If you have an Apple device, then youโre well aware of how โHey Siriโ allows you to perform functions based on voice commands even when itโs disconnected from power. Now at first, this sounds like an amazing feature, however, some people donโt enjoy the fact that they have a feature listening to all their conversations. In addition, โHey Siriโ will be able to pick up its name if said by someone whoโs nearby your device, summoning Siri whether you wanted to or not. So, if you want to temporarily stop Siri from listening on iPhone or iPad, itโs possible to do so without changing the settings. Letโs teach you how to achieve this.
How to disable โHey Siriโ temporarily
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If youโre not interested in having Siri listening to your conversations, you can actually turn off โHey Siriโ temporarily without having to go into your settings and disable it completely. In order to achieve this, all you have to do is place your iPhone or iPad face down on any surface and itโll stop listening and responding to โHey Siriโ unless itโs connected to power. Itโs that easy.
Anyone will be able to say โHey Siriโ as many times as theyโd like and Siri will not respond so long as the device is laid face down. Of course, as soon as you lift up your phone, โHey Siriโ is activated immediately.
If you tried this but itโs not working then you need to check your Fitness Tracking has been enabled on your device. In order to check this, youโll want to go to Settings โ Privacy โ Motion & Fitness.
This method is much easier and less time consuming than to completely disabling โHey Siriโ through settings. Once you disable Siri, the re-enabling process requires you to go through the entire โHey Siriโ training session again. And, youโll have to go through the training session each time you re-enable โHey Siri.โ Therefore, disabling โHey Siriโ by having your device placed face down will have no effect on the enabling and re-enabling process as youโre not actually changing any of the functions. In addition, youโll be able to access โHey Siriโ by either the Home or Side button.
Another method to temporarily disable โHey Siriโ is by enabling iOSโs Low Power mode which will not only turn off โHey Siriโ temporarily but will also turn off other system functions you are using such as background updates and automatic downloads. So, this is also achievable as well, however, keep in mind that other functions are also disabled.
How does this work?
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Whether your iPhone is in your pocket, in a cover, or laid face down on the table, โHey Siriโ doesnโt respond to any commands. But, how does this work? This is a part of the Facedown Detection which is supported by iOS 9 and later.
Facedown Detection is designed with a built-in ambient light and proximity sensors, thus, it has the ability to sense if itโs face down on the table or not. This feature aids in saving you battery life as it prevents the screen from turning on when a notification arrives to your device. Now, if your device is laid face up on a surface, when your device receives a notification, your screen lights up, notifying you of your message. So, Facedown Detection also helps in ensuring that you save extra battery life.
The Facedown Detection feature requires a proximity sensor (located near the earpiece) and Appleโs M-series motion coprocessor. With these two components, Facedown Detection is able to function properly with any update Apple device.
Itโs amazing how to technology has come this far and Appleโs โHey Siriโ and Facedown Detection is another example of the progress thatโs been made in technology. โHey Siriโ is automatically shut off when placed face down or in your pocket and Facedown Detection is able to sense all these actions without disrupting your deviceโs activity.