The American singer and actor reveals personal plea to Apple head to fix Siri’s butchery of her name which will be fixed on 30 September

How do you ensure that Siri pronounces your name correctly? If you’re Barbra Streisand you go straight to the source and call the chief executive, Tim Cook.



In an interview with NPR, the singer, actor and instigator of the Streisand effect, admitted that after five years of Apple’s voice assistant pronouncing her name incorrectly - the second “s” is soft not pronounced as a “z” as Siri does - she couldn’t take it any longer.

Streisand told NPR: “She pronounces my name wrong. [It’s] Streisand with a soft S, like sand on the beach. I’ve been saying this for my whole career.

“And so what did I do? I called the head of Apple, Tim Cook, and he delightfully agreed to have Siri change the pronunciation of my name, finally, with the next update on 30 September. So let’s see if that happens because I will be thrilled.”

That’s what star power does for you. It is doubtful just anyone can find the telephone number of Cook, let alone ring it and actually get an answer.

The significance of 30 September is unknown, but it could indicate the date for the release of Apple’s next version of iOS 10 for its iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The launch of iOS will likely be linked to the release of Apple’s next version of its iPhone, which means the iPhone 7, or whatever the company ends up calling it, could be 30 September.

Apple has previously announced its new versions of the iPhone at the beginning of September and released them a week later, typically around the 20 to 25 September, whichever falls on the Friday. A release date of 30 September would therefore fit Apple’s previous patterns.