Dictation and Siri stopped in iOS 16

Hello,

Is there a new known bug in iOS 16.0.2 (or just 16) with dictation and Siri, where the microphone does not work as expected?

Siri does not hear “Hey Siri” even though it is turned on, and if I use the side button to activate Siri, it responds with “something went wrong.”

Switching the iPhone language, and Siri language, and keyboard language all to “English UK” seems to fix the problem, but I’m trying to find out if this is a known issue that will be fixed in a future update.

Dictation and Siri was working yesterday, and I haven’t changed anything, although my phone might have auto-updated to 16.0.2.

The microphone works fine in Voice Memos and in translation apps, so I know it’s not a physical problem with the microphone.

Restarting the phone did not help.

Also, the “fix“ of switching to “English UK“ is working for me currently, but if I switch back to “English US“ the problem returns.

I contacted Apple Support, but they didn’t know about the problem, and so they sent me here, and to the feedback link (which I also submitted in).

Here are two other recent threads with the same problem:

Siri does not work on ios 16 | Apple Developer Forums

https://www.reddit.com/r/iOSBeta/comments/x9cn5x/ios_16_rc_dictation_has_stopped_working/

Posted on Sep 29, 2022 7:09 AM

Top-ranking reply

zdip2012

Level 1

8 points

Posted on Oct 26, 2022 8:08 PM

I’ve been having the same issue and saw a response where a user went in and corrected their Siri settings for the preferred language to be “English (US).“ I noticed that mine had changed when the iOS 16 update took place where my default language was identified to be “English (South African).” This was most likely due to me having the voice of Siri be South African. I had to toggle the voice setting back to South African after the correction to English (US). It seems to be working now.

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36 replies

Oct 12, 2022 11:49 AM in response to LEGO Damashii

Adding a couple more data points fwiw. I switched back to English US, and dictation and Siri randomly started working again for about a week, until today.

Now it’s broken again and neither Siri nor dictation work, even switching to English UK.

I tried upgrading to 6.0.3 but that did nothing to help.

It definitely seems like something is in the way of the microphone. The “Working… Still on it… Something went wrong” response is the same as if you activate Siri with the power button but don’t say anything.

Also, when I tap the dictation microphone icon, I get a haptic bump, but nothing I say appears on screen.

Oct 27, 2022 12:23 PM in response to LEGO Damashii

I have this same issue as it appears so do many others. I have an iPhone 12 Pro Max and ever since upgrading to v16.0.3 I've not been able to use Siri nor dictation for the en_US locale (US English). The workaround being spoken about does work by switching to UK English, but this is not sustainable as you have to switch the dictation locale EVERY time you want to dictate something.

This is a HUGE bug that Apple needs to address immediately. Pretty surprised this got missed by QA. Please fix this immediately and thank you!

Oct 4, 2022 4:02 PM in response to LEGO Damashii

I have the same problem. I used to use dictation when I type in multiple languages (English - UK, French - France and Cantonese - Hong Kong). And after I have updated to the latest version of IOS 16, dictation of all languages becomes not working at all.

Even my Siri is not working. Actually I can use the Hey Siri function in Cantonese - Hong Kong. But when I speak anything or tell Siri any request after I said 'Hey Siri' and Siri responded to me, Siri always processes so long and says 'An error has occurred, please try again'.

I think the Siri and Dictation function has bugs and cannot detect what I have said to both Siri and keyboard dictation, given the fact that my microphone is definitely operating normally!

Siri and Dictation is not working in iOS … - Apple Community

Oct 11, 2022 6:54 AM in response to BxNaz

I was told to download 16.0.3. Didn't work, still have to use English (UK). Frustrating. It works for Google, and English (UK) now works for texting and emails, but I can't get Siri to make a call or send a text.

Oct 24, 2022 6:53 AM in response to Stankytrixter

I’d appreciate a long term followup, Stanky. My switch to British worked, and as stated here, moving back to American returned to normal functionality… for a day or so, then back to Siri going deaf.

I’m hoping 16.1 which releases today will fix this. Barring that, continued discussion here would be helpful.

Sashf4

Level 1

8 points

Oct 19, 2022 6:34 AM in response to Giggittyy

They had me factory reset my phone and reset all of my settings before telling me it was a known issue 🙃

Oct 6, 2022 3:57 AM in response to LEGO Damashii

I have the same issue with my dictation….. turned my keyboard from English uk to English us and that has helped with the text issues however Siri is still saying g one minute, somethings went wrong etc

Oct 19, 2022 12:10 PM in response to Giggittyy

It took me a while to figure out, but “period” doesn’t work because that’s not what they call it in British English.. use “full stop”. I’m not sure about new line. Maybe carriage return?

In any case, the UK hack didn’t recognize me as well, and now it has stopped working as well.

23Badger

Level 1

4 points

Oct 4, 2022 9:16 AM in response to Glo58

This doesn’t seem to fix it if you’re already set to English-UK.

Glo58

Level 1

17 points

Oct 4, 2022 4:33 PM in response to 23Badger

Oh shoot! I bet not!! Maybe you go to United States🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

BxNaz

Level 1

4 points

Oct 4, 2022 4:42 PM in response to Giggittyy

Having the same issue. Tried everything. Glad I’m not alone. Hope there is a fix because switching to English UK keyboard messes with other things.

Oct 6, 2022 12:21 PM in response to Diane1601

Tried all the above and still times out after “on it” and “still working on it” then “please try again. Restarting occasionally works but then reverts back to issue above.

HBBuzz

Level 1

8 points

Oct 6, 2022 8:58 PM in response to LEGO Damashii

I was able to add the English (UK) keyboard so that I could set the dictation language to English (UK). All within the keyboard settings. Both Siri and Dictation worked if I stuck to these settings.

Anjouljg

Level 1

8 points

Oct 12, 2022 11:51 AM in response to LEGO Damashii

Having the same problem... initially the siri circle shows up and then it cuts off after one second...

Oct 19, 2022 6:46 AM in response to Glo58

Thank you! Switching to UK English language worked for me. iPhone 11 with 16.0.3.

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Dictation and Siri stopped in iOS 16