In this guide I will show you how to get Siri on the iPhone with iOS 14 to announce the battery level when connecting or disconnecting the Apple smartphone from the mains. In this way, you can hear the acoustically what percentage of the battery capacity can be used when connecting to the charger and removing the charger. The whole thing runs via the "shortcuts" automation. While trying it out, I noticed a few details that I have listed for you at the end of this guide.
Update 15.07.2021/XNUMX/XNUMX: does not work with older iPhone models
A reader just wrote me that he followed the instructions below and only received the following message on his iPhone 8:
An error occurred while running the automation.
Further clues as to why it did not work could not be extracted from the iPhone. I suppose it's the older hardware of the iPhone 8 because it has iOS 14.6 installed (currently the most current iOS) and it doesn't work. He then tried it on an iPhone XR and there the hack works with the battery status announcement.
Instructions: This is how Siri says the battery level when connecting / disconnecting from the mains
You can set up the acoustic playback of the battery level of the Apple iPhone under iOS 14 via the shortcuts app. If you want to try it out, just follow these step-by-step instructions:
Opens the shortcuts App on your iPhone
Select the tab at the bottom Automation off (middle)
Tap on that Plus symbol top right or "Create personal automation" (if none is available yet)
Then select the point charger (scroll all the way down)
Checks both “Connected” and “Disconnected” and taps Continue
Now select the button Add action from
Search for "Get battery status" and tap the appropriate suggestion
Now choose that Plus symbol under this option and look for "speak text"
Then click at the top right Continue tippen
Deactivate the "Confirm before execution" control and click at the top right Ready tippen
Screenshot instructions: This is what it looks like when you add the shortcut
I have summarized the most important steps of the instructions as screenshots below. The markings show you where to type at the corresponding point in the process.
If you want to set up on iOS 14 on the iPhone that Siri announces the battery level when connecting and disconnecting the charger, then these are the first steps.You have to pick and combine a few options and features for the shortcut to work.If you uncheck "Confirm before running" before tapping "Done," you'll need to confirm again (a message will appear). But then you're almost done.
Battery status announcement by Siri: What I noticed while trying it out
As you can see from the pictures, I've tried the whole thing. I noticed the following things:
It takes a few seconds after plugging in and unplugging the charger before the announcement sounds - so you have to wait a bit
Siri only says a number ("twenty-five", "ninety" or the like) and not "The battery level is ... percent", which is why the announcement is quite short
If music is playing on the iPhone, it will be quieter during the announcement; Podcasts or other audio is paused for the announcement, but continues afterwards
After graduating from high school, Johannes completed an apprenticeship as a business assistant specializing in foreign languages. But then he decided to research and write, which resulted in his independence. For several years he has been working for Sir Apfelot, among others. His articles include product introductions, news, manuals, video games, consoles, and more. He follows Apple keynotes live via stream.
5 Responses to “iOS 14 Trick: Let the battery status be announced when connecting / disconnecting from the mains”
Jörg
Hi John,
Small note, since the iOS update to 14.5.1, this automation command no longer works. You get the error message "Automation failed". The crux of the matter lies in the shortcut “speak text” which, since then, has apparently no longer been able to speak “German”. If you change the output language to English US, it works again.
Even with the update to IOS 14.6, it still doesn't speak German.
Hello Jörg! Thanks for the hint. In the hope that Apple will speak “German” again at some point, I’ll leave the post unchanged. But it's good that people can currently find your hint here if it doesn't work for them. Thanks for that! LG, Jens
Hallo,
I have an iPhone 7 and got the error message "Automation failed". I then realized that you can change the announcement voice. If I put this on the Siri voice, then it works. I think it's because the old models just don't have the other voices installed.
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Hi John,
Small note, since the iOS update to 14.5.1, this automation command no longer works. You get the error message "Automation failed". The crux of the matter lies in the shortcut “speak text” which, since then, has apparently no longer been able to speak “German”. If you change the output language to English US, it works again.
Even with the update to IOS 14.6, it still doesn't speak German.
Hope it helps one or the other!
Thanks Joerg
Hello Jörg! Thanks for the hint. In the hope that Apple will speak “German” again at some point, I’ll leave the post unchanged. But it's good that people can currently find your hint here if it doesn't work for them. Thanks for that! LG, Jens
Hallo,
I have an iPhone 7 and got the error message "Automation failed". I then realized that you can change the announcement voice. If I put this on the Siri voice, then it works. I think it's because the old models just don't have the other voices installed.
Great, I'll unplug it. 15,00027482623
Instead of just saying 15%. hmm
You probably have to precede a command for rounding. 😂