iOS 18 enables a new feature that lets you decide whether the Siri assistant responds over your car’s radio, media, etc., when connected via Bluetooth.
The new settings apply when your iPhone is connected to a vehicle without CarPlay, and Apple says they can improve the audio quality “significantly.” When iOS 18 launches this fall and you update your iPhone, you’ll find a new When Connected to Car Bluetooth section within Settings > Siri > Siri Responses.
iOS 18 lets you decide how Siri responds via car Bluetooth
The toggles let you device whether the assistant responds over your car’s HFP stereo radio, A2DP car stereos or device speakers.
- Respond over Radio: Siri will respond over HFP car stereos, which is ideal while listening to car radio or other audio sources.
- Respond over Media: Siri will respond over A2DP car stereos, which is ideal when listening to media from your phone.
- Respond over Phone Speakers: Siri will respond over your phone speakers and not interrupt car radio.
In iOS 17 and older, connecting to Bluetooth in your car would play Siri responses over the current audio played by the car’s infotainment system. If you wanted to hear Siri requests on your iPhone instead of through the car’s audio system, you had time to disconnect the device from Bluetooth.
iOS 18 will bring the biggest upgrade to Siri since its inception thanks to Apple Intelligence, large language models, and ChatGPT integration. However, those features won’t be ready until the first half of 2025.
You can test this feature by installing the developer or public beta of iOS 18. After that, you must turn on the Developer Mode to gain access to additional settings. To do so, switch the Developer Mode toggle in Settings > Privacy & Security > Developer Mode and restart the device.
A new Developer menu should now be at the bottom of the Settings app. Select it and scroll to the bottom, then toggle on the switch labeled Show Audio Output in Settings. You can now visit Settings > Siri > Siri Responses to set your default in the When Connected to Car Bluetooth section at the bottom.