【The Never Ending Love Story】

Reddit users have The Never Ending Love Storydiscovered a new use for iOS 18's Vocal Shortcuts, MacRumors reports. While primarily intended as an accessibility feature, Vocal Shortcuts can also be used to give Siri a new name.

That's right: You can now call Siri anything from Jarvis to HAL 9000 to — gasp — Alexa.

Here's how:

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

---

You May Also Like

---

---

SEE ALSO: 5 wild new iOS 18 features not mentioned at WWDC 2024

First, you'll have to set up Vocal Shortcuts on your iPhone. Go to the Settings app, then Accessibility, then scroll until you find Vocal Shortcuts. Once you're there, select "Set Up Vocal Shortcuts" and pick Siri. Then, enter the new name you're planning on giving Siri.

You'll also have to teach your iPhone to recognize the new name by saying it three times. Once that's all done, your iPhone will be able to pick up that phrase and use it as a trigger word for Siri.

---

Related Stories

---

• Apple iOS 18 helps you get more battery life out of your iPhone. Here's how
• Flashlight in iOS 18 has a super-cool new feature
• iOS 18 eye tracking: How to use your eyes to navigate iPhone like Apple Vision Pro
• Everything announced at WWDC 2024, from iOS 18 to Apple Intelligence
• How to use Genmoji on iOS 18

An example of how to use iOS 18's Vocal Shortcuts. Credit: Mashable composite: Apple

As MacRumors notes, there are some catches to the Siri re-naming process. First, this process won't sync to other devices, meaning devices like HomePods will still need to be Siri for the time being. Second, you'll have to pause every time you call on Siri using the new name. Instead of saying, "Hey HAL 9000, what's the weather like?" all at once like you can do for Siri, you'll have to take a beat after speaking the trigger word to give Vocal Shortcuts time to activate Siri. So while the cool points of giving Siri a different name are high, the lower convenience of it may be enough to turn users off.

Don't worry though: You can always count on a reliable "Hey Siri" to wake Siri up, even if you've given it a new name.

Topics Apple Siri

(Editor: {typename type="name"/})