Siri won’t turn on my iPhone 16 flashlight when locked with iOS 18.4.1

W-Sky wrote:

What the point asking Siri when I have the phone in my hand, I need Siri at least to turn on flashlight or call someone in case I have emergency and make me can’t reach the phone to unlock it.

The point is pretty simple. Even if you have your phone in your hand, your other hand might be holding something, so you may not be able to touch your phone to open Control Center, or use the Flashlight from the lock screen, so you can at least look at your phone and ask Siri to turn on the Flashlight.

IdrisSeabright wrote:

Just another data point. I just turned my locked phone away from me and asked it to turn on the flashlight. It worked. I tested it with the phone attached to the charger and not.

iPhone 15 Pro, iOS 18.4.1

I find this odd behavior. It doesn't work on both our iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. I don't recall it ever working on our 15 Pro or Pro Max.

Do me a favor, please. Place your phone away from you, with the face of screen down on a flat surface and leave it there for a couple minutes (I'm wondering if your screen opened by movement), then ask Siri to turn on the flashlight.

lobsterghost1 wrote:

It didn't work for me at all, even if the phone is perpendicular, locked and it can't see your face. I don't think it's supposed to work.

It's very consistent. It works if the phone is at or close to perpendicular. Less than that, it doesn't work. I cannot unequivocally state whether or not this is expected behavior.

I obviously spent far more time playing with this than I should have, given that I'm supposed to be working!

IdrisSeabright wrote:

lobsterghost1 wrote:

It didn't work for me at all, even if the phone is perpendicular, locked and it can't see your face. I don't think it's supposed to work.

It's very consistent. It works if the phone is at or close to perpendicular. Less than that, it doesn't work. I cannot unequivocally state whether or not this is expected behavior.

I obviously spent far more time playing with this than I should have, given that I'm supposed to be working!

Me too, so thank you for taking your time. For me, I hardly EVER use the flashlight on my iPhone. It works when I purposely turn it on, which is all I honestly need it to do.

lobsterghost1 wrote:

Me too, so thank you for taking your time. For me, I hardly EVER use the flashlight on my iPhone. It works when I purposely turn it on, which is all I honestly need it to do.

I always like a good experiment.

I use the flashlight occasionally, but I think always turn it on using the button on the lock screen.

IdrisSeabright wrote:

lobsterghost1 wrote:

Me too, so thank you for taking your time. For me, I hardly EVER use the flashlight on my iPhone. It works when I purposely turn it on, which is all I honestly need it to do.

I always like a good experiment.

I use the flashlight occasionally, but I think always turn it on using the button on the lock screen.

Me too. Sometimes, old school isn't bad school!

Works here, too. Thumb over Face ID, I get the shimmer for Siri, and then the torch blazes.

Interesting. It doesn't work for me, unless I'm looking at the phone. I'll have to play more with it. Siri is enabled everywhere Siri can be on my iPhone.

lobsterghost1 wrote:

OK. Was the screen active or locked?

Locked and dimmed, face up, thumb over the island, Siri enabled in the lock screen.

It didn't work for me at all, even if the phone is perpendicular, locked and it can't see your face. I don't think it's supposed to work.