ghreat

Q: Microphone issues (Siri, dictation & more)

I have an iPhone 6 plus with iOS 8.1.3 and recently I discovered that Siri can't hear me when I am not using a headset.

 

Unless I scream in the top microphone (near the flash) she doesn't register anything at all, and when I do she can't understand me anyway. The sound wave is moving all the time even when I am silent. With my headset plugged in Siri hears me fine and the sound wave is flat when I am silent. Filming with the camera on the screen side of the phone also behaves the same way, I have to be very loud for it to pick up anything but low static.

 

Filming with the back camera is producing clear sound which is louder when I speak close to the top of the phone, so the hardware is fine for the top microphone. Likewise the bottom microphone is working fine with google voice search in the "Google" app, the feedback on the screen shows more indication of sound when I am speaking into the bottom end of the phone.


Dictation doesn't work at all.

Voice messages in iMessage doesn't work at all, static here too.


FaceTime works, most of the time.

I have gotten FT to work with both front and back camera as well as with audio only. But sometimes it goes into the same kind of audio bugs where there is only static and you have to scream to make it pick up any sound at all. I think it is using both microphones. Voice seems to use lower microphone for phone mode, and upper for speaker phone. I can trigger something similar to the "bug" by being loud close to the upper microphone in speaker phone mode. But it resets back into working again if I am silent for a few seconds. It might just be an auto-level function trying to be nice to whoever I am talking to. In phone mode it does never cut off.

 

Snapchat only works with the back facing camera (upper microphone), just as the normal camera app.

 

Shazam works fine (uses bottom microphone).

Voice Memos works fine (uses bottom microphone).

Translate Voice works fine (uses bottom microphone).

Google works fine (as stated above, uses bottom microphone)

 

Since both microphones are working in other apps it seems to be software related. And it is only failing in some apps (Siri, dictation and iMessage voice messages, and sometimes FaceTime). Don't know if it started with iOS 8.1.3 as I almost always use my headphones, but I haven't noticed it before now.

 

I thought it might be a glitch in noise cancellation, but disabling it under Accessibility doesn't make Siri work.

 

I have tried turning Siri on and off again, changing all Siri settings (one at a time),  restarting my phone, resetting my phone (10 seconds of holding down both the sleep/wake and the home button), resetting all settings. Nothing has made any difference yet. Any other suggestions?

iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 8.1.3

Posted on Feb 13, 2015 9:35 PM

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Q: Microphone issues (Siri, dictation & more)

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  • by DiggoPaiva,

    DiggoPaiva DiggoPaiva Apr 25, 2015 3:22 AM in response to rafaelalvesgb
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 25, 2015 3:22 AM in response to rafaelalvesgb

    RAfaela, same problem here.

    BRasil, Iphone 6 Plus a Siri Not working . Anybody fixed?

  • by rochech,

    rochech rochech Apr 29, 2015 4:55 AM in response to DiggoPaiva
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 29, 2015 4:55 AM in response to DiggoPaiva

    Hi, exactly the same problem. I have iOS 8.3, can't really tell when the problem appeared as I don't often use Siri. I hope 8.4 will solve this.

  • by tdagraca,

    tdagraca tdagraca May 18, 2015 8:10 AM in response to ghreat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 18, 2015 8:10 AM in response to ghreat

    Hey ! I hope everyone is doing well. Out of nowhere, I had the same problem happen to my mic. iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 8.3. My phone was in my pocket while i was seating, and sometimes I clean my screen my spraying cleaning solution on it - so the sweat (or cleaning liquid) could have gotten inside the microphone in the earpiece (next to the front facing camera) and disabled it. To test this, try recording a front facing video with sound. If it works, then its not the microphone inside the earpiece. If it's very low, static-like, fuzzy, or not working at all, its the mic. I tried tapping it with my finger to no avail, and then I took my phone, held it normally and tapped it against my thigh a couple times... it WORKED! AT FIRST, it made the sound a little better. Then I did some more taps and it fixed it. I can't tell, however, if the sound now has more "Hiss"/white noise than before, (like in all videos...there is that Hum") but over all it sounds much MUCH better. I believe it is back to normal.

    Don't break your phone people!

  • by feliciagomez,

    feliciagomez feliciagomez Jun 3, 2015 3:48 AM in response to ghreat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 3, 2015 3:48 AM in response to ghreat

    I am having this EXACT problem. After I updated as well, I started having this issue. Google search picks up dictation just find. Siri can't anymore :/ My front mic can't do anything. My back mic works just fine. I dropped my phone and it has some scratches(a few months ago) so I doubt mine can be replaced I really hope they update iOS...

