Sending / replying to texts in response to Siri prompts

Question

Sending / replying to texts in response to Siri prompts

When sending a text with Siri, I might say, "Hey Siri, text ______ I'm running a bit late", but sometimes Siri will respond with, "What would you like me to say?" (I.e. it only understood the addressee) - at this point I can't just answer her with "I'm running a bit late", because Siri doesn't respond unless prompted with "Hey Siri" first. So I'll say, "Hey Siri, I'm running a bit late." And then the text that Siri offers to send says, "Hey Siri, I'm running a bit late."

So my real question is how do I reply to prompts from Siri without actually saying, "Hey Siri", which always get interpreted as part of the response, rather than the keyword to alert Siri...

iOS 11

Posted on Feb 12, 2018 12:24 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Jonathan UK

Level 10

164,015 points

Feb 13, 2018 2:02 AM in response to architechtonic

Hi

In order to avoid needing to speak a second time at all, I suggest that you rephrase your original instruction.

For example, use this exact form of words:

"Hey Siri, send a message to <whom> saying <what>".

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Answer 2

Jonathan UK

Level 10

164,015 points

Feb 14, 2018 8:44 AM in response to architechtonic

Under those circumstances, to provide the message content, press and hold the Digital Crown briefly to reactivate Siri and then dictate your reply.

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Answer 3

Feb 13, 2018 8:54 AM in response to Jonathan UK

Hi Jonathan,

Thank you for the reply.

Yes, I'm aware that I can phrase the commands to Siri in such a way (see my original post) as to include the initial command and then the content for the command. The problem is that sometimes Siri misses the content of the command at which point I am faced with responding to Siri's response to my command, for instance, "What would you like your message to say?" I'm trying to figure out what Apple intended to happen at this point in the process. Starting the command over is less than ideal.

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Answer 4

Jonathan UK

Level 10

164,015 points

Feb 14, 2018 2:28 AM in response to architechtonic

I read and understood your question.

I am suggesting that, by using the specific phrasing detailed in my previous reply (which is different than the phrasing referred to within your question), you may entirely avoid the need to clarify, via any further interactions with Siri on any given occasion, what you wish each message to say.

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Answer 5

Feb 14, 2018 7:49 AM in response to Jonathan UK

Hi Jonathan,

Thank you again for your reply.

My question isn’t about phrasing. Siri correctly hears me with some fairly high frequency, *however* when Siri doesn’t hear me (background noise) or I pause in the middle of a command (e.g. if I faulter w what I’m going to say in a text) Siri will prompt me for further voice commands. Again, my question is not how to correctly phrase my initial request to Siri, my question is what was Apple’s intended design sequence when Siri asks questions in the middle of a command. There is no way to activate Siri without the “Hey Siri” prompt, and Siri invariably includes that prompt in the message content...

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