Siri says “You need to unlock your iPhone first”

There was this same issue With iOS 13.3 reported back in January. Even though the setting is to allow Siri while locked, Siri disregards it. I even went further and allowed USB devices while locked thinking that it may be the problem with the Bluetooth device. So the issue is still there, and that is a MAJOR inconvenience. I discovered this while riding my motorcycle. And for me the only way to communicate if needed is through voice activated commands. And no, the recommendations to reset the phone do not solve it. So it would be nice to know what exactly Apple is planning to do to solve it. I mean apart from ignoring the problem as usual.

iPhone 7 Plus, iOS 13

Posted on Jul 30, 2020 3:42 PM

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Posted on May 19, 2021 4:42 AM

SOLVED - Controlling Siri from Cardo Packtalk (or other) motorcycle headset: I have a Cardo Packtalk that I use as a headset when I ride. I’ve only had it about 6 months and could never get it to work with Siri. You’re supposed to say “Hey Siri” to wake up Siri on your phone to accept commands. I’d do this and the phone would acknowledge that I’d spoken to Siri, but then there would be a long pause (up to a minute) and then my phone would say “something has gone wrong” and would go back to streaming music or whatever I was doing before.


I confirmed that the “allow Siri while locked” setting was turned on in Siri settings. Last weekend, I started checking EVERYTHING in frustration and looked in my Bluetooth devices. The Packtalk Bold was listed there so I touched the “i” to check for further settings. Under the name of the device, it said “Device Type”, with no value there. I touched on that and was presented with several options: Car Stereo, Headphone, Hearing Aid, Speaker, and Other. None were checked. I selected “Headphone” and now it works perfectly!


The problem was that because the phone didn’t see the Cardo as a headset, the “Hey Siri” command was being passed to the phone from the Cardo unit, but the phone was then waiting on the command on the phone microphone instead of the Cardo. That’s why there was the long pause after initiating the command, while it waited. Now that it sees the Cardo as a headphone, it accepts the Siri commands through it.


This seems to be a new iOS setting (back to version 13 or 14). Good luck!

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Siri says “You need to unlock your iPhone first”

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