If you’ve been annoyed by various TV ads triggering the “Hey Siri” command on Apple devices over the years, this might be coming to an end.
Per 9to5Mac, the latest beta of tvOS 18.2 released this week introduced a new framework called “AdBlocker.” Although at first glance the name suggests that this would be a mere online ad blocker, the framework is linked to ShazamKit, which is the API for apps to the Shazam song identification platform, which was acquired by Apple in 2018. At the same time, the framework also links to the process responsible for managing the “Siri” and “Hey Siri” voice commands on Apple devices.
The code suggests that the “AdBlocker” function will download audio fingerprints from Apple’s servers and then use the Shazam API to match them against audio captured by the device’s microphones using the Hey Siri API. When certain audios match, the new framework will temporarily disable Siri’s trigger commands.
It’s speculated that Apple will use audio fingerprints from its own TV ads and keynotes to prevent any mentions of Siri from triggering the virtual assistant on users’ devices.
As of now, the AdBlocker framework has only been found in the tvOS developer betas, which suggests that Apple may want to implement the feature on the HomePod first. In 2019, many HomePod owners complained after Apple aired an AirPods ad featuring a person asking Siri to play a song. As a result, people’s HomePods responded to the request as well.
Apple is expected to release the tvOS 18.2 update in November, and it’s also thought that the new software will enable support for different aspect ratios on Apple TV.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via 9to5Mac