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Apple Maps: Siri only says "starting route to ..." then never says anything else unless I turn spoken directions off, then on again.

As the title says, when use Apple Maps for directions, Siri announces "Starting route to ..." then goes silent. The spoken directions setting is ALWAYS set to speak all directions. I have never seen Maps open showing spoken directions set to anything but the first setting.


The only way I can get Maps/Siri to narrate the directions is to select either 'speak alerts only' or 'do not speak directions,' then switch back to 'speak all directions.' Immediately after switching back Siri will speak the first steps and (usually, though not always,) continue to narrate the rest of the route.


I have also noticed that sometimes Siri will speak directions from the start, but it is never consistent and I can't figure out what magic steps make it do this. Regardless, it never remains in this mode. It doesn't matter if I have left Maps open (background) or swiped/closed it & reopen it, it will still only occasionally start narrating without my switching to alerts or silent and then back to speak all directions. This isn't aggravating, unexpected and rather dangerous behavior, as I have to stop driving and mess with the app.


I've tested this on two different iPhone 7, both running iOS 15.5, but this issue has occurred for quite some time. I've tried deleting and reinstalling Maps, rebooting phones, disabling WiFi, disabling Bluetooth, disabling both WiFi and Bluetooth, turning the "silent" ringer switch on side of phone off/on - none of these appear to make any difference.


Please, someone, help me "stop the insanity!" 🤪


Posted on May 21, 2022 4:21 PM

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May 21, 2022 6:37 PM in response to Todd_in_LA

FOLLOW UP: I factory-reset one of my iPhones and the behavior is the same. It appears to me that the problem may be related to one or more of the following:


1) Slow network connection. If I wait a while, sometimes Maps/Siri will speak the first steps of the directions. Every time, before it speaks, I notice that the Maps display blinks/shifts, as if something just got updated/downloaded/received.


2) Slow phone hardware. This doesn't make sense, but both of my phones are iP 7s, so maybe Maps can't process all the info in a timely manner and just skips talking?


3) "Expected behavior"? I wouldn't put it past Apple to claim that people DON'T want spoken directions, even when the setting is "speak all directions."


4) Bug, somewhere? I doubt this one, as this is annoying enough that if lots of users were experiencing it Apple would fix it.


Anyone else have a clue? I really, really, really don't want to use Google-anything, so I'd like Maps to do what Apple claims it does.


Apple Maps: Siri only says "starting route to ..." then never says anything else unless I turn spoken directions off, then on again.

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