How to stop Siri from reading out messages

If you own AirPods or Beats headphones and use an iPhone, 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.

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. Switching announcements on accidentally or without realizing what the results will sound like is pretty easy.

Thankfully, there’s no big trick in how to turn off Siri reading texts.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Select the Notifications submenu.
3. Tap on Announce Notifications, and you’ll be presented with a simple on/off toggle.
4. Toggle off Announce Notifications. If you only want to stop Siri from reading out messages when using headphones, toggle off Headphones.

You can also go down the list of apps to enable or disable notification announcements granularly. 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. Sometimes, you might want to toggle settings directly on your Watch, though, if you’ve got a cellular model and left your phone at home, or if, in rare cases, iPhone settings aren’t syncing correctly.

Here’s how to turn off Siri reading texts from your Apple Watch:

1. Press the Digital Crown once to access your apps.
2. Open the Settings app.
3. Select Notifications.
4. Tap on Announce Notifications. You may have to scroll down a bit to find this.
5. Toggle off Announce Notifications.

Like with the iPhone and iPad, Watch offers the ability to keep announcements active but toggle them per app.