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Apple’s smile assistant can now come out like a duck if you ask well.
To try this, users need to update to the latest version of the iPhone operating system, iOS 14.3, and say, “Hey Siri, how about a duck?” In response, Siri reads the natural call of a rude duck.
On Monday, Siri began directing short audio clips to answer questions about what it looks like. Now the sounds built into the computer include animals, tools and vehicles, and Apple says there are hundreds of options. On an iPhone or iPad, Siri brings a picture of the animal and a link to more information from Wikipedia.
Here are some examples you may hear via Apple:
- “Hey Siri, what does a humpback whale look like?”
- “Hey Siri, what would a toy poodle look like?
- “Hey Siri, how about a lute?”
- “Hey Siri, what about fire trucks?”
CNBC also tried this with some animals, including a domestic cat, a lion, and a bald eagle, and in an example of how specific this can get, a kokapura, a type of bird that sounds like someone is laughing. Sri also played several car sounds, a train whistle and a small sample.
“What does the fox say?” If you ask, you can simply quote the song that hit YouTube in Siri 2013. But hearing “what a fox sounds like” brings a real call from an Arctic fox, which sounds like someone hopping.
The audio playing Siri is realistic as opposed to exaggerated or cartoonish.
Such fun Easter eggs are a common feature for voice assistants like Sri. They increase engagement, especially with children. Apple’s assistant has had the ability to distort jokes since it was first introduced. Amazon’s Alexa assistant also tells jokes. Last year, Amazon researchers published an article about how Alexa used machine learning to make jokes fun.
The new feature is part of iOS 14.3, which introduced privacy labels in the App Store, supports the Fitness + Workout service and fixed a bug related to text message notifications, Apple said.