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Hey Siri: Activate Siri With Your Voice | iPadOS 17 Guide

With this feature switched on, you don’t have to press and hold the Top or Home button to start Siri.

Simply say, “Hey Siri” and follow up with a request. This is perfect for when you’ve got your hands busy in the kitchen and want to set a timer or reply to a message.

To set up this functionality, open Settings and select Siri & Search. Then switch on Listen for “Hey Siri”.

Dropping the “hey”

If you have iOS 17, you can get Siri’s attention with one less syllable. The “hey” is no longer required, with just “Siri” being enough to activate the assistant.

If you find it accidentally triggering too often, you can change this behavior back to the old way from Settings > Siri & Search.

Voice recognition

When first turning on “Hey Siri” you’ll be prompted to configure Siri. Follow the on-screen instructions and speak into the microphone when prompted. This will teach Siri to recognize your voice so it won’t be inadvertently activated if somebody else in the room says “Hey Siri” – it will only respond to you.

The whole process takes around a minute, but it does involve speaking to your iPad in a clear voice – so try to set it up from a quiet room for optimal results.