MacRumors reports hearing from several iPhone users—and relatives of users—who have begun to notice that some key functions are simply gone. People on the AppleVis forums also are talking about the now-missing features, noting that this creates a problem for visually impaired users who regularly use them. The issue isn’t tied to a specific version of iOS or model of iPhone either, so whether it’s intentional or a glitch of some kind it seems to be specifically happening through Siri. Siri’s list of missing functions includes being able to ask about voicemails, playing voicemails, checking call history, and sending emails. According to AppleVis user Brian Negus, “…Siri is now less flexible about how commands are formulated. I used to be able to say just ‘do not disturb.’ This no longer works, and Siri now requires something like ’turn on do not disturb.’” It’s possible some of these removed commands may still be present, but require more specific wording. But it currently appears as though they’ve been entirely removed in this case. Some AppleVis users have had a bit of luck working around the problem by using Siri Shortcuts, but the results have been a bit unreliable. Regardless, manually setting up custom commands to restore previously available functions isn’t ideal. Users have reported that Apple has been made aware of the situation and that it’s “currently under review.” Whether or not this means that Apple will be restoring the missing Siri functions and when remains to be seen.
