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How do I tell Siri who I am on my iPhone 4s?

I've finally gotten an iPhone 4s and am, of course, excited to play with Siri. It thinks my name is Susie, however, which is really weird. From what I can tell, that's one of the contacts in my address book on the iphone, but why does it think that's me, and how do I fix it?


Dave's Answer:

Apparently you haven't read the small print associated with the slick Siri voice interface system: you are now legally bound to actually change your name to Susie so that you match Siri's view of the world. No worries, your current name becomes your nickname so you can still answer to it, but you'll need to change your drivers license, passport, credit cards, etc.

No. Kidding.

I had the same problem when I started with Siri on my iPhone 4s too, and in my case it was because the name associated with my iCloud account had gotten messed up and my friend Peter had his name associated with it (though it was still my email address. Weird)

Unfortunately, Siri won't let you tell it you're someone else. Then again, that's probably good, especially with my kids: "My name is mud!"

First off, a slightly existential question: who am I?

iphone 4s siri fix identity 1

Well that's not right! I'm not "Peter". I'll see if I can fix it by checking the time (just to verify it's all working properly) then saying "my name is Dave Taylor":

iphone 4s siri fix identity 2

It recognizes my name, that's good, but doesn't know that it's me.

To fix the problem we need to actually go into Settings...

iphone 4s siri fix identity 3

Tap on "General".

iphone 4s siri fix identity 4

There we go. Right in the middle, "Siri". Tap on it.

iphone 4s siri fix identity 5

Turns out you can disable Siri if you're so inclined, but what we're trying to fix is the mistaken identity so tap on "My Info" instead...

iphone 4s siri fix identity 6

Now you'll want to scroll down and find your own address book contact. I'm right in the middle of the rather large wave of Taylors in my phone directory, so I simply tap on my name.

Now "My Info" is finally correct:

iphone 4s siri fix identity 7

To test it, I'll ask Siri who I am again:

iphone 4s siri fix identity 8

Phew. A huge psychic weight off my shoulders. Siri knows who I am.

Fixed.


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Categorized: iPhone and Cell Phone Help   (Article 10173, Written by )
Tagged: apple iphone 4s, identity, iphone siri, security, siri voice system
Previous: How to turn on restrictions in iPhone iOS 5?
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Reader Comments To Date: 2

Alan said, on December 9, 2011 6:21 AM:

Once you have the right contact selected for yourself you can tell Siri a nickname youd prefer to be called.

If your name is Robert in your contact but you want to be called Bob just say "Siri call me Bob" and Siri will address you as Bob and add that to your contact as a nickname.

I stumbled upon that by mistake and she ended up calling me Rhinocerous!

Betty said, on January 2, 2012 9:59 PM:

My Siri calls me "Your Majesty." Makes me smile...

Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!











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