Like many people around the world, when Apple released their iOS 9.0 update last week, I jumped to update my iPhone. So many of the features are awesome, and I can’t wait to test out some of the new devices! However, one unexpected side effect of my early update to iOS 9.0 was that I have lost a functioning Siri! Here’s what I can figure out.

I first noticed that Siri wasn’t working when I was not getting turn-by-turn navigation directions in Maps. I found that odd, but since I was driving at the time, I was not able to investigate any further. However, I did also notice that my “Hey Siri, what are my upcoming appointments?” command flashed something on the screen briefly, though I did not get the usual audible response.

When I got home, I tried some more things. I tried to plot a new course in Maps, and once again, I had no Siri directions. When I tried asking for upcoming appointments, I could see that the Siri screen did come up and it had the text that she would usually read aloud (i.e. you have an appointment tomorrow at 10 AM).

Since I had gone through the Voice training to enable the updated version of “Hey Siri,” I thought that maybe this had messed things up somehow. So, I disabled it. That did not solve my problem, nor did reenabling and retraining it.

I flipped through the options on the Siri settings page. I tried tapping on each of the different voices, but each time I selected a new one, I heard “Hi, I’m Siri, your personal assistant” with whichever accent or gender I had chosen. So this didn’t seem to solve things. However, I inadvertently left Siri on the British female voice, and continued my testing, and then realized that I had my responsive Siri back!

I tried a bunch of questions and commands, and each time, she responded as I would have expected her to all along, albeit with this new, different voice. I have always had the default American female Siri voice. When I switched it back and then tried all these commands again, I got the same quiet Siri again. I found that male or female of British or Australian Siri worked fine, though neither the American male and female voice work properly.

So, to make a long story short. I updated my iPhone 5S to iOS 9.0. In doing so, my female American Siri became non-responsive, with no obvious way to make her talk again. By changing the voice, I was able to get vocal responses again, though never in the same American female (or male) voice that I am accustomed to. So, it seems to me that there is a bug in this new, upgraded Siri, specifically in the American settings. Hopefully they fix it quickly in the next iOS update! Maybe it’s a device-specific bug, as it seems that she works the same as before on my wife’s iPhone 5 and our iPads…

Have you noticed this same bug? Does Siri still work for you, the same as always? Let me know in the comments!