOS 18.2, uses audio recognition technology from Shazam, purchased by Apple in 2018. The system will download audio fingerprints from Apple’s servers and compare them to sounds captured by the microphones of the devices. When a match is detected, Siri voice commands will be temporarily disabled.
For now, this feature has only been spotted in tvOS 18.2, which suggests that Apple wants to deploy it first on its HomePod connected speakers. This decision follows in particular an incident that occurred in 2019, where an advertisement for AirPods triggered users’ HomePods en masse. The update should be available in December, along with other new features such as support for different display formats for Apple TV.
This development demonstrates Apple’s desire to improve the user experience of its voice assistant, while relying on the audio recognition technologies acquired with Shazam. The system also respects user privacy since audio data is not shared with Apple.
At this time, it is unclear whether this update will only affect English or possibly other languages. Likewise, it is no longer necessary to say “Hey Siri” but only “Siri” and it is also unclear whether Apple’s patch will cover the single word Siri. In French this problem is even more restrictive with the word Siri often confused with the words “Syria” or “sawmill” and which tend to trigger the voice assistant. See you in December to see if the problem is definitively resolved.
