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How to stop Siri from reading out messages
If you own AirPods or Beats headphones like a lot of iPhone and iPad owners, you may have opted into Siri announcing notifications from apps like Messages and Reminders. If it’s becoming intrusive, though, here’s how to turn off Siri reading texts and other content. As a bonus, we’ll cover how to stop Siri from reading texts on your Apple Watch.
QUICK ANSWER
To turn off Siri reading texts on your iPhone or iPad:
- Open the Settings app.
- Select Notifications.
- Tap Announce Notifications, then flip the toggle that appears. There are more nuanced options if you only want to shut off some announcements.
JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS
How to stop Siri from reading messages on iPhone or iPad
Siri doesn’t announce notifications by default — you have to enable the feature, since Apple itself realizes that announcements can be annoying unless you need them. There are however times when iOS prompts you to make a decision, such as when pairing new AirPods or Beats products. It’s entirely possible to switch announcements on accidentally, or without realizing what the results will sound like.
Thankfully, there’s no big trick in how to turn off Siri reading texts. Open the Settings app, then select the Notifications submenu. Tap on Announce Notifications, and you’ll be presented with a simple on/off toggle.
If you’ve paired an iPhone with CarPlay, you can optionally keep announcements on in your vehicle while disabling them in headphones, or vice versa. Simply leave Announce Notifications on, but toggle individual items off under Announce When Connected To.
You can get even more granular and toggle announcements on a per-app basis. If you regularly listen to music at the gym, for example, you might enable announcements from Messages or the Phone app in case your partner wants you, but leave them off for everything else.
How to stop Siri from reading texts on your Apple Watch
Generally speaking, any announcement settings changed on your iPhone should be mirrored on your Apple Watch. There are times you might want to toggle settings directly on your Watch though, namely if you’ve got a cellular model and you’ve left your phone at home, or in the rare case iPhone settings aren’t syncing properly.
Here’s how to turn off Siri reading texts from your Apple Watch:
- Press the Digital Crown once to access your apps.
- Open the Settings app.
- Select Notifications.
- Tap on Announce Notifications. You may have to scroll down a bit to find this.
- Flip the toggle.
Like iPhones and iPads, Watches offer the ability to keep announcements active but toggle them on a per-app basis.
Read more: The best Siri commands