Now your iPhone understands you even better

Siri, i.e. Apple’s language assistant on iPhone, iPad and Mac, always listens to your word, doesn’t it? Well, there are cases when Siri “closes his ears”. With this useful tip, however, we eliminate a common communication problem – works with both iOS and iPadOS on Apple’s tablet.

With the voice command “Hey Siri”, Apple’s voice assistant comes to life and easily listens to requests and questions. Hassle free? But Siri doesn’t always really listen, namely when the iPhone or iPad with the display is lying on the table or when the screen is covered. Then Siri turns deaf and ignores users. Why is this?

If Siri doesn’t always listen on iPhone and iPad: This is how you can help each other on iOS

The behavior is by Apple so absolutely intendedbecause put the user iPhone and iPad face down on the tablebecome like this avoided duplicate Hey Siri calls, for example, if there is another HomePod in the room. In short: Actually not a bug, more of a feature. Provided that you know about it and don’t just discover the functionality by accident. But it should situations give, where you don’t want itthen Siri should always be listening. Is this even possible?

If you have a new iPhone, you should take a look at our setup guide:

Here Apple hides the solution

We’ll get there, the path leads again over the Accessibility. We can find them in the settings from iOS and iPadOS. We scroll down to the point just mentioned and get to the “special” Siri Settings. Once there, we discover the option “Always listen for “Hey Siri”. Disabled by default, we flip the switch without further ado. Siri is now always listening on iPhone and iPad, even when the screen is facing down or covered.

When practical this could be for example in emergencies if users are unable to get to their iPhone and still want to call for help using Siri. If we activate the feature, we will be better prepared for such cases in the future.