I Want The Old Siri Sound Back

I agree it was a much more informative sound. It told you something. The new sound still doesn’t reliably tell me whats going on without thinking about it which seems the whole point of a sound. Maybe apple would consider giving a choice but I wouldn’t bet on it. I think I prefer the new sound for pleasantness but it just isn’t informative which is its purpose.

I actually prefer the new and more subtle tone. However, I can understand why some don't like it and for some it may be harder to hear.

I don't see Apple reverting back to the previous tone, as they rarely do anything which could suggest that they got things wrong. Likely the best that e can hope for is Apple allowing users to select in Siri Settings between two or more Siri activation tones.

I would suggest that people who don't like the new tone or who find it less accessible due to hearing issues, shoot off an email to accessibility@apple.com asking for a change or feature enhancement.

I've noticed that siri on iOS 16 and above is not as good as it used to be. Whenever I ask Siri, i often get wrong responses, especially when dialing someone. Hope they'll fix the problem. I also prefer the previous sound but I guess we'll have to get used to the new sound.

The new sound relies a lot more on lower-mids and upper-midbass frequencies. The latter are more difficult for small devices, such as the phones Siri is found on, to reproduce. It's also less percussive. It's just not as good of a sound. I've noticed Windows 11 is also guilty of this. I'm not sure who started this trend, but I wish they would stop.

@Rafal I've never found Siri to be particularly bright, however she does seem to have a harder time understanding some people. I'd suggest you give the shortcuts app a try. The fewer words you give her, the better she seems to be at doing stuff.

Also agree here. The new Siri sound lacks high end frequencies which make it harder to hear in noisey environments. I like the new more subtle sound when at home in a quiet place. However if I'm riding in a car or in an environment like a restaurant with lots of backgrouond noises, the new sound doesn't cover enough of the frequency range at a high enough level to be reliably heard. That is why emergency sirens cover such a wide range of frequencies.

--Pete

siri seems to start listening one second late after you hear the tone. so if i say something like "one forty-five times sisteen hundred", it would give me the answer for 45 times 1600, or it would only hear the 1600 part, in that case it would say "i found something about 1600 on the web, take a look". very frustrating.

I have learned, thanks to another post, that you have to wait that extra second before talking to Siri. Because I would say, for example, "Read the message." And Siri would say, "To who?". That was getting agrivating. So when someone on another post suggested to wait about a second or so before speaking, this resolved that issue. I don't mind the new sound either.

What apple give us apple take it away. I have a better chance that I have Jennifer Lawrence than apple bringing it up.

Stanley Windels here: I totally agree. I think the new sound is too indefinite and too low pitched. It has a reverb on it, or what I might call a trailer. I wonder if this slower fadeout interferes with Siri's ability to hear our requests. That is perhaps why we are getting strange responses from Siri.

Yes, I have noticed this also. Siri seems to not be hearing the first words of a request any more unless I wait a lot longer after hearing the tone or pressing the side buttons. this never used to be a problem.

--Pete

contact apple accessibility and let them know.