3 Times ‘Hey Siri’ Saved Lives
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According to a report published this week by FOX 4 News out of Key Biscayne, Fla., Apple’s intuitive ‘Hey Siri’ feature on iPhone 7 helped save the lives of 3 fisherman in distress, whose 18-foot boat reportedly encountered “a violent spate of waves” while cruising just a few miles off the Southern Florida Coast.
Soon after the waves began beating up on the side of their boat, the fishermen realized their vessel might soon be overcome, as waves began crashing overboard, pouring load after load of water onboard the ship with them.
Fortunately, not only were the men able to fasten themselves into life jackets before their boat ultimately capsized, but one of the men, perhaps instinctively, reached for his iPhone 7, employing Siri’s always-on ‘Hey Siri’ function to call 911 for help.
“They had an iPhone 7, which I’m learning today is waterproof,” said Sgt. James Barrett of the Miami-Dade Police Department. “However, he couldn’t touch the screen with his fingers because they were cold, but he used Siri to call 911.”
Shortly after placing the Siri-facilitated distress call, the local coast guard in South Florida dispatched a helicopter to go out in search of the men, ultimately discovering them and bringing them back to safety.
While this story may have had a happy ending, it wouldn’t be the first time that Siri came to the rescue of iPhone users in distress. Back in June 2016, according to BBC, an Australian woman named Stacey Gleeson used the same ‘Hey Siri’ feature to call for an ambulance when her one-year-old daughter stopped breathing.
Even more recently, a four-year-old boy in the U.K. used the ‘Hey Siri’ feature to call an ambulance when his mother passed out and stopped breathing.
These stories make it increasingly evident that Apple was on to something when it introduced ‘Hey Siri’ functionality, which debuted alongside iOS 9 and the iPhone 6s/6s Plus duo back in September, 2015. Since we live in such an unpredictable world, therefore, why not enable and take advantage of this great feature on iPhone?
How to Enable “Hey Siri” on iPhone
- Open Settings.
- Scroll down and tap Siri.
- Toggle the Allow “Hey Siri” option to On.
- Follow the onscreen prompts to train Siri to respond to your voice.
- This will enable you to invoke Siri at any time without pressing the home button. Simply say “Hey Siri” to your iPhone.