mccancemm

Q: Siri on Apple Watch doesn't recognize relationships

Asking Siri on my Apple Watch to send a message to any relationships (wife, mom, sister) results in a response of "I don't know who your [wife/mom/sister] is... but we can set that up now" and it then gives me the option to "Continue on iPhone." I hit that button and then on my iPhone a message is prepared for my wife/mom/sister. So clearly my iPhone recognizes the relationship but for some reason the Watch doesn't.

 

I'm on watchOS 2 and have tried resetting both devices, deleting my relationship contacts and adding them back. I've searched the forums and have found at least one other person with this issue and his case was solved by Apple Care by having him delete the title field in his contacts, but that's not the case for me. Thanks for any help.

Apple Watch, watchOS 2

Posted on Sep 27, 2015 11:26 AM

Close

Q: Siri on Apple Watch doesn't recognize relationships

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Jonathan UK,

    Jonathan UK Jonathan UK Sep 27, 2015 11:42 AM in response to mccancemm
    Level 8 (36,432 points)
    Apple Watch
    Sep 27, 2015 11:42 AM in response to mccancemm

    Hi

     

    Try these steps:

     

    • On your iPhone: in the Contacts app, tap on your name at the top of the All Contacts list (My Card):
      • Check that your contact card contains your name, Apple ID email address and iPhone phone number.
      • Tap on Edit (top right) and scroll down to the Related names / Add related names section. If they are not already configured, tap on the plus symbol to specify related names for each relationship (adding new contact cards for each, if they do not already exist).
      • On your iPhone: Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > scroll to the Contacts section > check that My Info is using your contact card.
      • On your iPhone: Settings > General > Siri > My Info - check that your own contact card is selected.
      • On your Apple Watch: ask Siri "what is my name?"


      Having made any corrections: on your iPhone, in the Apple Watch app, go to My Watch > General > Reset > tap on Reset Sync Data. This process runs in the background / invisibly to the user, so allow a minute or two for this to complete.


      Then restart both your iPhone and your watch. Turn them both off first, then restart your iPhone first:

      - To turn your watch off: press and hold the side button until you see the Power Off slider; drag the slider to turn off.

      - To turn it back on: press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo.

    • by Peter C. Bruells,

      Peter C. Bruells Peter C. Bruells Oct 5, 2015 11:24 PM in response to Jonathan UK
      Level 1 (0 points)
      Oct 5, 2015 11:24 PM in response to Jonathan UK

      Thanks for those tips, as I have the same problem as the original poster. Siri Watch forgot who my wife is. 

       

      Yet, I did anything you recommended exactly the way you described, made also sure that I had only one card containing my information in the contacts list and yet Siri Watch claims that it doesn't know who my wife is, while Siri Phone and Siri iPad do. 

    • by Jonathan UK,

      Jonathan UK Jonathan UK Oct 6, 2015 2:35 AM in response to Peter C. Bruells
      Level 8 (36,432 points)
      Apple Watch
      Oct 6, 2015 2:35 AM in response to Peter C. Bruells

      Hi - try also:

       

      On your iPhone, go to: Settings > General > Siri - disable, pause for a few moments and then re-enable Siri.

       

      A restart of both devices afterwards may also help.

    • by Peter C. Bruells,

      Peter C. Bruells Peter C. Bruells Oct 7, 2015 1:52 AM in response to Jonathan UK
      Level 1 (0 points)
      Oct 7, 2015 1:52 AM in response to Jonathan UK

      Thanks again, tried that, too.

       

      Doesn't help.  It's quite maddening.

       

      I: “Message to my wife This is a test“   (In German, of course, English text back-translated)

       

      Text gets recognized perfectly.

       

      Siri: “I don't know who your wife is, to whom should I send the message.”

       

      I: <My wife's complete name, a moderately complex double name>

       

      Siri: “I can't  find <perfectly recognozied name including the hyphen> in cour contact list.… ”


      *Sigh*

    • by Jonathan UK,

      Jonathan UK Jonathan UK Oct 7, 2015 3:03 AM in response to mccancemm
      Level 8 (36,432 points)
      Apple Watch
      Oct 7, 2015 3:03 AM in response to mccancemm

      Try also these steps:

       

      Check that iCloud Contacts is enabled on your iPhone (and other devices):

      - iPhone, iPad, iPod touch: Settings > iCloud - enable Contacts.

      - OS X: System Preferences > iCloud - check the box next to Contacts.

