Siri requires phone to be unlocked

[UglyBetty73]

C DM - you may be correct. I have used Siri for other functions when the phone is locked and they have worked.

However, I have an online appointment with Apple on Sunday to look deeper into the issue of Siri requesting the phone be unlocked first before she will read messages.
Apple seems to acknowledge that there is an issue. They will be installing a logging app on the phone to see why Siri hands free for messages does not work.

This is a safety issue while you are driving. If your phone is mounted somewhere in your vehicle and you need to hear and respond to a message, under IOS 14 you will have to take your eyes off the road and at least one hand off the steering wheel to unlock your phone. Safety Issue !!!!!!

This worked as designed under IOS 13 on every device I have. With the installation of IOS 14 hands free Siri and reading messages does not work.

Not only that, but my Ipad Pro 4th Gen is experiencing the exact same problem under IOS 14.

I am not the only one experiencing this problem.

I will wait for Apple's logging program and see what they come up with.

This is definitely a software/firmware issue.

Having the exact same issue. Was on the phone with Apple for a while yesterday, supervisor didn't seem to know what was going on. Had me check all the usual Siri settings. Finally had me restore phone.....which didn't work. He did mention hey thought Apple may have taken this feature away, but of course, why would you tell the Apple support people this so they could help their customers? About to downgrade back to 13 for this issue.

 

[StumpyBloke]

Having the exact same issue. Was on the phone with Apple for a while yesterday, supervisor didn't seem to know what was going on. Had me check all the usual Siri settings. Finally had me restore phone.....which didn't work. He did mention hey thought Apple may have taken this feature away, but of course, why would you tell the Apple support people this so they could help their customers? About to downgrade back to 13 for this issue.

If you do go ahead with a downgrade to iOS 13, will be interesting to see your findings. I still think this is absolutely crazy what they have done.

 

[C DM]

Having the exact same issue. Was on the phone with Apple for a while yesterday, supervisor didn't seem to know what was going on. Had me check all the usual Siri settings. Finally had me restore phone.....which didn't work. He did mention hey thought Apple may have taken this feature away, but of course, why would you tell the Apple support people this so they could help their customers? About to downgrade back to 13 for this issue.

If you do go ahead with a downgrade to iOS 13, will be interesting to see your findings. I still think this is absolutely crazy what they have done.

Not sure how much of an option downgrading would be given that Apple stopped signing iOS 13 a little while ago.

 

[StumpyBloke]

Not sure how much of an option downgrading would be given that Apple stopped signing iOS 13 a little while ago.

They did? Oh %$€*

 

[C DM]

They did? Oh %$€*

Apple Stops Signing iOS 13.7 After Releasing iOS 14, Downgrading No Longer Possible

Following the release of iOS 14 last Wednesday, Apple has stopped signing iOS 13.7, which means downgrading to iOS 13 after upgrading to iOS 14 is no...

www.macrumors.com

They even stopped signing iOS 14.0 now that iOS 14.0.1 is out:

Apple Stops Signing iOS 14 After Releasing iOS 14.0.1

Following the release of iOS 14.0.1 on Thursday, September 24, Apple has stopped signing iOS 14, which means downgrading to the launch version of iOS...

www.macrumors.com

 

[snifferpro]

From everything I have read, downgrading is not an option, But I would bet that Apple tech support can do this for you, but you will probably lose all your setting s and everything else.

If I were you, I would wait till I get an official update from Apple.

When I first contacted support on Sunday, )(/27/20 the first tech went through every setting that might affect this issue.
Not finding anything wrong with my settings I was handed off to a highr level teck.

He attached to my phone remotely an again went through all the motions of checking settings.

He found nothing wrong and said he will escalate the issue.

I have an online appointment with Apple Support on 10/04/20. At that time, the tech will install a logging program that
will log everything I do and especially the Siri hands free option of reading messages.

Hopefully they will find the issue and correct it in an upcoming update to IOS 14.

I don't believe this is an intentional removal of a function that was working on IOS 13.

I beliewve that this is a bug that affects newer Iphones and Ipads.

I have an iphone SE 2020 version and a IPAD Pro, 4th Gen that both experiance this issue.

Others have also experienced a problem with Siri and hands free reading messages.

Apple probably has the ability to downgrade your device - but again, you will probably lose all your setting, apps, and anything else you want to save. BACKUP your device as often as possible.

I will update this thread sometime on Sunday after my experience with Apple.

 

[snifferpro]

Just finished with Apple. They connected to phone and verified settings for a third time. Then Installed a Profile app to allow them to get diagnostics of the issue.
I locked the phone and asked Siri to read my last message and got the announcement from Siri that I have to unlock phone.

Did that 4 times, then went to the profile app and it collected the data, compressed it, and sent it to Apple support.

Tech said the fix would likely come with the next update to IOS.

I'll keep all informed.

 

[C DM]

Just finished with Apple. They connected to phone and verified settings for a third time. Then Installed a Profile app to allow them to get diagnostics of the issue.
I locked the phone and asked Siri to read my last message and got the announcement from Siri that I have to unlock phone.

