How to stop Siri from reading messages on AirPods

Like Google Assistant, Siri has several features, including a notification announcement function that reads out messages from your iPhone or iPad applications. It works automatically once you enable Announce Notifications, connect your headphones to your iOS device, and lock the device.

The feature can be handy when your hands are busy, but you still need to keep up with incoming messages. However, it may become annoying if Siri repeatedly interrupts an exciting podcast to read spam text or random game notifications.

That’s why we’ll explain how to stop Siri from reading messages on AirPods completely or turn off the function on select applications.

Which headphones support notification announcements?

Not all Apple headphones can announce notifications. The following devices support the function:

• AirPods (2nd generation) or later
• AirPods Pro (1st generation) or later
• AirPods Max
• Beats Fit Pro
• Beats Powerbeats
• Beats Powerbeats Pro
• Beats Solo Pro

Even if your headphones are compatible, you need a phone running iOS 15 or later or an iPad running iPadOS 15 or later.

How to stop Siri from reading messages on AirPods via settings

Announce Notifications is handy for when your hands are busy. But if you find it distracting, you can easily disable it.

Here’s how to stop Siri from reading messages on AirPods:

1. Open the iOS Settings app and scroll down to Notifications.
2. Go to the Siri section and tap Announce Notifications.
3. To completely stop Siri from announcing notifications, flip the Announce Notifications toggle at the top of the page to the off (grayed out) position. This prevents Siri from reading out notifications for any of your apps both on AirPods and CarPlay.

If you want notification announcements only when your AirPods are connected to CarPlay, scroll to Announce When Connected To and turn off the Headphones toggle. Meanwhile, tapping CarPlay lets you customize how Siri announces messages when you’re in a car.

Note that you may not see the CarPlay option if you’ve never connected your phone to a supported vehicle.

How to stop Siri from reading messages on AirPods via Control Center

If you previously customized your iPhone or iPad’s Control Center to include the notification announcement function, you can turn it on or off from there. Follow these steps:

1. Swipe down from the top right corner of the screen to open the Control Center.
2. Tap the bell icon to deactivate Announce Notifications.
3. You can also pause announcements by holding the bell icon until a pop-up message appears. Then, choose whether to mute notifications for an hour or the whole day. This is helpful when you only want to disable the feature for a limited time.

Note that you can only access the feature when you connect your AirPods to your phone.

How to customize Announce Notifications settings across different apps

The above methods prevent Apple’s voice assistant from reading all messages, but you can limit it to some applications, including the default text message software. Here’s how to stop Siri from reading messages on AirPods for specific apps:

1. Go to Settings > Notifications > Announce Notifications.
2. Scroll down to find the list of compatible apps.
3. Select the app you wish to customize from the list.
4. Flip the toggle beside Announce Notifications to turn it on or off.

While most apps only let you enable or disable notification announcements, message apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram and utility apps like Calendar differentiate Time Sensitive Notifications from regular notifications.

If you choose the option, Siri will only read out important alerts.

FAQ