How a stranger can use Siri to text people from your Apple iPhone

A security flaw on Apple iPhones allows a complete stranger to text people from your mobile - without even touching the device.

Since the iPhone 6s was released in 2015, Apple iPhones have allowed users to text, play music, or turn on the flashlight without having to pick up the phone.

As long as the feature is on in the phone's settings, a user can say "Hey Siri" and the device's digital assistant will be primed to help out.

But the helpful feature could be taken advantage of by random strangers, who can say "Hey Siri" and then send a text without having to unlock the phone.

The person does, however, need to have a similar voice to the phone owner.

Newshub tested the bug and found while one person could access Siri, it didn't always work the other way around.

Apple has tried to make the voice recognition more secure with an iOS9 update, but Newshub used an iPhone XR with iOS12.2 and the bug was still present.

The feature can be turned on or off by going into the phone's settings, scrolling down to "Siri & Search" and tapping the "Hey Siri" toggle.

Turning it on will prompt the user to say "Hey Siri" multiple times to help the phone recognise the voice - but it appears this isn't perfect.

In January, a bug discovered with the iPhone's video calling app Facetime allowed callers to listen to their recipient before they had answered or declined the call.

Newshub has approached Apple for comment.

Newshub.