       

      Follow the instructions here to check that your wife's contact details are stored within your iCloud account:

      Get help using iCloud Contacts - Apple Support

       

      After making any changes, it may help to:

      - Close and restart the Contacts app on your iPhone (to close it, double-press the Home button and swipe up on the app preview).

      - Reset sync data (Apple Watch app: My Watch > General > Reset > tap on Reset Sync Data).

    • by Salamandercc,

      Salamandercc Salamandercc Oct 7, 2015 6:48 AM in response to mccancemm
      Level 1 (0 points)
      Oct 7, 2015 6:48 AM in response to mccancemm

      I Had the same issue.

       

      i solved it by putting my wife,s first and last name together on the first name row in the contacts app.

       

      EXample

      first name: Jennifer

      last name: Rogers

       

      become

      first name: Jennifer Rogers

       

      this applies to all relationships.

    • by Saniok,

      Saniok Saniok Oct 7, 2015 2:06 PM in response to mccancemm
      Level 1 (0 points)
      Oct 7, 2015 2:06 PM in response to mccancemm

      Do you tries to open Contacts app -> select your for example wife contact -> Edit -> add related name -> and here select your wife's contact and select "wife".

       

      It works for me

    • by marcelostanzani,

      marcelostanzani marcelostanzani Nov 24, 2015 9:50 AM in response to Jonathan UK
      Level 1 (0 points)
      Nov 24, 2015 9:50 AM in response to Jonathan UK

      Thank you! It worked perfectly for me!

    • by Jonathan UK,

      Jonathan UK Jonathan UK Nov 24, 2015 4:03 PM in response to marcelostanzani
      Level 8 (36,432 points)
      Apple Watch
      Nov 24, 2015 4:03 PM in response to marcelostanzani

      You're welcome!

    • by Otis730,

      Otis730 Otis730 Jan 18, 2016 3:42 PM in response to Jonathan UK
      Level 1 (0 points)
      Jan 18, 2016 3:42 PM in response to Jonathan UK

      HI

       

      had this problem when I initially upgraded to 2.0.  Followed the instructions and it fixed the problem. Did most recent update this weekend and having same issue again.  Tried all of the same troubleshooting and still having problem.  guessing the update is causing it.  Are there any new fixes?  Watch knows who I am, but doesn't recognize relationships.  Siri on phone recognizes all of them.

       

      any thoughts would be appreciated.

    • by Danoslc,

      Danoslc Danoslc Mar 6, 2016 6:56 AM in response to Salamandercc
      Level 1 (0 points)
      Mar 6, 2016 6:56 AM in response to Salamandercc

      Changing how my wife's name was listed in contacts also corrected mine issue with my watch not knowing who my wife was (but my phone worked find).

      Originally I had it as Last: "Matheney"

      First: "Wendy"

      I changed it to First "Wendy Matheney"

      then tried, Last "Wendy Matheney"

      Then if finally worked when I changed it to, Last: "Matheney Wendy" (all on the same line of the "last name" in contacts).

    • by tayfuniper,

      tayfuniper tayfuniper Jun 20, 2016 5:01 AM in response to Jonathan UK
      Level 1 (8 points)
      Jun 20, 2016 5:01 AM in response to Jonathan UK

      I Had the same issue and this worked for me.

       

      Thank you.

    • by Jonathan UK,

      Jonathan UK Jonathan UK Jun 20, 2016 5:06 AM in response to tayfuniper
      Level 8 (36,432 points)
      Apple Watch
      Jun 20, 2016 5:06 AM in response to tayfuniper

      Glad to have helped!

    • by LemonChicken,

      LemonChicken LemonChicken Sep 27, 2016 12:06 PM in response to mccancemm
      Level 1 (4 points)
      Sep 27, 2016 12:06 PM in response to mccancemm

      I have an Apple Watch Series 2, Watch iOS 3 of course. Same exact problem.

       

      If I ask Siri to send a text message to <my wife's name>, no problem.

      IF I ask Siri who my wife is, it says 'I don't know who <my wife's name" is. Weird. It's like it recognizes part of the data in Relationship.

      If I ask Siri to send a text message to my wife, she says she is not in the contact list.

       

      Per previous poster, I removed First and Middle names from the contacts and placed them in the last name field as follows; <Last First>. Then I resynced the calendar and contacts on the watch via My Watch app on my phone. Voila! It works now. Hopefully Apple will get this bug corrected on an update but at least this work around, although not elegant by any means, allows you to use Siri with the relationships.

       

      Get it fixed Apple Progam/Code Engineers!

       

      Cheers!