When I first reported a serious voice assistant bug affecting Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, I believed it was device-specific. After a phone or WhatsApp call, the “Hey Meta” assistant would go silent — and wouldn’t respond again until the glasses were physically reset. For me as a quadriplegic, that meant total loss of control.
But I’ve now confirmed the same failure occurs with Apple’s Powerbeats Pro 2 — even when the Meta glasses are not connected.
What happened
I was out on my own, just wearing the Powerbeats Pro 2 — Apple’s latest true wireless earbuds — connected to my iPhone.
Everything was working well. I was messaging friends via Siri, completely hands-free. Then I made a call. As soon as the call ended, everything stopped.
No “Hey Siri.” No voice readouts. No control. Just silence.
When safety becomes uncertainty
I’ve talked publicly and positively over the years about how Siri makes me feel safe. It gives me the confidence to go out alone — to stay in touch, call for help, or open my front door when I get home. Siri is not a luxury for me — it’s a lifeline.
But this bug broke that confidence.
When Siri stopped working, I couldn’t contact my carer. I couldn’t trigger my smart door to open. For the first time in a long while, panic set in. I was cut off from the tools that give me freedom.
This is no longer just a Meta device issue. It’s a systemic failure in iOS 18’s Bluetooth or audio routing — one that affects Apple’s own hardware.
A deeper problem inside iOS?
This is now the second device I’ve tested that breaks voice control after a call. The bug is consistent: after any phone or WhatsApp call, the system appears to fail to release the Bluetooth microphone or audio channel. The assistant — Siri or Meta — becomes unresponsive, even though the device is still connected.
This suggests that iOS believes a call is still in progress, blocking any new voice requests from being processed.
The fact that both Meta’s smart glasses and Apple’s Powerbeats Pro 2 are affected points to a broader Bluetooth or session-handling flaw inside iOS itself.
Why this matters for everyone — not just disabled users
This bug removes hands-free access, plain and simple. If you’re disabled like me, that can be dangerous. But even if you’re not, it affects anyone who relies on voice tech — whether you’re driving, cooking, walking, or working.
Voice assistants should enhance safety, not undermine it. When they go silent after a call, they lose their purpose.
Apple has been notified
I’ve sent this update directly to Apple, building on my original report. Their team has already begun investigating based on logs from my iPhone — and now they know it affects Powerbeats too.
Let’s hope they escalate this issue quickly. Until they do, both Apple and Meta’s voice-first devices remain unreliable — especially for those of us who can’t simply tap a screen to reconnect.
If you haven’t read the first part of this story, you can catch up here:
Meta glasses bug is breaking accessibility.
Have you experienced this bug?
Please share your experience, tag @AppleSupport and @MetaAI, and help raise visibility. This issue needs fixing — not just for accessibility, but for trust in voice tech.
