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HomePod Siri is too quiet on the HomePod mini

symphony

symphony

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 25, 2016
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Yes, you can ask Siri to raise the HomePod mini volume up even higher, but the music level will be even louder.

What I mean is the Siri volume and general audio level don’t match.

Last night, I was playing music all night at an above-average volume level, but when I talk to Siri I couldn’t even hear her. My iPhone’s Siri volume was louder than her and I swear the HomePod mini was set to 80%.
 
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I agree with this. We should be reporting this to Apple. It’s either a bug or feature request. In a large room where you aren’t near the HomePod, it’s hard to hear Siri.
 
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On the HomePod you can control Siri volume and the speaker volume independently. Are you saying this doesn’t work for the mini?

The commands are “hey Siri, change *your* volume to X%” vs “hey Siri change *the* volume to X%” in case you don’t already know!
 
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okieoutwest said:
On the HomePod you can control Siri volume and the speaker volume independently. Are you saying this doesn’t work for the mini?

The commands are “hey Siri, change *your* volume to X%” vs “hey Siri change *the* volume to X%” in case you don’t already know!
Click to expand...

Both of these commands still raise the Music volumes to the same level.
 
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I know I've used this successfully but it does seem fiddly and mixed success stories are out there.

It isn't a setting that Siri seems to remember for a long time. That is, if I change the HomePod volume I will often have to change Siri's volume again. That seems to match some of the other stories out there.

@ZeChild if it works for you, great! :)

Here's another discussion where it works then doesn't

How to control Siri voice volume on HomeP… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com discussions.apple.com
 
okieoutwest said:
On the HomePod you can control Siri volume and the speaker volume independently. Are you saying this doesn’t work for the mini?

The commands are “hey Siri, change *your* volume to X%” vs “hey Siri change *the* volume to X%” in case you don’t already know!
Click to expand...
HomePod only uses one volume level for Siri volume and audio playback volume.

The iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, can have different volumes for ringer, call volume, audio playback, navigation, etc, and even on different peripherals.

Mac has a separate volume levels for sound effects and audio playback.

Apple TV and HomePod use only one volume level for Siri and audio playback.

So your method doesn’t work because the Siri volume is tied to the music playback.
 
To be honest the settings for the HomePod Mini in the Home app seem quite limited from what I remember the HomePod having, maybe it's me or the Home app has been refined since I had full size HomePods, either way it'd be useful to have a setting for Siri's volume in there.
 
melancholy said:
HomePod only uses one volume level for Siri volume and audio playback volume.

The iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, can have different volumes for ringer, call volume, audio playback, navigation, etc, and even on different peripherals.

Mac has a separate volume levels for sound effects and audio playback.

Apple TV and HomePod use only one volume level for Siri and audio playback.

So your method doesn’t work because the Siri volume is tied to the music playback.
Click to expand...
Yes, you're right and I retract my earlier comment. I was sure this worked previously from my own experiences and corroborated by that other comment on Apple's forum but tried it just now and it is as you say! Thanks, I've updated my mental model for Siri on HomePod.
 
I have the same problem with the regular HomePod. I guess Siri’s volume changed with the new firmware update. She’s far too quiet now.
 
Yeah same issue here, however if I restart the HomePod Mini Siri is at an adequate volume but soon after goes quiet again.
 
okieoutwest said:
On the HomePod you can control Siri volume and the speaker volume independently. Are you saying this doesn’t work for the mini?

The commands are “hey Siri, change *your* volume to X%” vs “hey Siri change *the* volume to X%” in case you don’t already know!
Click to expand...

that has never been the case, on both HomePod and HomePod mini the volume of Siri and music is always the same and both of those commands will change the same value.
 
After speaking with apple support, the fix was:

The command:
“hey Siri, change your volume to 70 percent”
"Oye Siri sube TU volumen al 70%" (Spanish)

This will also turn up the volume of the intercom.
 
bernardo.melo said:
After speaking with apple support, the fix was:

The command:
“hey Siri, change your volume to 70 percent”
"Oye Siri sube TU volumen al 70%" (Spanish)

This will also turn up the volume of the intercom.
Click to expand...
So this does work, without changing music volume?
 
Th
bernardo.melo said:
After speaking with apple support, the fix was:

The command:
“hey Siri, change your volume to 70 percent”
"Oye Siri sube TU volumen al 70%" (Spanish)

This will also turn up the volume of the intercom.
Click to expand...
This will also change the volume of the HomePod so it isn’t a fix unfortunately
 
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Same problem. What I want is to set a fixed volume for Siri and intercom that’s independent of the main device music volume. From a development standpoint this should be ridiculously simple for Apple to implement.

And, since the HomePods have microphones another enhancement might be to measure the ambient sound in the room and bias the volume. For example, you’re watching the game on tv, it makes the room dirtier (sound wise) so increase Siri/IC volume.

To take that a step further, if I’m watching something on my Apple TV in the same room, lower (duck) the volume or pause the source while interacting, then resume when done.
 
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I googled this same issue and led me to this this forum (which I read the site almost daily 😄 😄 ). I guess it would be great if there was a toggle in each HP/HPM's settings that stated something like "Match Siri Volume with Media Volume" or "Separate Volume Controls For Siri and Media." We like to keep our office HPM media volume around 25% but Siri's volume at 67%...
 
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Got my HPM yesterday and really have a hard time understanding Siri. The music sounds full and well balanced but her voice sounds so flat and thin. Siri sounds better on my iPhone compared to the HPM.

Apple needs to work on her voice. It's just not usable at this point.
 
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So, I ask Siri to raise "your" volume to 80%. Siri responds at an 80% volume saying "I'll speak up." Awesome I think. Then I ask Siri about anything and it answers at a barely audible volume. So, it loudly says, "I'll speak up." But then it absolutely doesn't.

Siri is so badly engineered.
 
Be careful what you ask for as I have the reverse complaint, in that Siri is far too loud on the big HomePod.

Siri voice level is quite a bit less shouty on the Mini.
 
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