Siri "Halo"

[DaveWT]

At somepoint in the series of iOS 18.n updates. asking "Hey Siri" on my iPhone 15 Pro changed from showing a round bubble at the bottom of the screen to a halo around the perimeter of the screen. Now I notice it is back to the round bubble at the bottom. I am on 18.3 Does anyone else see this behaviour?

 

[BilBo]

At somepoint in the series of iOS 18.n updates. asking "Hey Siri" on my iPhone 15 Pro changed from showing a round bubble at the bottom of the screen to a halo around the perimeter of the screen. Now I notice it is back to the round bubble at the bottom. I am on 18.3 Does anyone else see this behaviour?

iOS 18.3 here, Dave. Still getting the rainbow halo when I talk to HER!

 

[DaveWT]

Hi Bill, I wondered if it was because I turned off AI but when I turned it back on, it was still doing the same thing. ( I turned off AI because I wanted to have more confidence in the info I was looking up.) Perhaps I will turn AI back on, do a restart and try again.

OK, that is odd, I turned on AI again, it said "downloading the model" (or something similar) so I waited just a bit longer than on my previous test. Then I said the "Hey Siri" thing and got the Halo. So I turned off AI again, and said the "Hey Siri" thing and STILL GOT THE HALO." But after a few minutes I tried again and the halo was replaced by the old circular thingy at the bottom. So timing is important and I guess you really do need AI on to get the Halo.

 

[chas_m]

Yes, the halo is a signifier that you are working with an improved Siri that can leverage Apple Intelligence. This allows for things like contextual sentences:

"Siri, what time is it in Greenland right now?"
(she answers)
"What about in Vietnam?"
(Siri understands that you mean "what time now" and replies correctly).