If hey Siri is not working on your iPhone after iOS 16 update, follow the steps below to fix the issue.
For those of us who’ve been around a while, it can still feel like the future when saying “Hey Siri” trigger Siri on an iPhone. The illusion quickly falls apart, however, when you use those magic words and nothing happens.
It could be that you didn’t speak loudly enough. There are a variety of potential reasons for Hey Siri not working after iOS 16 update though, some of which are no fault of your own.
In this article, we’ve explained the solutions you can try if the “Hey Siri” voice command has stopped working on your iPhone after iOS 16 update.
Ways to fix Hey Siri not working after iOS 16 update
Sometimes you do not need to perform long-drawn, complex troubleshooting steps to fix a nagging issue. The solution could be something very basic. And that is exactly what we want to do here. Before we try out some of the more difficult steps, let us try a few basic ones to solve the problemof ‘Hey Siri not working after iOS 16 update’.
1. Disconnect headphones or earbuds
If you’re wearing headphones or earbuds, take them off and try “Hey Siri” by speaking into your phone. Siri should work through your earbuds, but they’re another possible point of failure when troubleshooting a Siri problem, so try out the virtual assistant without any intermediate audio devices.
But there’s more: If you were recently using headphones or earbuds, make sure they’re not still unexpectedly connected to your iPhone. Occasionally, an audio device refuses to lose its grip on your phone, and still tries to listen for your voice and play audio from across the room. Swipe down from the top right of the screen to see the Control Center and check to see if there’s a Bluetooth or earbud symbol in the Volume slider. If there is, Siri is probably being routed through that device. Put it back in its charging dock to disconnect it. Or disconnect the audio manually: Start the Settings app and tap Bluetooth, tap the i to the right of the headphones in the n device list, and tap Disconnect.
2. Make sure ‘Hey Siri’ is turned on
As elementary it may sound, you will be surprised to know just how many people may have simply turned the Hey Siri feature off and then wonder why it isn’t working. In case you often hand over your phone to kids, they might, on some occasions, fiddle with the iPhone’s settings and turn off the Hey Siri command accidentally. Before you even start reading about major troubleshooting steps, make sure Hey Siri is enabled in the first place.
Here’s how you do so.
Start the Settings app and then tap Siri & Search. At the top of the screen, make sure, at a minimum, Listen for “Hey Siri” and Allow Siri When Locked are both turned on, with the buttons swiped to the right. If desired, you can also turn on Press Home/Side Button for Siri.
3. Make sure your iPhone is connected to internet
This may be stating the obvious, but for most uses, Siri does need Wi-Fi or mobile data to operate, so make sure your iPhone is connected before you try a search.
It’s entirely possible that you’re connected to a wireless router, but you could be experiencing network problems, so verify that your internet connection works by opening Safari and trying to load a web page. If it works, then you know your connection is good. If not, try rebooting the router or using another Wi-Fi or cellular connection.
4. Retrain Siri to recognize your voice
If Siri works, but intermittently, or does a poor job of responding to your requests, it might just need a quick retraining session. Siri does best when it knows what your voice sounds like, in the environment you use it most often. Start the Settings app and tap Siri & Search. Turn off Listen for “Hey Siri” and then turn it back on again. When it reactivates, complete the short setup process for Siri, which includes speaking a handful of commands into your phone.
5. Make sure the microphone isn’t blocked
Siri might struggle to hear and understand you if there’s a problem with your phone’s microphones. Make sure that your microphone isn’t blocked by a poorly fitting case, screen protector, dust, dirt, or lint. You can also test the microphone to make sure it’s working properly and isn’t the cause of your Siri problem.
6. Configure Siri to work even if your iPhone is face down
You might not realize that while Siri is theoretically always on, that’s actually only “mostly” always on. Specifically, if the screen is covered, such as when the phone is facedown on a tabletop or is inside your pocket or a bag, it won’t respond to “Hey Siri.” If you prefer, you can set Siri to always respond, even when the screen is covered. Start the Settings app, tap Accessibility, and then tap Siri. In the Spoken Responses section, turn on Always Listen for “Hey Siri” by swiping the button to the right.
7. Restart your iPhone
Still not working? You can often resolve a software glitch with your iPhone simply by turning it off and then back on again, which can reset the memory and clear out software that might be problematic. Simply restart your iPhone and then check “Hey Siri” again.