Did that 4 times, then went to the profile app and it collected the data, compressed it, and sent it to Apple support.

Tech said the fix would likely come with the next update to IOS.

I'll keep all informed.

So far it seems like this is a general enough change that is applying to basically everyone that Apple should be able to reproduce it easily on their own.

 

[SisterBlue22]

That’s good to know. Which specific Siri setting or settings did you disable and re-enable? Thanks.

Settings > Siri & Search > Listen for "Hey Siri" is what I toggled off and then on again. That prompted the setup process.

 

[StumpyBloke]

Settings > Siri & Search > Listen for "Hey Siri" is what I toggled off and then on again. That prompted the setup process.

Thanks. Did all that but still no good. Siri’s taken a real step back in usefulness. It was pretty **** before but it’s a dunce in the slow-lane now. It’s embarrassing how unreliable Siri is compared to Alexa and google.

 

[lukester]

I have tried everything I know and siri will not read or send messages on a locked phone. Security reason???
Hey we are grown people we can decide if we want to use that function or not.
leftisits!

 

[C DM]

I have tried everything I know and siri will not read or send messages on a locked phone. Security reason???
Hey we are grown people we can decide if we want to use that function or not.
leftisits!

Or perhaps simply a bug of some sort?

 

[Jett0516]

Siri told me to set the home app personal requests to "on". Did that and now siri reads messages when locked. ?‍♂️

 

[C DM]

Siri told me to set the home app personal requests to "on". Did that and now siri reads messages when locked. ?‍♂️

What did you have to do for that? Use the Home app and change some setting in it? Something else?

 

[gwang73]

What did you have to do for that? Use the Home app and change some setting in it? Something else?

Yeah, you can change the setting in the home app.
Home App-->Home Settings-->People-->Personal Requests-->Require Authentication

 

[C DM]

Yeah, you can change the setting in the home app.
Home App-->Home Settings-->People-->Personal Requests-->Require Authentication

Ingesting. I don't have any HomeKit devices or HomePod or anything like that so I don't even have the Home app installed. It would seem rather odd if that somehow controlled how Siri works on an iPhone.

 

[gwang73]

Ingesting. I don't have any HomeKit devices or HomePod or anything like that so I don't even have the Home app installed. It would seem rather odd if that somehow controlled how Siri works on an iPhone.

Yeah, it's weird for sure but worked. Siri will read messages, etc. on my phone and HomePod without me needing to unlock the phone first

 

[StumpyBloke]

Yeah, it's weird for sure but worked. Siri will read messages, etc. on my phone and HomePod without me needing to unlock the phone first

I tried that awhile ago and it still doesn’t work for me unfortunately. Glad it works for you though. Out of interest, what is the exact command that you are saying to Siri to ask her to read your messages.

Whilst at home, If I say “hey Siri read my messages” or “hey Siri do I have any unread messages” the HomePod says absolutely nothing, not a beep just silence.

Thanks.

 

[gwang73]

I tried that awhile ago and it still doesn’t work for me unfortunately. Glad it works for you though. Out of interest, what is the exact command that you are saying to Siri to ask her to read your messages.

Whilst at home, If I say “hey Siri read my messages” or “hey Siri do I have any unread messages” the HomePod says absolutely nothing, not a beep just silence.

Thanks.

I typically use, "hey Siri, add to my grocery list", "hey Siri, read me my grocery list" or, "hey Siri, read me my messages".
My grocery list is a reminders list named grocery list.

It sometimes returns an error saying to enable personal requests and I've noticed that this usually happens after I apply an update to the HomePod or iPhone even though my settings haven't changed. I can sometimes clear the error by saying, "hey Siri, who am I" and she usually responds with the correct name and personal requests starts working again. Other times I'll need to toggle the settings in the home app.

 

[StumpyBloke]

Thanks for the reply. Just doesn’t work. I’m met with absolute silence when I ask that exact phrase/question. I’ve reset both phone and HomePod. You’re not on HomePod 14 beta by any chance? I’m not, I’m on the latest public releases.

 

[gwang73]

Thanks for the reply. Just doesn’t work. I’m met with absolute silence when I ask that exact phrase/question. I’ve reset both phone and HomePod. You’re not on HomePod 14 beta by any chance? I’m not, I’m on the latest public releases.

That's strange it's not working for you. My HomePod is running 13.4.8 and my iPhone is on 14.2 b2.
I assume both devices are on the same network?

 

[StumpyBloke]

That's strange it's not working for you. My HomePod is running 13.4.8 and my iPhone is on 14.2 b2.
I assume both devices are on the same network?

Yes both on the same network. I wonder if 14.2 beta 2 has fixed the issue then?

 

[lukester]

We should have lots of people bugging apple about this to have a switch added under messages to turn on or off using Seri. Right???!!

I need it while riding my motorcycle

 

[gwang73]

Yes both on the same network. I wonder if 14.2 beta 2 has fixed the issue then?

Could be... I never loaded 14.0.1 so can't comment on that release.

 

[UglyBetty73]

So far it seems like this is a general enough change that is applying to basically everyone that Apple should be able to reproduce it easily on their own.

Got this response from Apple Support today.