How to disable Siri announcements on your AirPods

Siri will read your notifications aloud through AirPods if you have announcement features turned on. You can turn this off in your iPhone's settings so Siri stays silent unless you ask it something. The setting lives in the Notifications section, not in AirPods settings — that confuses most people looking for it.

Open Settings on your iPhone, then go to Notifications. Scroll to the bottom and tap Siri Suggestions & Notifications. Toggle off "Announce Notifications" and "Announce Messages." That stops Siri from reading anything out loud through your AirPods, even if you're wearing them.

If you want Siri to announce some notifications but not others, you can be selective. Go back to Notifications, find the app you want to control (Messages, Mail, Calendar, or others), tap it, and toggle off "Announce Notifications" for just that app. This way Mail stays silent but Messages still reads aloud, for example.

Key Takeaways

  • Siri announcements come from the Notifications settings in your iPhone, not from AirPods settings or Siri settings.
  • Turning off "Announce Notifications" in Settings > Notifications > Siri Suggestions & Notifications stops all spoken alerts through AirPods.
  • You can silence announcements for individual apps instead of all of them by finding each app in Notifications and toggling off its announcement setting.
  • Disabling announcements does not affect visual notifications on your lock screen or home screen — only what Siri reads aloud.

Where the setting actually is (and why it's hard to find)

Most people look for this setting in the AirPods menu or in Siri settings. Neither place has it. Apple put the announcement controls in Notifications because the feature is about how notifications reach you, not about AirPods themselves. The same setting controls whether Siri announces messages on your Mac, iPad, or HomePod — it's a notification behavior, not a device setting.

Once you know to look in Notifications, the path is straightforward: Settings > Notifications > scroll to the very bottom > Siri Suggestions & Notifications. The toggle for "Announce Notifications" is right there. If you don't see it, make sure you're on iOS 16 or later — older versions had this feature in a different location.

Turning off announcements for specific apps only

If you want Siri to read Messages aloud but stay quiet about Mail, you don't have to turn off announcements entirely. Instead, go to Settings > Notifications and find the app you want to silence. Tap it, then look for "Announce Notifications" and toggle it off. That app will no longer trigger spoken alerts, but others will.

This approach works for any app that supports announcements: Messages, Mail, Calendar, Reminders, and others. You can mix and match — some apps announce, some don't. If an app doesn't have an "Announce Notifications" toggle, it doesn't support the feature and won't read messages aloud regardless.

What happens to your notifications when you turn off announcements

Disabling Siri announcements only stops the spoken part. Your notifications still arrive on your lock screen, home screen, and in Notification Center. You'll still see the badge number on app icons. Your AirPods will still chime or vibrate if you have those sounds enabled. The only thing that stops is Siri reading the content of the notification out loud.

If you want to silence the chime or vibration too, that's a separate setting. Go to Settings > Notifications, find the app, and toggle off "Sound" or "Haptics." You can have visual notifications without any audio or vibration at all.

Turning announcements back on if you change your mind

Go back to Settings > Notifications > Siri Suggestions & Notifications and toggle "Announce Notifications" back on. If you turned off announcements for individual apps, find each one and toggle its setting back on. The feature will work the same way it did before.

You can also control announcements by voice. Say "Hey Siri, announce notifications" or "Hey Siri, don't announce notifications" and Siri will toggle the setting for you. This is faster if you're already wearing your AirPods and want to change it on the fly.

Why Siri announcements can be annoying in public

Siri reads the full text of your notification aloud, which means anyone nearby hears your messages, calendar events, or reminders. This is a privacy problem in public spaces, on public transit, or in meetings. Turning off announcements is the simplest way to keep your notifications private.

If you want to keep announcements at home but disable them when you're out, you can use Focus modes. Create a Focus for "Work" or "Public" and set it to turn off announcement notifications automatically. When you set up that Focus, Siri goes silent. When you leave, the Focus turns off and announcements come back.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will turning off announcements affect my iPhone's speaker or just my AirPods?

The setting controls all audio announcements from Siri, whether you're using AirPods, your iPhone speaker, or any other audio device. If you turn off announcements, Siri won't read notifications aloud through any device. To silence only AirPods while keeping announcements on your iPhone speaker, you would need to disconnect your AirPods instead.

Can I make Siri announce only certain types of notifications?

Yes. You can turn off announcements globally, then go into individual apps and turn them back on for just the ones you want. For example, turn off all announcements, then go to Messages and toggle announcements back on for that app only. Now only Messages will be read aloud.

Why doesn't my iPhone have the "Announce Notifications" option?

This feature requires iOS 16 or later. If you're on an older version, update your iPhone in Settings > General > Software Update. If you're already on iOS 16 or later and still don't see it, restart your iPhone and check again.

Does turning off announcements stop Siri from responding when I talk to it?

No. Turning off announcement notifications only stops Siri from reading your incoming messages and alerts aloud. You can still say "Hey Siri" and ask questions, set reminders, or control your smart home. Siri will still respond to voice commands normally.

Can I schedule announcements to turn off at certain times?

Not directly through the announcements setting. However, you can use Focus modes to turn announcements off during work hours, sleep time, or other periods. Create a Focus, set it to disable announcement notifications, then schedule it to set up automatically at the times you choose.