AirPods Siri activation not working

If your AirPods do not detect double-tap for Siri, it could be because your phone is locked and you have disabled Siri on lock screen. Siri will not activate under these conditions and there will be no acknowledgement of your double-tap.

FWIW, I purchased the airpods and the double tap feature worked for a few weeks, then stopped. After searching here and not finding any real solutions, I decided to go into Settings, Bluetooth, Airpods info, turned the double tap feature completely off, then on for both Siri or play/pause and they work again. As for the physical tapping, its nothing more than a gentle consecutive tap. Hope this helps as I am happy to have resolved this.

I had the same problem. Superb sound and ease of use, but... Siri didn't work, pausing didn't work. I tried a thousand times, almost knocking it out of my ear. ;-)

Until I tried the left airpod. Never thought of it, since I am right handed. The left one worked. Wow.... Then I found out a little secret, maybe it works for you too:

Open the case and select (on your iPhone) your airpods in the Bluetooth menu by tapping on the 'i'. Scroll to microphone and select allways right. Does it work now, Siri and pausing (of course you have to choose between the two)? It did for me. Out of the blue. Then try allways left. For me it even worked (on both ears) when I changed back to Automatic. Amazing.

Hope it works for you too!

Now I only have one problem left to solve: the hiss when I play back voice recordings using the airpods... :-(

Update. It worked for awhile. Not anymore. The inconsistancy is very un-Apple. So was the problem with the support call center (switchboard unresponding), the support staff (a chain of 4 people, each promised replacements), the terrible, terrible soundquality of the music while waiting and finally the final verdict:

You can send them in, we'll send the replacements.

When?

In six weeks.

Wha?

I was so disappointed in Apple. They offered €20 compensation. I turned it down. A house full of Macs, iPads, iPhones, iPods, a watch, all kind of other Apple stuff and services and then this...

Hi all, I have a workaround. I had more or less the same problem, Siri was working just fine and today by the end of the day it won't show up again with the double tap order. I previously rebooted my watch and left it charging, I don't know if that's related.

What I found is that by entering the airpods settings at the bluetooth section and selecting a different microphone setting, it kind of resets the airpods and Siri gets working again.

You can leave any setting you prefer after that, what makes it working again is to change the mic from any setting to just any other to force a reset of the units. This way you avoid rebooting the iPhone just for this.

I guess/hope they will solve this bug with a future update so we don't have to deal with workarounds anymore...

I had the same problem, but noticed that the taps worked everytime when the iPhone was unlocked and didn't work when it was locked. Then I went in Settings/Siri to search for a solution and saw it was disabled when the iPhone was locked. Turn that on and you shouldn't have any problems. :)

Hi Macgaspode,

I was having this problem, too. I thought maybe they were defective.

What I found is now working almost every time, is the way you tap it. Aim for the middle, and tap it HARD. Not so hard that you hurt yourself, but a pretty tough thump. I kept trying soft taps and medium taps all over it. Then I decided to just whack it. Now it always works.

I hope this will help you.

Hello, here you can find how to use Siri on AirPods Use your AirPods - Apple Support

Hi

When double-tapping, be sure to use two quick and sharp taps on the outside of the AirPod.

It may help to tap more sharply and/or more quickly than previously.

If your AirPods are not responding as expected, I suggest that you contact Apple Support (mail-in service may be available), make a Genius Bar reservation or visit an Apple Authorised Service Provider for assistance, including, if recommended, to arrange for them to be inspected and, if necessary, replaced under warranty:

• Contact - Official Apple Support
• https://twitter.com/applesupport
• http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/
• https://locate.apple.com

I configured by double tap to play and pause, and it does not detect is every single time.

Also there is a weird lag in registering the tap when you switch between right and left.

My success rate to make it work has been at less than 10%.

I had the same issue (Siri stopped activiating on double tap on the airpods, left or right)... ended up rebooting my iphone and now it works.

I have a similar issue. I can't figure out how to activate the double tap with any amount of consistency. It probably works for me half of the time. If I can't get it working better soon I'll contact Apple support.