voice command problems? try this...

[vapor trail]

I was one of many complaining about the loss of voice command functionality after the recent slew of updates, including the most recent firmware on my car: 2020.4.1. Turns out I wasn't using the voice command button as Tesla now has it configured.

This works:

"press and release voice command button" --> "state voice command" --> "wait to see if car got it right (fingers crossed, it did)"

Give it a try.

I was at service center last Friday and was able to troubleshoot this issue with service adviser (btw, he didn't know how correctly perform voice commands properly either at first).

In earlier firmware versions, to use voice command, you had to press and hold the button while giving command, then release (this made the most sense to me). More recently, I think the method has been to press/release button, give command, then press/release button again.

This solution has been mentioned within several other posts, but I'm not sure the message has been widely received. Not sure if this is even in the firmware release notes.

 

[kpeters000]

Never in my whole year of owning my car that came with Version 8 have I had to press and hold to give a voice command. It's always been press/release to activate, give command, then either stop talking and assume it would know you were done OR press the button again to signal the command was finished.

 

[Rockford]

Mine has always been press and release, then talk while the Mic icon is on the screen.

 

[FatherTo1]

I've always done it as @Rockford described. I never thought to press-and-hold. That would be sort of dangerous to have to hold the button during a turn or maneuver. Then again, I've never had any issues with voice command. It has always worked well for me.

 

[jhoughton1]

I've always done press-and-release. Then sat there and listened when it suggested I call people I've never heard of and certainly don't have in my contacts list. There was an update last night that claims to have rebuilt the voice command system to use more natural language. Maybe now if I say my wife's name I won't get a stranger.

 

[r1200gs4ok]

well, all I know is that my brother in-law has a Model 3 and is up to date....He pressed the voice command button, and said “call bitch”.....car responded by calling his wife......

 

[Trunk Gap]

Yes of course, press/release to use it, don’t hold it down.

In any event, it only works 10% of the time, and I don’t even risk calling anyone anymore using voice. “call jane” calls anyone but Jane.

 

[vapor trail]

OK. So, useless tip. Sorry folks. Worked for me.

 

[thegruf]

well, all I know is that my brother in-law has a Model 3 and is up to date....He pressed the voice command button, and said “call bitch”.....car responded by calling his wife......

at least it called *his* wife

 

[ewoodrick]

And don't forget to wait for beep.

 

[Dithermaster]

It does seem to work better for me if I wait until the text appears in the display before I press it again at the end. Or maybe that second press is not even needed. But if I press as soon as I'm done speaking, usually nothing happens.

 

[ewoodrick]

The beep is a signal that the online service is waiting for some voice. It can sometimes take a few seconds to establish the connection.

 

[vapor trail]

It does seem to work better for me if I wait until the text appears in the display before I press it again at the end. Or maybe that second press is not even needed. But if I press as soon as I'm done speaking, usually nothing happens.

dithermaster - as mentioned above I really think the current buttonology is to press and release button once, state command and hope it works. No second button click. No holding the button. I’m at about 90% since trying this method.

 

[reddy]

Indeed, the original method was PRESS AND HOLD.

See my 2013 Model S manual, circa March 2013

 

[Big Toys]

Mine seems to work on the sequence of Press, release, wait for beep, talk, then wait for it to stop listening. I much prefer the previous sequence of Press once, wait for Beep, talk, then press the button at the end of speaking to let Tesla know I'm done talking.

 

[CarolinaBMXers]

mine has improved since 2020 update....works first shot every time.....gotta love Elon...”my butt is cold” turns on seat heater!

 

[shudder]

Not a useless tip at all (see reddy’s screenshot above)! This change was not noted in the release notes or 2020.4 (that I saw, anyways). Threw me for a loop until I saw a comment about press ‘n release in another thread a few days ago. VC works better than ever now. This tip will help quite a few older model owners, I would think (‘15 S 85 here). Cheers.

-shud

 

[quickstrike12]

mine has improved since 2020 update....works first shot every time.....gotta love Elon...”my butt is cold” turns on seat heater!

Makes me wonder what other little nuggets of Elon witt are hidden in there undiscovered.

 

[Battpower]

Model S Raven on 2020.4.1

I have only used push-release-talk.

I reckon over all (including previous firmware) well below 20% of my attempts at giving voice commands actually display text on right of IC display. When it does respond, the attempt at converting to text shows up immediately and is usually accurate. Most of the time it just doesn't attempt to display any text at all.

 

[dgpcolorado]

I was one of many complaining about the loss of voice command functionality after the recent slew of updates, including the most recent firmware on my car: 2020.4.1. Turns out I wasn't using the voice command button as Tesla now has it configured.

This works:

"press and release voice command button" --> "state voice command" --> "wait to see if car got it right (fingers crossed, it did)"

Give it a try.

I was at service center last Friday and was able to troubleshoot this issue with service adviser (btw, he didn't know how correctly perform voice commands properly either at first).

In earlier firmware versions, to use voice command, you had to press and hold the button while giving command, then release (this made the most sense to me). More recently, I think the method has been to press/release button, give command, then press/release button again.

This solution has been mentioned within several other posts, but I'm not sure the message has been widely received. Not sure if this is even in the firmware release notes.

Thank you for this post! I was one of the frustrated owners who lost voice commands with software 2020.4.1 because I used the old-school "press button and hold" technique. Press button and release has voice commands back, including the new ones.

The new "press button and release" is a lot better than the old way I learned to do it so I can see why Tesla changed it.