Why has Siri become significantly dumber with each iteration of iOS?

It's not always the iOS update's fault!  Many things can cause phone problems.  If you tell people you think it's an iOS update, it might make it harder to fix or find a solution for the real issue.

Remember, the right question often leads to the solution! Please look in the right direction.

iOS updates aim to enhance user experience, boost security, and fix bugs rather than disrupt core features. The majority of the issues after updates might stem from underlying, unmentioned factors. Updates won't typically alter personal data but may refine settings or features. Backup before major updates for safety. Review Apple's update details and backup advice for a smooth process.

Kindly consider checking your settings and addressing any device issues before attributing the issue to external factors. This could be a pure coincidence that the iOS update affected the iPhone functions.

Before initiating a standard iOS update, it's advisable to create a backup. Have you completed this step? If yes, proceed with the restoration from the backup.

See what each update does: About iOS 17 Updates, About iOS 16 Updates, About iOS 15 Updates, About iOS 14 Updates, About iOS 13 Updates, About iOS 12 Updates, and so on...

Here's another one,

For years I've been able to say simply "Hey Siri, lights" and the lights I have connected to homekit for the room I am in (with the homepod in it and all correctly configured) will turn on or off, they'll "flip" essentially.

Now every single time all I get is "yeah sure, on or off?". Why would I want you to turn off the lights if they are already off? Didn't the most recent update to Homekit allow better synching of device statuses? So why the user experience degradation?

Did Siri become an adolescent? I’ve asked Siri some questions recently…Siri says, “Uh-huh?” after I’m done with the question, like I didn’t say anything and Siri’s waiting patiently…I ask again, Siri just shuts off. It’s like asking one of my teenagers a question while they’re on their phone!

I have another one as well. I use Siri while I’m driving to read my text messages out loud and respond to them. This has worked flawlessly in the past with my iPhone 8 and with previous versions of iOS on my iPhone 13. However, now when I ask Siri to send a message to someone it responds with ‘what do you want to say?’, I then dictate the message and where it used to repeat the message to me and then ask me if I want to send it, it now repeats the message to me and somewhere in the middle of it pauses, and then simply stops working. I can sometimes reactivate it by giving the same command and eventually get the message sent but it’s aggravating.

I feel it got dumber as well. I've been using "Play the most popular songs by ARTIST NAME" for years. For the last couple of months (half a year maybe) I feel like Apple has made it dumber so that users buy new iPhones that will support Apple Intelligence with iOS 18. Now it plays some random songs, not like the most popular ones like it used to do. It used to play 25 most popular songs on Apple Music.