Disable “Hey Siri” Temporarily Using Facedown Detection

Disable "Hey Siri" Temporarily Using Facedown DetectionHere’s a guide on how to disable the “Hey Siri” feature (always-on mic) temporarily on an iPhone via “Facedown Detection”. The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus brought about the option to summon Siri at any point in time, even when not tethered to a power source, by simply saying the keyword “Hey Siri” out loud. Apple did a great job with reducing the power requirements for the always-on microphone required for this extra feature. If you want to reduce the power usage and thus increase your battery life even further, however, we recommend using our simple trick to temporarily disable “Hey Siri” without having to go into the “Settings” app.

How to temporarily disable “Hey Siri”

Prerequisites: An iPhone running iOS 8 and above. To use “Hey Siri” without having your iPhone attacked to a power source, you will have to own an iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus and above. Facedown detection only works on iPhone 5s and above. Of course, you will have to enable the “Hey Siri” feature first.

Using Facedown Detection to reduce energy consumption

The new “Facedown Detection” feature was introduced in iOS 9. You can use it to reduce energy consumption by letting your iPhone know that you are currently not able to view the screen. How is that accomplished? Simply lay your iPhone on a reasonably level table (glass surfaces work just fine, too) and make sure the screen is facing downwards.

face down

This will not only keep the screen off via the proximity sensor and reduce unnecessary light-up’s, but also disable the “hot mic” that keeps Siri listening all the time. In turn, we will reduce your iPhone’s energy consumption by a noticeable margin, which results in better battery life.

An iPhone 6 will also work for this trick, although you will need to keep it tethered to a power source, which sort of negates the benefits.

Hint: Want to learn more about Facedown Detection and its benefits? Check out our dedicated guide over here.