8. The wrong device responds to ‘Hey Siri’
If Siri is mostly working, but you have a few nearby devices (say, an iPhone, iPad, and Mac) and the wrong device frequently responds to “Hey Siri,” that can be annoying. You might even find that more than one device responds at the same time in a symphony of Siris. The device that’s closest and hears you the most clearly is the one that should exclusively respond. If that’s not happening, it’s almost certainly because Bluetooth is turned off on one or more of those devices. Make sure Bluetooth is on everywhere to fix this problem.
On an iPhone or iPad, start the Settings app, tap Bluetooth, and make sure it’s enabled with the button swiped to the right. On a Mac, click the Apple icon at the top left, then choose System Preferences Click Bluetooth and make sure the status reports Bluetooth: On. If it isn’t, click Turn Bluetooth On.
9. Disable VPN
Plenty of users have reported that ‘Hey Siri’ won’t work on their iPhone when a VPN is enabled. Have you tried deactivating these (if you are using them)? If you’re using a VPN app, you can go into the app and turn off your secure connection. If you added the VPN manually, you can go into the Settings > General > VPN & Device Management and turn it off.
10. Fix ‘Hey Siri’ Not Working with Third Party Apps
If you can’t use Siri with a third-party app, make sure the app is updated.
Open the App Store and tap your profile. After that, find the app you want to update and hit the Update button.
11. Make Sure Siri is Not Restricted on Your iPhone
Another important thing to keep in mind is to ensure that Siri is not restricted on your iPhone. Screen Time lets you not only stop Siri from performing web searches but also block explicit language. So, be sure Siri has got the license to work without any restriction.
- To remove the restriction, go to the Settings app and choose Screen Time.
- Next, tap Content & Privacy Restrictions and turn on the toggle for Content and Privacy Restrictions. After that, tap Content Restrictions.
- Next, go to the Siri section and make sure you have allowed Siri to perform tasks without any limitations (if that’s what you are looking for).
12. Update the iOS to the latest version
One possible fix to your Hey Siri problem is to ensure that your iPhone is running the latest version of iOS. So, if none of the tricks has worked in resolving Hey Siri not working after iOS 16 update issue on your iPhone, I suspect the problem might be due to a bug. Thus, there is a high chance that the software update can help you troubleshoot Siri problems.
- Start the Settings app on your iPhone and tap General.
- Now, tap Software Update and download and install the latest version of iOS on your iPhone.
13. Check Apple’s System Status
If you are yet to fix Hey Siri not working after iOS 16 update issue on your iPhone, I guess the problem could be with Apple’s system. Whenever Apple’s system faces an outage, a number of important services and features including Siri stop working. Therefore, navigate to Apple’s system status page and ensure that the circle to the left of Siri is green.
14. Check Siri language
One fix that has worked for many users when faced with the dreaded ‘Hey Siri not working after iOS 16 update’ issue is to check the language settings on your iPhone. What if it turns out that the reason Siri isn’t responding to you simply because you’re speaking the wrong language to it?
Be sure you have set up Siri’s language correctly. For instance, if you have set the US as your country, make sure to choose English (United States) as your language. And if India is set as your country, select English (India) as the preferred language. Else, Siri may not be able to understand your accent.
- Start the Settings app on your iPhone and go to Siri & Search.
- Now, tap Language and then choose the correct language from the list.
- Next, reboot your iPhone and try to use Siri to check if the issue is gone.
15. Ensure “Hey Siri” Is Available in Your Country
Siri and, by extension, “Hey Siri” aren’t available in all countries and regions. If you still can’t use “Hey Siri” or don’t see the option in Settings, head over to the official Apple Support page to check Siri’s availability in your country.
16. Reset all settings
Bugs sometimes stem from low-level settings. You can’t always see or fix these settings individually, but iOS gives you a way to reset all settings. Doing this won’t erase your data, but it can solve the problem of Hey Siri not working after iOS 16 update.
Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset All Settings.
Hey Siri not working after iOS 16 update? fixed!
Despite how useful Hey Siri can be, it can be quite finicky at times. Hopefully after following the steps above, especially after recalibration, you’ve been able to get your Hey Siri working on your iPhone as you’ve been expecting it to.
Now that you have reached the end of this article do let us know if these steps helped you fix Hey Siri not working after iOS 16 update issue. Additionally, do let us know if we have missed any useful fixes.
Leave a Reply