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When I have multiple Apple devices in the same room, and I use "Hey Siri", sometimes the wrong device will respond. This isn't always a problem, because a lot of things work the same no matter which device does them. However, sometimes I'll hear something like "You'll need to unlock your iPad first" when I intended the request for my iPhone, which was unlocked recently enough that my request would have gone through fine. Or even more annoying, I'll be in the same room as my dad's HomePod, and "Hey Siri" won't work on any of my devices because they assume I'm talking to the HomePod, even though it's not on my Apple ID. (No Siri, remind me, not my dad.)

Is there any way for me to specify, when I say "Hey Siri", which device I'm talking to, so I can be sure the correct one will respond? I've tried saying e.g. "Hey Siri, iPhone, [...]" but that doesn't seem to work.

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Form what I know, there is no way to tell Siri which device you are talking to. I believe Apple might introduce this feature in the future.

Under the current circumstances, if you want to know on which device Siri will respond, you need to understand Siri's response logic first. Check How Siri works with multiple devices.

In summary:

  1. Siri will prioritize responding on the device you are actively using.
    • If there are multiple device are awakened, the device you're looking at or the device is connected to AirPods will be given priority for a response. (Assuming that “Attention Aware features” is enabled and AirPods are being worn.)
  2. If no active device is awakened, Siri will prioritize responding on HomePod. If there are no nearby HomePods, Siri will respond on the device with the best audio reception.
  3. Siri will never respond on the device with the screen facing down (iPhone or iPad) or covered (MacBook) unless it is connected to AirPods that are being worn.
  4. Siri will only respond on Apple Watch when it is awakened or connected to AirPods that are being worn.

Once you understand Siri's response logic, you should have a clear idea of which device Siri will respond on. This should be the only way to ensure Siri responds on the correct device at this stage.

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  • And we should collectively provide feedback to Apple regarding this issue. From a technical standpoint, it doesn't seem difficult to implement.
    – Heyya
    Commented Nov 5, 2023 at 6:48
  • Nice in theory but in practice this is not correct - 2 is incorrect - iPhones will sometimes be preferred. It just seems random. As for 1 - nearly - if you are using two devices then it also notes what type of thing you did on the device e.g. set a timer it will use on the device that last had a timer even if using another device
    – mmmmmm
    Commented Feb 3 at 10:34
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When you are out of the house and want to force your phone to respond, you must press the button on your phone and avoid using Siri or Hey Siri. This will work for your iPad, too.

I use the button at home, too, so I don't disturb others in the house with Homepad responses that are only interesting to me.

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