Holding 'lock' button may activate Siri in the next iPhone

Apple is expected to announce a new design for at least one of its iPhones slated to be unveiled this September. The phone is already tipped to come without the tradition home button on the front, which also means no ‘Siri’ button on the front, but may be on the edge.

In the absence of a home button, the radically redesigned iPhone model is expected to include a gesture that would activate Siri by holding the sleep/wake/lock button other than calling it out using the voice command “Hey Siri”, according to iOS developer Guilherme Rambo.

In a tweet, Rambo wondered, “What if the [iPhone’s] lock button becomes the home button?” To which when a follower asked if he had found something in Apple’s code to suggest this, Rambo revealed that he “did find a gesture to invoke Siri by holding the lock button.”

Earlier a report by Bloomberg had also hinted on Apple plans about addition of a few gesture controls for tasks like going to the main app and opening multitasking, instead of a home button. The home button is expected to be replaced by a new gesture interface which will include ‘software bar’ that can be moved around to perform different actions and an app dock similar to one found in iOS 11 on iPad.

Apple is also expected to integrate advance systems for its camera, 3D facial recognition technology for unlocking and wireless charging in the upcoming iPhone model.