Oliver Haslam on July 14, 2018, 5:02 am

watchOS 5: How To Enable Raise To Speak On Apple Watch

When Apple announced watchOS 5 during the opening keynote of WWDC 2018, one of the new features that it showed off was Siri’s new Raise to Speak.

Similar to the feature that causes the Apple Watch’s screen to illuminate when the wrist is raised, this new feature also activates Siri’s listening mode at the same time, which, in turn, means that there is no longer a requirement to use the much loved “Hey Siri” command.

After initially being AWOL in the first watchOS 5 beta, it’s now alive and well and can be tested by anyone brave enough to install the beta on their watch. Here’s how you make the magic happen.

To enable Raise to Speak:

Step 1: Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch.

Step 2: Tap on General.

Step 3: Scroll down to the Siri entry and tap it.

Step 4: Make sure that the Raise to Speak toggle is in the on position.

Once you’ve done that, all you need to do to speak to Siri is simply raise your wrist. The watch should apparently be able to tell the difference between someone telling the time and someone wanting to invoke Siri, so if you’re struggling to get Siri’s attention, it may be worth trying raising your wrist higher and closer to your mouth.

You may end up looking like Dick Tracey, but it should work more reliably.

Apple’s watchOS 5 is currently working its way through a beta process that is expected to end in or around the first week or two of September ahead of an official release to the public towards the end of that month.