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Apple is reportedly going to prevent its devices from responding to “Hey Siri” commands in TV commercials.
Apple has recently released the beta version of the tvOS 18.2 update. The update includes a new “AdBlocker” framework, which might sound like a typical online ad blocker designed to block ads. However, a report from 9to5Mac suggests that the framework is actually connected to ShazamKit.
ShazamKit is an API for apps that want to use the Shazam song identification platform. The report also notes that this framework is tied to processes managing the “hey Siri” command on Apple devices.
The AdBlocker framework is expected to download audio fingerprints from Apple’s servers and then use the ShazamKit API to cross-check audio captured by the device’s microphone when using the “hey Siri” command. If a match is detected in the audio fingerprint, the framework will temporarily disable Siri.
Currently, the AdBlocker framework is only available in the tvOS 18.2 beta update. This indicates that the ability to ignore unintentional Siri commands might be introduced first in HomePod smart speakers, which share some codebase similarities with Apple TV hardware. Apple plans to release the stable version of tvOS 18.2 to all compatible devices in December this year.
This change has been long overdue for Apple, as there have been numerous reports of Apple devices responding to “hey Siri” commands spoken in TV commercials or during Apple’s keynote presentations. Amazon has been addressing this for a while, ensuring that Alexa devices don’t activate even when TV ads use the wake word “Alexa.”
