How to enable Hey Siri activation on a mac with Sierra

[tywebb13]

So far apple have not enabled voice command Hey Siri activation for a mac with Sierra - which is disappointing since if we have Siri, why not? There should be nothing stopping it. Apple might not have done it because they think it might interfere with nearby iPhones. Well I don’t have an iPhone so I don’t care about that. I have an android phone so it is not going to affect me (or as MLVC points out below, even if you do have an iPhone and don't want such interference you can change it to something else instead like "Hello Siri" - it just has to be at least two words).

Currently by default you have to click the icon to activate Siri. Let's say I don't want to click the icon to activate it. Let's say I want to activate it just by saying "Hey Siri" instead. Then you can turn on this feature as follows:

1. Go to apple menu -> System Preferences -> Accessibility -> Dictation

If options are greyed out you may have to enable Enhanced Dictation in Dictation Preferences and wait for it to download and install. This is actually in the Keyboard Preferences so when this is finished, go back to Dictation in Accessibilty.

2. Tick Enable the dictation keyword phrase and change it to Hey

3. Click Dictation Commands

4. Tick Enable advanced commands

5. Press + to add a new command

6. Fill in settings as follows:

For When I say - type Siri

For While Using - leave it as Any Application

For Perform - select Open Finder Items - navigate to Applications folder and select the Siri App - click Open

7. Click Done

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Note this is a bit buggy because it might not work at first and you may have to go back and untick “Hey” and “Siri” - go out of system preferences - and then back in again to retick them. It should work after that.

Also, to close Siri with a voice command, just say goodbye.

 

[karsten]

hey thats brilliant man. any tips on the buggy part? I got everything entered in but dictation wont' trigger on hey siri.. thx

 

[tywebb13]

Yeah. The bug is that it seems to have trouble getting started. So you have to go back and untick "Hey" and "Siri", close system preferences. Then go back in and retick them.

It works after that - at least for me. I did it on a 2011 mba a few hours ago.

I'll try it on a 2014 mbp tomorrow and make a video of the process.

 

[karsten]

looks like i can get it to consistently trigger by getting like 1 inch from the microphone and talking loud. thats even with the mic gain all the way up

 

[tywebb13]

I didn't have to be so close or be loud.

I made a youtube video:

I put instructions in the comments section for the video. Same as above.
[doublepost=1468658935][/doublepost]I'm having a bit of fun with this now.

I made another youtube video asking Siri to talk to Cortana. The response is very funny.

 

[tywebb13]

I should point out too that these instructions are for the current beta. For future betas, the instructions may change. Apple may even simplify it with a single button.

 

[MLVC]

Works perfect for me, I just changed it to Hello Siri since my phone is usually next to my Mac.

 

[tywebb13]

I enabled it in my mbp now. But in so doing I recorded the process this time and therefore have been able to put my instructions into an instructional video:

Note: I recorded this in 1080p and so it looks much better if you go full screen and select 1080p resolution.

 

[12CoreMP]

Works for me thanks for sharing.

 

[tywebb13]

Unfortunately Apple still are still not providing a single Hey Siri button in DP3 to simplify the process of enabling it - which I reckon they could do.

But the good news is that if you enabled it using my instructions in DP1 or DP2 then it still works after updating to DP3.

 

[tywebb13]

Same for DP4. I think if they were going to make a Hey Siri button they would have done it by now. So maybe we are stuck having to do it via my instructions above.

 

[fisherking]

definitely should not be 'hey siri'.... since my iphone is right on my desk, next to my mac (don't want both devices responding)...

 

[tywebb13]

definitely should not be 'hey siri'.... since my iphone is right on my desk, next to my mac (don't want both devices responding)...

Well that's OK. You can change it to anything you want - so long as it is at least two words.

 

[WestCoastCommodore]

In honor of Mr. Scott, I went with this phrase:

 

[fisherking]

Well that's OK. You can change it to anything you want - so long as it is at least two words.

was just suggesting that if/when apple decides to implement this...

