giving MBP priority for Siri when iPhone and iPad are close by

Question

This seems trivial but cant find answers for this. I have a MBP plus an iPhone and iPad. All on the same table. When i issue a hey siri, all 3 go off with mixed results on who is actually working..

i assume this is a common problem.

Other then flipping all the non MBP devices (very annoying and unrealistic as i use them in parallel), what options are available to Queue up the MBP so it always defaults to the main siri device?

Answer 1

Your Apple devices actually negotiate between them to decide which device is closest to the speaker, and there is no way to control which device gets priority.

As you suggest, if you flip over your iOS devices, they will not respond to 'Hey Siri' (this can be changed in Accessibility settings) which is the only control you have over the situation. The Mac has similar controls if the lid is closed. Also, if you have bluetooth off on any of the devices, they are not part of the negotiations, as they communicate with each other via Bluetooth.

For details refer to this Apple Support document: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208472