  • by Noah Diehl,

    Noah Diehl Noah Diehl Jul 7, 2015 10:48 AM in response to Michaelfengdayu
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 7, 2015 10:48 AM in response to Michaelfengdayu

    THIS DID IT! Thank you for helping with this problem. I hate that most people on the forums want to be a know it all when they really don't know anything about the problem. They always give the token response to soft reboot, hard reboot, restore from backup, restore as new.

     

    EVERYONE HAVING THE PROBLEM - hold down the home button for Siri and as it is listening thump the bottom of your phone with your hand (like you are giving it a spanking, lol), just a few light slaps should do it.

  • by Noah Diehl,

    Noah Diehl Noah Diehl Jul 7, 2015 10:51 AM in response to ghreat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 7, 2015 10:51 AM in response to ghreat

    EVERYONE HAVING THE PROBLEM - hold down the home button for Siri and as it is listening thump the bottom of your phone with your hand (like you are giving it a spanking, lol), just a few light slaps should do it. This is an intermittent software problem caused by iOS 8 screwing up the calibration on the phone. Apple will not acknowledge problems like this, only fix it with an update when they feel it effects enough people.

  • by HotRod Blue&White,

    HotRod Blue&White HotRod Blue&White Jul 17, 2015 2:23 PM in response to ghreat
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 17, 2015 2:23 PM in response to ghreat

    I overcame this problem in the following manner.

     

    1. I turned off Siri in Settings>General>Siri.

    2. I turned off Dictation in Settings>General>Keyboard.

    3. I powered down my iPhone.

    4. I powered up my iPhone.

    5. I turned on Siri in Settings>General>Siri.

    6. I turned off Dictation in Settings>General>Keyboard.

     

    Everything works fine.

  • by bradenisag,

    bradenisag bradenisag Aug 12, 2015 12:37 PM in response to ghreat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 12, 2015 12:37 PM in response to ghreat

    I have the solution, so I was having the same problem and I was getting worried so I was screaming into it and heard the faint noise of my voice and I tried even blowing in to it and nothing seemed to be working. I was getting very angry. So I started hitting the microphone by the camera multiple times with my finger and after probably 10-15 times of hitting the microphone I tried to go on my camera and FaceTime and Siri and Oovoo and it has seemed to work. I recommend trying it and let me know how it works.

  • by macBoost,

    macBoost macBoost Aug 27, 2015 6:43 AM in response to ghreat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 27, 2015 6:43 AM in response to ghreat

    Hello! What's new about your problem? I have the same issue, siri,dictation and front camera audio doesn't work!

  • by kamelion87,

    kamelion87 kamelion87 Sep 12, 2015 9:12 AM in response to ghreat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 12, 2015 9:12 AM in response to ghreat

    Hi
    I had the same problem, I've contacted apple customer service an they was trying to fix it online, but they failed,

    so after that I've been asked to bring my iPhone to one of their salons,

    now I have to wait 3-5 days, guys there told me they will fix it as it's still under apple warranty,

    so I'll post again after I receive my iPhone back.

  • by elainajade85,

    elainajade85 elainajade85 Jan 25, 2016 12:19 AM in response to tdagraca
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 25, 2016 12:19 AM in response to tdagraca

    Oh my God. This worked for me.Thank you soooooooooo much.    I was so upset and was thinking about getting a new phone but you saved my wallet!!   People, if you have static when you record a video using the front facing camera, Siri doesn't understand you or voice dictation for text messages doesn't work. Slap your phone on your thigh or the palm of your hand really hard(not so hard that it shatters). I slapped my phone on my hand 5 times really hard and it worked!!! Siri works now and so does dictation and no static when using front facing camera. I know it seems silly but try it. IT may save you a trip to the Apple store. This is why I love forums. So much valuable information.

  • by waderuth,

    waderuth waderuth Mar 5, 2016 5:00 AM in response to Noah Diehl
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 5, 2016 5:00 AM in response to Noah Diehl

    Can't believe that worked, but it did. Thanks. And it felt kinda good to give Siri a little slap, lol.

  • by cespedesct,

    cespedesct cespedesct Aug 9, 2016 8:28 PM in response to ghreat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 9, 2016 8:28 PM in response to ghreat

    i tried slapping Siri but it doesn't work, any other solution?

  • by tess from oh,

    tess from oh tess from oh Sep 6, 2016 9:57 AM in response to ghreat
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 6, 2016 9:57 AM in response to ghreat

    This worked for me on iPhone 6 running iOS 9.3.5. Thanks.

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