IOS – How to get Siri to pronounce Exchange contact names correctly

iosiphonesiri

First of all, I don't use iCloud for my address book on my iPhone 4S; instead, I sync my Gmail contacts (and mail and calendars) using the "Exchange" account type. ("Gmail" accounts don't sync contacts, so I have to connect via Exchange.)

This is all fine and dandy, except Siri pronounces my wife's last name (my last name) incorrectly, and it's driving me crazy.

I've read every article on the web that I can find about phonetic pronunciation and Siri. Most articles seem to imply that adding a phonetic first or last name will correct Siri's pronunciation (though often people complain in the comments that it doesn't work for them). It doesn't work for me either, and I think I finally may have figured out why, but I'm wondering if anyone can verify this and/or shed some light on how to fix it.

Siri seems to obey phonetic pronunciation for iCloud contacts, but not for Exchange contacts. Oddly, I've gotten Siri to momentarily use the correct phonetic pronunciation for an Exchange contact, only to immediately revert on second try — perhaps a result of syncing with Exchange/Gmail?

Has anyone else had this experience? Does anyone know of a workaround?

Best Answer

You can create iCloud contacts that merge with your GMail contacts. The iPhone will collate the data from both the GMail contact and the iCloud contact. I have this enabled for Hotmail:

Merged contacts

  1. Enabled iCloud syncing for contacts.
  2. Open Contacts.
  3. Press the back button (top-left) until you reach Groups.
  4. Open All iCloud or All from My PC.
  5. Create a new contact for your wife. Include her full name and phonetic name.
  6. Press Done.
  7. Scroll down and check that Linked Cards shows an entry for Unified and GMail. Press Unified.
  8. Now you can see how your wife's information combining the GMail information and the iCloud phonetic information.
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