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How To Turn On Hey Siri On Your iPhone with iOS 10

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The first major revolution in how we interact with the apps and services that we rely on every day came when Apple released the Siri equipped iPhone 4s. The personal assistant showed that even smartphones, with their advanced multitouch screens that make you feel as if you’re directly manipulating your pictures and more, had some room to get better. Apple innovated again when it added the Hey Siri command.

With the feature activated, saying “Hey Siri” replaces the long press on the home button. This makes it even easier for you to choose the next song to play in your car. You can do other things too, all without having to directly interact with your iPhone. Siri can get you sports scores, change settings and send messages, and you don’t have to tap once.

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Read: 39 iOS 10 Tips & Tricks & Hidden Features

Here’s how to turn on Hey Siri on Your iPhone with iOS 10.

Setting Up Hey Siri in iOS 10

Before we begin, there are something that you should know.

Hey Siri has been around for some time. Apple didn’t add the feature with iOS 10, it only improved on it. You’ll need iOS 10 loaded on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch before you see on your device what’s shown in this tutorial. That being said, phones, tablets and more stuck on iOS 9 still have Hey Siri capability. It’ll just be in the General Settings area instead of what’s shown here.

Unlock your iPhone the way you usually would. If you use your finger with TouchID, do so now. Enter your PIN Code now if you don’t use TouchID. If you don’t use any kind of security on your iPhone at all, press the home button to unlock your device.

Hey Siri in iOS 101

Welcome to the home screen. Look for the Settings app on your home screen. Keep in mind that if you have rearranged your apps the Settings app could be buried in a folder. The Settings app is in the bottom-right corner of our screen in this example.

Hey Siri in iOS 102

Welcome to the Settings screen. Naturally, turning on Hey Siri is a feature that can be found inside of Siri’s settings. Scroll down a bit until you see the Siri icon. Tap Siri.

Hey Siri in iOS 103

In order to use the Hey Siri command in iOS 10, you’ll need to have the personal assistant enabled in the first place. Flip the switch labeled Siri to turn on Siri.

Hey Siri in iOS 105

Next, your iPhone will ask you if you’re sure you’d like to enable the personal assistant since she relies on Apple’s servers and your personal information to make life easier for you. Tap on Enable Siri if you’re comfortable agreeing to Apple’s terms.

Hey Siri in iOS 108

Look for the Allow “Hey Siri” field and flip the switch to the right to turn it on.

Hey Siri in iOS 1011

iOS 10 allows you to keep Siri listening without having to keep your iPhone plugged in at your desk or in the car. Apple has also added a set-up screen for guiding you through the process of getting the voice command going. Tap Continue.

Hey Siri in iOS 1012

Now your iPhone will have you say some phrases so that it can better understand your voice. Note that you might want to do this in quiet place as your iPhone will pick up any close background noise.

Hey Siri in iOS 1015

Now that you’re back at the Siri settings area, flip the Access When Locked switch. This will allow you to access most of Siri’s features without having to unlock your phone first.

Hey Siri in iOS 1017

Using Hey Siri in iOS 10

Now that you’ve gotten Hey Siri working, it’s time to get to the basics on using it. First and foremost, Hey Siri isn’t a universal replacement for interacting with your iPhone. You’re going to have to interact with your device to get things done that Siri just isn’t capable of streamlining yet.

That being said, one of the restrictions Apple dropped with iOS 9 was the requirement that modern iPhones be plugged into a power outlet before Hey Siri can be used. With the iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, iPhone 7s Plus and iPhone 6s Plus, you can use the Hey Siri command at anytime – even if your smartphone isn’t plugged in. Don’t worry, turning on Hey Siri doesn’t seem to ruin iPhone battery life. At least, it hasn’t in our experience.  Be sure to keep an eye on your battery meter the first few days you have the feature turned on.

Siri TIps Tricks Hidden Features - 3

Whenever you say “Hey Siri”, your iPhone will be ready for a command. You can tell it to play a certain artist, album or song from your music collection by saying “Play” and the name of the song, artist or album. “Hey Siri, play Beats 1” is a great way to quickly start streaming Apple’s new radio station. Of course, if you don’t have a car with a Bluetooth stereo Siri will play the music through the iPhone’s speakers.

You can also call your different contacts without having to jump through too many hoops. Simply by saying, “Call” and the person’s name. Conversational language like “Hey Siri, I want Chinese.” Siri will get search results for you and give you driving directions and more if they’re needed.

When unplugged, your iPhone or iPad has to have Low Power Mode disabled for the “Hey Siri” command to work effectively. This is because Low Power Mode restricts what apps can do in the background.

13 Comments

13 Comments

  1. Siri User

    10/30/2014 at 9:03 pm

    I want to be able to unlock my phone with my voice after I say hey siri. Most people have locks on their phone these days and whats the point if you have to get hands on first before you can be hands free>

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    01/26/2016 at 6:46 am

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  3. Christina

    02/03/2016 at 11:50 am

    I have Iphone6 and cannot turn on Siri without holding down the home button. What am I don’t wrong?

    • Ashraf

      02/05/2016 at 1:11 am

      You need to first charge your iPhone in order to do that without holding down home button

  4. Hazy

    02/29/2016 at 4:06 pm

    I can’t access Siri no matter what. I go to general in my settings and I have no Siri options what so ever. I’ve had Siri working for about 2 months then it stopped. Btw I have an iPhone 6s.

    • Greens

      03/14/2016 at 6:02 am

      I have the same issue!!

    • Cythna

      04/01/2016 at 5:47 am

      I don’t either. No Siri in General.

  5. Manu

    03/12/2016 at 12:32 pm

    Tried multiple time to configure Siri but it’s not taking my voice input … Is there any microphone control I need to provide for activating it ?????

  6. Anthony

    03/23/2016 at 6:19 am

    If you don’t see Siri in the general settings. Check to see if your restrictions block it.

  7. Angie

    03/26/2016 at 10:45 am

    I have an Iphone 6 plus and was able to set up Hey Siri, but it says it won’t work unless plugged up. I thought you didn’t have to have it plugged up??? I know for sure it works but a few times when that stupid commercial comes with the Cookie Monster my phone relies to that commercial!!! It’s done it twice and at that time I didn’t know I had this feature.

  8. Okasha

    04/01/2016 at 2:01 am

    I have IPhone6 but can’t talk to Siri it will only write “go ahead am listening “why can’t it talk or when am trying to ask to it it shows up suggested questions I can ask need a help

  9. Carlo

    04/24/2016 at 6:01 pm

    The descpription above does’nt give full information about the topic. I experienced this greyed and unabled “Hey Siri” Button before but after a minute I carefully read what’s wrong. I just turned off the “low power mode” in battery setting. Then back to the Siri settings then voila! The “Hey Siri” button is not greyed anymore.

  10. Michelle

    04/13/2017 at 11:36 am

    My hate Siri button worked yesterday . Going to settings, then Siri, I can not get the hey Siri button to turn on . What do I need to do

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