Siri Eyes Free gives car drivers the ability to avoid distracted driving while still performing tasks on their iPhone. While Siri Eyes Free is exclusively available to vehicles, Hands Free Siri is available on phones at any time. Siri Eyes Free first became available in 2012 and was integrated into vehicles by Audi, Toyota, BMW, General Motors, Mercedes, and Honda. In 2015, Ford signed on and integrated the software into over 5 million of its vehicles, as far back as the 2011 model. Although there are apparently several answers to the question, “How old is Siri?”, the general answer seems to be around 2011, which makes Siri Eyes Free a very early application of Siri. Many vehicles are already equipped with voice recognition software that makes integration of Siri Eyes Free very easy. The hardest part for most users is getting used to not looking at their phone for so long.
What Can Siri Eyes Free Do?
By pairing Siri with a car’s auditory system, users can perform a variety of tasks that they normally carry out on their iPhone. There are some things that users obviously cannot do like play games or read the search results Siri finds. But many features are similar between Siri Eyes Free and regular Siri on the phone. Users can have Siri Eyes Free:
- Look up phone numbers online for stores, restaurants, etc.
- Set an alarm or reminder
- Update them on the weather
- Play selected music through apps or the default audio player in the car
- Give them directions through Apple Maps
- Text or make phone calls to contacts in their contact list
For text messages, users need to say who they are sending the message to and say the message out loud. Since many people report that Siri sometimes makes mistakes in voice to text with unintentional auto corrects, users have to hope that Siri gets the message correct. Unfortunately, users might look at their phone to double check the message content, which defeats the purpose of having an eyes free device. To increase the chance the message is correct, users should face forward in their car and speak loudly and clearly.
Hands Free Siri
The concept of Hands Free Siri is similar to Siri Eyes Free but is available on iPhone 6 and newer models and doesn’t need to be used in the car. By saying, “Hey Siri”, users can activate Siri from across the room, rather than having their phone in hand first. The benefits of this are two-fold. First, this is a helpful way to find your phone if you have lost it near you. Secondly, it allows you to activate Siri using only your voice. This is very helpful when you cannot (or don’t want to) reach your phone or when you can’t look at the phone, like during driving. Since not all cars come equipped with Siri Eyes Free, using Hands Free Siri in the car is the next best option. The audio won’t be as loud and may interfere with other audio (like your car radio), but it is much better than driving distracted.
How to Set Up Hands Free Siri and Siri Eyes Free
Many vehicles already come equipped with Siri Eyes Free. To activate Siri Eyes Free, users will need to first pair their phone with the car. To do this, users will need to activate the Siri button on their phone. Most cars will use Bluetooth to communicate with Siri. Turn on Bluetooth on the iPhone and make sure it is connected to the car’s audio system. In Siri Eyes Free enabled cars like Honda and Ford, users will use a ‘push to talk’ button already installed in the car (usually on the steering wheel) once the phone is paired with the car.
For Hands Free Siri, users just need to go to Settings > General > Siri and then click Allow “‘Hey Siri’”. Once this is activated, Siri will respond to the command “Hey Siri” and users can ask Siri any number of questions or give commands.