It's not just you: it appears that Siri Shortcuts have not been working properly for some iPhone users since as early as Tuesday.
A small but increasing numbers of users on Twitter and the MacRumors forums claim that they are unable to invoke shortcuts using Siri, including Federico Viticci of MacStories and Rene Ritchie of iMore. The shortcuts still work if executed directly from the Shortcuts app, but not with a Siri voice command.
The issue is not affecting all users, nor is it affecting all apps. Third-party apps appear to be affected more than Apple's apps. It also doesn't appear to be related to today's release of iOS 12.1.1 or Shortcuts version 2.1.2. Your mileage may vary, so leave us a comment in our forums if you are affected.
I’ve been editing an article all day. But yes, none of my Siri shortcuts are working at the moment and this pretty much sucks. https://t.co/uaqfSSzbXp — Federico Viticci (@viticci) December 5, 2018
Apple seems to be aware and working on a fix. The tragedy and triumph of Siri triggers being online services… https://t.co/k8c66OgZSX — Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie) December 5, 2018
As with any cloud-based service interruption, Apple certainly has engineers working on a server-side fix. With the issue now receiving media attention, a fix shouldn't be far away. We'll update this article when it is implemented.
In the meantime, some users have been able to re-record their Siri Shortcuts phrases to get them working again. To do so, open the Shortcuts app, tap on the three dots on a shortcut, tap on the settings toggle icon below Done in the top-right corner, tap on Siri Phrase, and tap Re-Record Phrase.
Update: Apple has implemented a fix, according to Rene Ritchie.
Top Rated Comments
It can be taken seriously. It is useful. It is not 100% effective and correct in its responses, but the accuracy and flexibility has improved considerably over the years I've been using it. Sure, I wish it were more accurate, and want it to do more, but that doesn't mean it IS and always WILL BE of ZERO UTILITY.
I don't use a single piece of software or technology that doesn't crash or freeze up or glitch occasionally. But Siri seriously crossed over to significant utility years ago. Things I find of great utility and that are part of my daily routines include;
* quick math and unit conversions
* scheduling calendar events
* adding things to my shopping list
* opening apps
* controlling music and podcast playback (love to "skip ahead 90 seconds" to avoid ads)
* responding to texts (esp. hands-free in the car over my bluetooth system)
* Homekit control of my devices (it and Alexa are roughly equiv. in utility and I use them interchangeably)
* getting navigation guidance on the road
* looking up random information (something like an 70-80% hit rate of finding what I am looking for)
I suppose the fact that I have a Ph.D in physics, work at Caltech, and have followed technology my whole life can be rendered irrelevant (I "can't be taken seriously") because I've come to a different conclusion about a technology you don't like.