How to use ‘Hey Siri’ without connecting your iPhone to a power source

BY Gautam Prabhu

Published 23 Sep 2014

One of the coolest iOS 8 features is the Google Now-like “Hey Siri” feature, that allows you to activate Siri without having to press the Home button, which can be very useful while driving.

Unfortunately, the feature is available only when you’re connected to the power source. 

Apple seems to have put that constraint in place due to battery life concerns. But here’s a way to get the feature to work even without connecting your iPhone to a power source, which was first reported by a reddit user.

It looks like Siri responds to “Hey Siri” when Siri’s user interface is visible, even though it may not be connected to a power source. So all you need to do is launch Siri, and ensure that the Auto-Lock feature (Settings > General > Auto-Lock) is disabled, to use the “Hey Siri” feature without connecting to a power source.

Hey Siri without power source

 

It goes without saying that this will drain your iPhone’s battery, so do it when you have enough battery life, and will be able to charge your iPhone shortly.

I am surprised no one reported this one earlier. What you think of the workaround. Is it something you plan to use?