Siri issues on AW

[bgrace]

Whenever I invoke Siri on my Apple Watch Series 2 after not having used her for a little while, it says “Hold on...” on the screen before I even complete my query; it eventually asks me to repeat the query and I have to invoke Siri again by pushing in the Digital Crown. Other times, it takes Siri a long time to complete a request (e.g. play a certain song) even when I am connected to a Wifi or have a strong cellular connection. Just seems like Siri was more stable overall in watchOS 3 than in watchOS 4. Has anyone else experienced these issues? I wonder if Siri is any better on AW Series 3.

 

[44267547]

I think it's software related. Siri is also server based as well. However, you could try disabling Siri, then re-enable and see if this makes a difference.

 

[cybersheep]

I'm also seeing this "Hold on.." message on my S3 while trying to use Siri.

 

[dave006]

Depending on what you want Siri to assist with it almost always has to connect to the Apple servers via the Internet. If your watch is connected to your iPhone via Bluetooth it takes a little longer to establish the server connection vs your watch directly on Wi-Fi.

Dave

 

[Newtons Apple]

Never seen this "HOLD" thing from my AW3 when using Siri.

 

[dave006]

Try something as simple as Hey Siri Start Walk ... wait for the walk to start and then say Hey Siri Pause Walk.. It will respond with Hang on... I'll tap you when I am ready.

Dave

 

[TheWizard4]

Same here, unfortunately.

I was using AW Series 2 previously, this was not an issue. I believe it is software related.

 

[YatBob]

See this often when asking Siri to set a timer

 

[DeepIn2U]

I'm also seeing this "Hold on.." message on my S3 while trying to use Siri.

I’ve seen this occur only once and I was in my home wifi (5ghz) network. There was a router hiccup where the ssid lost broadcasting signal.

Same here, unfortunately.

I was using AW Series 2 previously, this was not an issue. I believe it is software related.

I’m still on AWS2 and I don’t think it’s an issue with software as you may think. This maybe related not to bandwidth itself onAW S3 LTE but to the carrier networks latency with connection to the towers or moreover latency in getting a data pipe outbound to Apple and back again. That delay or latency I think is the issue.

Is the carrier(s) allocating very low bandwidth and higher latency times to Apple Watch on LTE vs smartphones for data while voice is still not VoLTE? Just curious.

 

[dave006]

No, the LTE watch is treated just like any other Smartphone on the carrier network. It has it's own phone number and you even get to pay the 911 fee. The LTE watch only supports LTE with UMTS as a fallback on select carriers. For example Bell in Canada only supports LTE, no fallback to UMTS.

Here in the USA, AT&T and T-Mobile support LTE with fallback to UMTS. Verizon and Sprint don't support UMTS fallback. Here is a link to the carriers that support the LTE watch and any carrier limitations.

Link: https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/

Siri responding with an initial "Hold on..." can happen on Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and LTE. I have had it happen on all 3 at different times with different Siri queries.

Dave

 

[waw74]

Apple Watch Series 2 ..... even when I am connected to a Wifi or have a strong cellular connection

I'm assuming the connection is on your phone?
the watch still has to connect to the phone, to forward the request.
my guess is, it has to open a higher power connection to forward the audio. than the standard low power (and battery friendly) connection it keeps open for data.

Depending on what you want Siri to assist with it almost always has to connect to the Apple servers via the Internet

not almost always
it always does.

-----
the watch will pick the lowest power connection it can...
in order from low to high...

bluetooth to phone
wi-fi (2.4g only)
cellular.

so as long as your phone is around, it's using whatever your phone is connected to, so the latency would be whatever your phone has.