Siri after iOS 15.4 gives the time in 12-hour format

[quaffa]

Hi,

I don't use Siri much, but one thing I do use it for is finding out the time when I wake up in the middle of the night and I can't see a clock in total dark.

Since I upgraded to iOS 15.4 I have noticed that Siri has started adding 'AM' to the phrase she uses to reply. ie. "It's two seventeen AM."

She never said 'AM' at the end until I upgraded, and I'd always assumed that she was giving me the time in the same 24-hour format that my iPhone is set to. I've never asked Siri the time during the day before, but yesterday I waited until the afternoon and asked, and she replied "One thirty one PM", when I was expecting her to say "Thirteen thirty one."

I know it is a minor point, but does anyone know if there is there any way to get Siri to give the time in 24-hour format, or at least stop saying AM and PM?

 

[Paddle1]

What version did you upgrade from?

It sounds like they adjusted Siri to speak the time as commonly used in the UK, 24 hour format spoken in 12 hour terms. 17:30 = five thirty/half five and so on. The PM/AM likely mandatory to avoid confusion.

 

[quaffa]

Thanks. I upgraded from the immediately previous version, whatever that was. I generally upgrade straight away to the latest version.

I'm not certain that it previously said "thirteen fifty one" etc in the afternoon, but I do know that it certainly never said "AM" after stating the time during the early hours.

 

[Itinj24]

Thanks. I upgraded from the immediately previous version, whatever that was. I generally upgrade straight away to the latest version.

I'm not certain that it previously said "thirteen fifty one" etc in the afternoon, but I do know that it certainly never said "AM" after stating the time during the early hours.

I only use military time and just asked Siri for the time and she replied, “seventeen ten”. No “PM.” Did you check settings on your phone after the update to see if it switched you back to 12 hour time? I think that happened to me before, after an update.

 

[quaffa]

Thanks. My phone is still set to 24-hour time; as soon as I pick it up the time displayed on the lock screen is in the 24-hour format.

In Settings>General>Language & Region my phone is set to Language- English; Region- United Kingdom, and the format examples at the foot of the page include the time shown in 24-hour format.

In Settings>General>Date & Time the 24-Hour Time toggle is switched on and green.

Never heard the term 'military time' before.

 

[Itinj24]

Thanks. My phone is still set to 24-hour time; as soon as I pick it up the time displayed on the lock screen is in the 24-hour format.

In Settings>General>Language & Region my phone is set to Language- English; Region- United Kingdom, and the format examples at the foot of the page include the time shown in 24-hour format.

In Settings>General>Date & Time the 24-Hour Time toggle is switched on and green.

Never heard the term 'military time' before.

Sorry for the lingo, “military time” is a commonly used term to refer to a 24 hour clock in the US.

It may just be different depending on region. Have you at least tried a hard reboot?

 

[quaffa]

Err... well, I have now!

And... Yippeee! Siri is on 'military time'. Thanks for thinking of the thing that I didn't. Doh!

 

[Itinj24]

Err... well, I have now!

And... Yippeee! Siri is on 'military time'. Thanks for thinking of the thing that I didn't. Doh!

Glad it worked. When in doubt, reboot.

 

[Anuba]

For me it started with 16.4 and affects two iPads and two iPhones. Hard rebooting, as suggested above, does nothing.
Asking Siri for time produces a banner at the top of the screen that reads e.g. ”17:24” but at the bottom of the screen where Siri spells out what she says in text, it reads 5:24am which is of course also how she says it.

Does not happen on Mac, Apple Watch or HomePod mini updated with their respective latest releases, only on iPhones/iPads with iOS/iPadOS 16.4 and 16.4.1.

All these devices are set to Swedish as the primary OS (and Siri) language, with time+regional settings reflecting this (i.e. 24h clock is the default). I’m gonna try switching to US English and activate 24h clock there to see if that might beat it into submission.

Edit: Odd. I changed the Siri language to US English and she now correctly told time in 24h format. Then I switched back to Swedish and it went back to 12hr clock for Siri only. Ironic as 12hr clock is something that maybe 1% of Swedes use…

Edit 2: Odder. When I’m on the Siri settings screen and switch to US English and back to Swedish and ask for the time in Swedish, she responds in 24h time. If I then leave the Siri settings, it flips back to 12hr again.