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EnglishDutchman t1_itxcrt2 wrote

Reply to comment by thenerdal in ‘SiriSpy’ iOS bug allowed apps to eavesdrop on your Siri conversations before fix by prehistoric_knight

In order to listen for the key phrases (hey siri, etc), they’re listening to everything. Mic is on all the time. And if you have an Apple Watch, doubly so. That’s how they can detect the sound of hands being washed.

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thenerdal t1_itxg4se wrote

... That's not how it works.

It's like saying those hand clappers from 15 years ago that turns on things listen to everything lol

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EnglishDutchman t1_ity36mf wrote

Nope. They worked with piezo electric transducers. Not microphones. Entirely different tech.

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TheSmokingLamp t1_itxl2wg wrote

So how does it work then..

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thenerdal t1_itxm4tn wrote

Ask yourself how those hand clappers work.

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EnglishDutchman t1_ity33ce wrote

They worked with piezo electric transducers. Not microphones. Entirely different tech.

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giganut2 t1_ity0y7u wrote

They listen for key sounds?

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thenerdal t1_ity3at8 wrote

No.

Think of the difference of hearing and listening.

If you hear someone talking but don't know what they're saying, you are just hearing, not listening.

When you understand what they're saying, then you're listening.

The handicapper doesn't know is constantly trying to detect ('hearing') for a certain noise, but doesn't know what any other noises are. Once it hears a certain noise, then it turns on/off.

This is essentially how all voice assistants work. They're 'hearing' for a specific sound to activate the part that then is actually listen.

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