Siri not working with Watch OS 9 ?

[gnirkatto]

Since I upgraded my Watch 5 to Watch OS 9, Siri commands are no longer being recognized.
Or better, no commands are being accepted at all.
I used e.g. 'timer 5 minutes' (and more) on an almost daily basis. Now, even before I completed saying the first word ('timer'), a message comes up, 'can you please repeat this?'. And regardless how often an how (volume, tone, speed etc.) I try, it's always the same.
I don't do 'hey Siri' but press & hold the crown instead, and this feature is ON. Also, the Siri bubble (?) and the microphone sign come up. They just don't want to take my commands any longer.
When doing the same on my phone, all works fine.

Anyone experiencing a similar problem?

 

[doogald]

As I always say when Siri watch problems start happening, what happens when you turn the watch off and back on again? Sometimes a reboot fixes issues like this.

 

[gnirkatto]

As I always say when Siri watch problems start happening, what happens when you turn the watch off and back on again? Sometimes a reboot fixes issues like this.

I did this twice already, no success.

 

[gnirkatto]

I deleted the Watch from the iPhone and re-installed it.
I tried to restore from an older backup with Watch OS 8.5.
Surprisingly, what was 'restored' was 9.0.
It seems that even in case of an older backup, the latest OS version gets pulled from Apple servers, only apps & settings come from the backup.
Siri commands are working again now.
Odd.

 

[Ed7789]

I deleted the Watch from the iPhone and re-installed it.
I tried to restore from an older backup with Watch OS 8.5.
Surprisingly, what was 'restored' was 9.0.
It seems that even in case of an older backup, the latest OS version gets pulled from Apple servers, only apps & settings come from the backup.
Siri commands are working again now.
Odd.

You cannot downgrade an Apple Watch. That’s why it stayed on watchOS 9.

 

[Just_Me_D]

Since I upgraded my Watch 5 to Watch OS 9, Siri commands are no longer being recognized.
Or better, no commands are being accepted at all.
I used e.g. 'timer 5 minutes' (and more) on an almost daily basis. Now, even before I completed saying the first word ('timer'), a message comes up, 'can you please repeat this?'. And regardless how often an how (volume, tone, speed etc.) I try, it's always the same.
I don't do 'hey Siri' but press & hold the crown instead, and this feature is ON. Also, the Siri bubble (?) and the microphone sign come up. They just don't want to take my commands any longer.
When doing the same on my phone, all works fine.

Anyone experiencing a similar problem?

I currently have a Series 5 Watch running watchOS 9.1 developer beta 1. After reading your post, I pressed the Digital Crown to invoke Siri and then told it to set a timer for 5 minutes. It set the timer and started the countdown without any issues. I know you said you upgraded to watchOS 9. I don’t recall having any Siri-related issues with it either.

Have you tried rebooting your Watch?

 

[Up_And_Away]

I deleted the Watch from the iPhone and re-installed it.
I tried to restore from an older backup with Watch OS 8.5.
Surprisingly, what was 'restored' was 9.0.
It seems that even in case of an older backup, the latest OS version gets pulled from Apple servers, only apps & settings come from the backup.
Siri commands are working again now.
Odd.

Only kinda odd . Within the first 24 to 48 hours post major Apple eco OS upgrades, hitting an oddity or two can happen IME.So unfortunately if a reboot(the universal fix) doesn't fix it, usually 24 hours of patience will(the phantom fix).

With Siri, just the AI to determine which device will respond already has a bit of blackbox witchcraft that can be a bit wacky. I think it was right after the iOS 15 and all the rest of the device upgrades. I'm sitting in my living room where I have the HomePod minis, my S6 watch on, my MacBook and of course my iPhone. My iPad is all the way in my bedroom. Twice that evening when I asked Siri something, I'm waiting for response then realize I hear Siri responding from my iPad back in the bedroom. I looked back to the bedroom, shook my head, laughed. But a day later it has never happened again. I just chalked it up to that post 24 hour upgrade oddity.

 

[gnirkatto]

Thanks for all the comments.
As described, after the 're-installation' of 9 and the restore from a backup, Siri seems to work again on the Watch.
But in general, I have a feeling that since Watch OS 9 and iOS 16, Siri works even less reliably and/or slower than before, on both the Watch and the iPhone.
Eg on the iPhone, I'm almost always getting a 'working on it...' when requesting it to do something. Sometimes it takes 5 - 10 seconds for the command to be executed, which did not occur that often before the upgrades.

 

[Lee_Bo]

Must me a glitch in the Matrix. Siri working fine on Watch 6 and iPhone 11PM.

 

[doogald]

I know this doesn’t help, but I used Siri to set some timers in watchOS 9 yesterday several times and it worked fine every time. I’d say that there’s no major Siri bug in watchOS 9, though. Its been the same as watchOS 8 for me anyway.

 

[pr1nce]

Siri is working as expected on my Series 5 running watchOS 9.1 public beta 1. I didn’t experience any issues on watchOS 9.0 either.

 

[andytough]

I experienced the same problem on my Apple Watch Series 5 after updating to watchOS 9.0 (20R361).
I usually access Siri on my watch by pressing the digital crown, but experimented with "Hey Siri" and "Raise to Speak" and had the same problem with all methods.
In my case when asking Siri a question the response was always: "Sorry, could you say that again".

I was able to resolve the problem with a Settings change on the watch.
Settings > Accessibility > Siri > Siri Pause Time > Longer
When set to Default Siri would fail.

 

[Annie_M]

Add me to the list of those who aren't having any issues. Siri is working fine on my iPhone 12 Pro (iOS 16.0) and WatchOS 9.0.

 

[Annie_M]

I experienced the same problem on my Apple Watch Series 5 after updating to watchOS 9.0 (20R361).
I usually access Siri on my watch by pressing the digital crown, but experimented with "Hey Siri" and "Raise to Speak" and had the same problem with all methods.
In my case when asking Siri a question the response was always: "Sorry, could you say that again".

I was able to resolve the problem with a Settings change on the watch.
Settings > Accessibility > Siri > Siri Pause Time > Longer
When set to Default Siri would fail.

I just want to say hello and welcome to iMore! Hopefully, these issues will be cleared up in an upcoming update.

 

[gnirkatto]

I experienced the same problem on my Apple Watch Series 5 after updating to watchOS 9.0 (20R361).
I usually access Siri on my watch by pressing the digital crown, but experimented with "Hey Siri" and "Raise to Speak" and had the same problem with all methods.
In my case when asking Siri a question the response was always: "Sorry, could you say that again".

I was able to resolve the problem with a Settings change on the watch.
Settings > Accessibility > Siri > Siri Pause Time > Longer
When set to Default Siri would fail.

Thanks for this hint - but that's not the problem in my case. It often asks me to say it again when taking a breath, before even speaking.
As stated earlier on, it works 'better' after restoring the Watch from a backup, but not perfect.
I would say in ~2 of 5 cases, it doesn't understand or asks me to say it again before I even started to say something.

 

[andytough]

Thank you for the welcome message @Annie_M

 

[Annie_M]

Thank you for the welcome message @Annie_M

You are very welcome!

 

[Just_Me_D]

No issues here either.