"Hey Siri" Apple Watch 3 and iPhone 7...

[TRICKorDEVICE]

I upgraded to a Series 3 last night. Prior to that I had been using a Series 2 with my iPhone 7.

I like to have Hey Siri on the iPhone if possible. The feature that is supposed to choose one device and cancel the other for Siri queries had been working better since iOS 11 and Watch OS 4, it would cancel one device about 80-90% of the time. Which was not ideal, since the Homepod is looming, but I could make it work.

After upgrading to Series 3 Watch, it is canceling one device 30-50% of the time, a much worse rate.

I tried turning off Hey Siri and re-enabling, as well as restarting both devices.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? I guess I have to just hope the next update 4.1 and 11.1 resolve the issue or bring it back up.

Thoughts?

 

[iamasmith]

Could you flesh this out a little? I don't get hey Siri at all on the watch unless I raise it so the screen lights up and the phone doesn't respond at all if the light sensor is obscured.

If both are actively listening then YMMV.. is it actually supposed to be a feature?

 

[co1f]

I didn’t know it was supposed to work like that. I have the exact same devices, and when I got the AW3C, I turned off ‘Hey Siri’ on my 7. My watch will always be closer than my phone.

 

[musicpenguy]

Is the watch Hey Siri person specific? A friend was able to activate my watch when I was using it, maybe because they think the screen is on that I’m the one speaking?

 

[TRICKorDEVICE]

Could you flesh this out a little? I don't get hey Siri at all on the watch unless I raise it so the screen lights up and the phone doesn't respond at all if the light sensor is obscured.

If both are actively listening then YMMV.. is it actually supposed to be a feature?

Ok, so the Watch only listens when the screen is active. However, if both are logged into the same iCloud/Apple Id and both have continuity and handoff turned on, then when you invoke Hey Siri (this goes for any other devices in the room) it may trigger multiple devices, but only one device should continue to listen and/or respond. The devices are supposed to intelligently decide which device should listen/respond (based on volume of user voice, proximity to user, etc.). Ideally, and from what I understand from Federighi's The Talk Show interview, you should NEVER have multiple devices actually responding and/or answering the query. Only one device should end up fulfilling your request.

This becomes even more important with the Homepod looming.

I didn’t know it was supposed to work like that. I have the exact same devices, and when I got the AW3C, I turned off ‘Hey Siri’ on my 7. My watch will always be closer than my phone.

I understand your point and for the longest time I always turned off Hey Siri on the phone too, because it would trigger both. However, it is designed to leave it turned on and this is important for many reasons. First, Siri on the Watch and the iPhone are not the same. There is many things the Watch Siri can't do. Second, if you aren't wearing the Watch for some reason, it is nice to be able to call out to the iPhone and have a response. Example, I am often lying in bed and want to get a weather report or start playing music. If it is first thing in the morning and I haven't put my watch on yet (which gets put on immediately once I am out of bed), then it is really cool to be able to Hey Siri the phone and get a response.

Is the watch Hey Siri person specific? A friend was able to activate my watch when I was using it, maybe because they think the screen is on that I’m the one speaking?

Hey Siri on the iPhone is trained on your voice and will only respond to the individual users. I have found this works really well. The Watch will respond to any Hey Siri, if the screen is on and it hears you.


So, I'd like to get as many people to test it as possible and tell me how many times out of ten the Watch and phone respond at the same time improperly vs. the devices deciding to only handle the query on one device. So what is your experience?

 

[Aleks65]

I'm on iOS 11.1 Beta 3 (7 Plus), Watch OS 4.1 Beta 3 (Series 3) and if I raise my wrist to use Siri on my Apple Watch, my iPhone also answers 9/10 times, my phone has the screen off. They've even had a short conversation with one another.

 

[deadworlds]

I remember that my aw would cancel out my iPhone. Recently, since getting the aw3, this behavior has changed and now they both answer and listen to my request. Some times they have both carried out the same request. Annoying.

 

[TRICKorDEVICE]

I'm on iOS 11.1 Beta 3 (7 Plus), Watch OS 4.1 Beta 3 (Series 3) and if I raise my wrist to use Siri on my Apple Watch, my iPhone also answers 9/10 times, my phone has the screen off. They've even had a short conversation with one another.

Thanks for the feedback. I can't believe it actually seems to be getting worse. Please put in a bug report/radar.

Thank you.
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I remember that my aw would cancel out my iPhone. Recently, since getting the aw3, this behavior has changed and now they both answer and listen to my request. Some times they have both carried out the same request. Annoying.

This is my experience as well!

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[SoCalGadgetGuy]

I just tried this. I have the iPhone 7 Plus, as well as the Apple Watch Series 3—both in front of me. They both have the latest released OS (up-to-date). When I bring the watch up to my face, the display turns on. At this point, when I say “Hey Siri”, both devices come to her attention but then the iPhone goes back to sleep and Siri on my watch waits for my voice.

 

[TRICKorDEVICE]

I just tried this. I have the iPhone 7 Plus, as well as the Apple Watch Series 3—both in front of me. They both have the latest released OS (up-to-date). When I bring the watch up to my face, the display turns on. At this point, when I say “Hey Siri”, both devices come to her attention but then the iPhone goes back to sleep and Siri on my watch waits for my voice.

Thanks for testing this. That is the appropriate behavior. Does it work every time? How many times out of ten does it work properly?

 

[SoCalGadgetGuy]

Thanks for testing this. That is the appropriate behavior. Does it work every time? How many times out of ten does it work properly?

The expected result happened five times in a row. However, a couple of times, my iPhone would hear the question I was asking and--midway through it--stop listening, while my watch continues listening and ultimately answered. One time, both devices listened and answered.

I figured out that if you pause between saying "Hey Siri" and "{whatever your question is}", then the iPhone will try to answer (or at least listen part way through the question).

When I don't pause, it works as expected every time (and iPhone doesn't listen, nor answer).

Therefore, the keys to making this work properly are:

• Speak continuously from "Hey Siri" to your question without pausing or ...
  
• Press and hold the phone's crown while asking your question (no need to say, "Hey Siri").

 

[TRICKorDEVICE]

The expected result happened five times in a row. However, a couple of times, my iPhone would hear the question I was asking and--midway through it--stop listening, while my watch continues listening and ultimately answered. One time, both devices listened and answered.

I figured out that if you pause between saying "Hey Siri" and "{whatever your question is}", then the iPhone will try to answer (or at least listen part way through the question).

When I don't pause, it works as expected every time (and iPhone doesn't listen, nor answer).

Therefore, the keys to making this work properly are:

• Speak continuously from "Hey Siri" to your question without pausing or ...
  
• Press and hold the phone's crown while asking your question (no need to say, "Hey Siri").

That’s pretty interesting. Thank you for taking the time to try that out. I’ll continue to test as well periodically.