Barbra Streisand says 'Sept. 30' iOS update will fix Siri's pronunciation of her name

In a weekend radio interview, singer Barbra Streisand claimed that Apple will be fixing the way Siri pronounces her name in the "next update" of iOS, supposedly going out Sept. 30.

Siri's use of a "Z" sound in the middle of "Streisand" has annoyed the singer since Apple's feature first launched in 2011, according to a talk on NPR. Only recently, however, did she call Apple CEO Tim Cook, who promised to fix the problem in a future update.

In the interview, Streisand suggested that the change would happen with "the next update on Sept. 30," giving an unusually specific time that's likely inaccurate.

The next version of iOS — iOS 10 — is in fact expected to launch next month, but will should arrive well before Sept. 30. The "iPhone 7" is rumored to be shipping on either the 16th or the 23rd, and will have to have iOS 10 preloaded. Previous iOS devices should get access even earlier, possibly as soon as Sept. 14.

One explanation may be that Streisand was told iOS 10 would be out by the end of September. Another is that Apple is already planning a follow-up patch, 10.0.1, that could be ready by Sept. 30.

42 Comments

robertwalter 276 comments · 9 Years

About 8 years ago

Because she's entitled.

anantksundaram 20390 comments · 18 Years

Siri messes up the pronunciation of my name too (although slightly less so if I choose the British voice, which is now my default). But I deal with it....

Gosh, these celebrity egos and whining are something else to behold. I truly wish Apple would say no more than what they'd probably tell me or you, which would be "Thank you for your feedback. We are always working to improve our products and services, and our goal is to delight our customers."

holyone 398 comments · 8 Years

robertwalter said:

Because she's entitled.

Why does she have Tim's number?

coolfactor 2333 comments · 20 Years

anantksundaram said:

Siri messes up the pronunciation of my name too (although slightly less so if I choose the British voice, which is now my default). But I deal with it....

Gosh, these celebrity egos and whining are something else to behold. I truly wish Apple would say no more than what they'd probably tell me or you, which would be "Thank you for your feedback. We are always working to improve our products and services, and our goal is to delight our customers."

How often do Siri's responses contain your own personal name?

I agree with you that the response should be equal to everyone, regardless of celebrity status, but unfortunately that's not the world we live in. Apple is all about image now, and keeping a celebrity happy is a part of that end game. And look... case in point: it creates headlines!

Soli 9981 comments · 9 Years

Entitlement. Egotistical. Narcissistic.

I'm sure those are the first words to go through many readers' heads when they read about a celebrity requesting something, no matter how minor; yet I wonder how many of those same people are always fine when their name is incorrectly pronounced (or spelled).

Keep in mind that Siri has been an iOS feature since 2011 and it still can't pronounce a common surname of a celebrity. If anything, that speaks to Siri's progress since pronunciation of words should be a core focus and demonstrates a modicum attention to detail.