John828

I have a 2016 GS350 and I am a regular user of Siri Eyes Free (i.e., by pressing the Off-Hook button on the steering wheel for 2 seconds, the Mobile Assistant screen is activated and I can speak Siri commands). Ever since I installed iOS 11, I can no longer initiate a Siri session by using that Off-Hook button. Instead, the Mobile Assistant screen still appears on my display, but the picture of the microphone is grayed-out, so it is incapable of hearing the Siri command. If I wait several seconds and try pressing the Off-Hook button again, it will sometimes work. But it almost never works on the first try. Also, if I look at the Bluetooth settings in my iPhone, it is no longer recognizing my car as "Lexus GS." Instead, it recognizes a generic device, called "CarAccessorySystem." If I delete the phone from my car, and forget the device from my iPhone, and then add it all back again, my Bluetooth settings will once again recognize my car as "Lexus GS," but after a couple days, it will revert again to "CarAccessorySystem." All of this tells me that iOS 11 is having difficulty connecting with my car (although all other bluetooth connections work just fine, e.g., making/receiving phone calls, listening to music, etc.). I've also tried doing an entire restore of my iPhone and nothing has worked -- Siri Eyes Free is still having problems. Any suggestions?

JDR76

I don’t know about the pairing issue, but make sure your setting to allow access to Siri when locked is activated. Sometimes the iOS updates change that setting and you have to set it back. It’s in your phone settings under Siri.

John828

Thanks, but that's not my issue. My settings allow Siri to work when the phone is locked. Even if no one knows what's causing my problem, please let me know if the Siri Eyes Free function is working for you after you installed iOS 11. Thanks.

JDR76

Yes, it works for me.

I had exactly the same issue with the gray microphone until I fixed the setting I described above, but have not had your connectivity issues.

pckennedy

I have a similar problem as John828 with my 2014 ES350. Occasionally, when I activate Mobile Assistant, there is a long delay before Siri responds. Ultimately, the Mobile Assistant icon goes away from the Nav screen with silence. Then I here the Sire beep for prompt. When I speak "text," I receive no response then Mobile Assistant stops. When I try it again, the phone dial menu appears instead of Mobile Assistant with a message that "Phone is in use." From that point on, I cannot initiate Eyes-free Mobile Assistant. Instead, when I try to invoke Mobile assistant, the phone dial menu appears instead. I cannot remedy the situation while driving. The problem can be resolved by either turning off the engine or restarting the phone. I have not had this problem ever until upgrading to IOS 11. I have to think it is a problem with Messages not starting up quickly enough for Mobile Assistant to work, since several times apps start up more slowly now with IOS 11. That is my hypothesis. Emotionally, I want to throw the phone across the room. :-) Or mayby a more rational approach would be to give up on Apple's latest software SNAFU and switch to an Android phone. At any rate, I would appreciate feedback from anyone else who has encountered the symptoms I have. I can't be the only one. Thanks.

John828

Pckennedy, I have had all the problems you mention, in addition to (and related to) the issues in my original post. I have spent hours on the phone with Apple, and hours with my Lexus dealer. The Lexus dealer was very helpful, and ensured that all of my Lexus software was up to date (it is). The problem, obviously, is with iOS 11, which is absolute garbage. It seems to work fine on a newer iPhone 8, because my friend's iPhone 8 works perfectly fine in my car. But when iOS 11 is added to an iPhone 6, it just doesn't work well. I have finally thrown up the white flag, and have ordered an iPhone 8. Hopefully, it will work properly in my car (as my friend's did in my car). Eventually, Apple may fix the bug that is causing this issue with Siri Eyes Free, but that could take many months or longer, if ever. I would be very curious to know which iPhone you have. Is it the 6 as well? Good luck.

pckennedy

Yes, I have an iPhone 6. I should have mentioned that. Thanks for the update!

MustangSal

No problems here. Ip7+ running ios11.2.1

JDR76

That’s odd. Still working okay on my iPhone 6S.

Nguyen087

I wanted to say that I'm having the exact same issue with my iphone 6 and 2014 ES300h. I get the same greyed out microphone and then the phone disconnects. It then reconnects on its own and usually works on the second try. Hopefully this gets fixed but pckennedy may be right about the phone getting slow and causing connections issues.

jonathancl

No issues on my iPhone6s+ through all of the ios updates including 11.2.5.
I'm using a 2014 Stereo in my 2013 car.

I have siri set to not work when the phone is locked.
If I forget, it gets all messed up until I reestablish the connect between phone and car.

mickey51

I have the exact problem with my iPhone 8 and 2016 rx350 since last iOS update. Is there answer besides allow Siri to work when phone is locked?

John828

My iPhone 8 has also had problems with Siri Eyes Free in my 2016 GS350, but not as bad as in the original post. Since the last iOS upgrade, Siri Eyes Free sometimes doesn't engage with my iPhone. It will appear to listen to my command (i.e., by beeping and muting my radio), but then nothing will happen and my radio will begin to play again. It's as if Siri has heard my command and and then flipped me the bird and completely ignored me. I have been able to fix this problem each time by restarting my iPhone. Frustrating, but it has worked every time. It will then continue to work fine for a couple days, then I will have the problem again and will need to restart the phone again. Hopefully Apple will fix this bug soon.

jsant1070

Same issue here with Iphone XR and latest OS. Very Frustrating!!