 

[32828870]

Fantastic. It's working perfectly running the latest 10.12 developer beta. It did require unchecking and checking the options as you suggested and after a few minutes it kicked in. I'm running 10.12 on a nMac Pro6,1 with 3 27" Apple Displays. In "Sound" preferences, I selected the middle display of the 3 for "Input", kept the gain at 50%.

Side note: Have a pair of Bang & Olufsen S3 Bluetooth speakers and there's no interference. Interesting as wifi and bluetooth issues have plagued OS X since Apple switched from separate Broadcom wireless and bluetooth cards to a single combined Broadcom card around late 2012-2013 with WiFi ac + BTLE 4.x. As a developer I've been working with Apple engineering on this issue since 10.8 as wifi and bluetooth sound work perfectly running Windows in Bootcamp with the same hardware. Apparently Apple finally admitted the kexts/drivers have not been updated properly in OS X, accounting for the well known wireless contectivity issues that have plagued many. So far, wireless is working well in 10.12 but bluetooth audio is a mess, intermittently kicking in and out when using Apple's Magic Keyboard and Trackpad 2 and especially when copying files via SMB or AFP to networked devices.

 

[fischersd]

So, you guys should scrap the "Hey" and "Siri" and just call it "Jarvis" so your other iDevices aren't waking up...

I don't quite understand the "single button for "hey Siri" idea?" If you have to hit a key, what's the point of "Hey Siri"?
If you want to enable it, why not have that in preferences? (Why would you need to toggle it on/off easily?)

Holding Cmd+space launches Siri today (beyond the other two icons) - until they give us a similar option to "Hey Siri" (and hopefully allow us to rename "her"), I think that's all we're going to get.

 

[tywebb13]

I said before you can change it to anything you want, so long as it is at least 2 words.

And I know there is a keyboard shortcut. That's not what I meant by the single button. What I meant was a simpler way in system preferences to enable it.

Such a thing has not come yet after several betas - so I think we are stuck with doing it via instructions above.

One thing they should work on though is fixing the bug requiring unticking and reticking to get it to work. That should not be necessary. But because of the bug that is what we have to do at the moment.

 

[Scary Spice]

So, you guys should scrap the "Hey" and "Siri" and just call it "Jarvis" so your other iDevices aren't waking up...

I think you should call it 'Cookie Jarvis'

 

[RumorzGuy]

Currently by default you have to click the icon to activate Siri. Let's say I don't want to click the icon to activate it. Let's say I want to activate it just by saying "Hey Siri" instead. Then you can turn on this feature as follows

Thank you for these instructions. Very useful. I tried some online instructions at macworld.com, but they did not work, because Siri's prefs apparently do not allow you to select a customized keyboard command . . . at least I was not able to with Sierra GM on an early 2009 iMac.

However, your instructions here worked great!

 

[fischersd]

Thank you for these instructions. Very useful. I tried some online instructions at macworld.com, but they did not work, because Siri's prefs apparently do not allow you to select a customized keyboard command . . . at least I was not able to with Sierra GM on an early 2009 iMac.

However, your instructions here worked great!

Psst. Yes, Siri's preferences do allow it. But, agreed, these instructions work great as well.

 

[RumorzGuy]

Psst. Yes, Siri's preferences do allow it. But, agreed, these instructions work great as well.

Weird. I tried about three or four different key combinations, and they were not appearing in that field, even after I left Siri's prefs and came back in again.

At any rate, Siri is so half-baked at this point on the Mac, that I am not going to use it anyway. In fact, I already disabled it to save on system resources.

 

[Aneef]

Hey guys,

When I ask Siri about anything, it displays the required text, but doesn't speak like she does on iPhones. How to activate her vocal cords?
[doublepost=1474461211][/doublepost]

Hey guys,

When I ask Siri about anything, it displays the required text, but doesn't speak like she does on iPhones. How to activate her vocal cords?

Nevermind, my bad. Had a problem with Boom 2 app. Siri speaks now.

 

[rcappo]

I plan on using this to get Siri to work from voice commands when I update. I'll use "com" and "puter" as my two words.

 

[dfritchie]

The best part is, still works in High Sierra!