Turn off Siri announcements in AirPods settings

Voice notifications on AirPods come from Siri Announcements, a feature that reads incoming messages, calls, and reminders aloud through your earbuds. You can disable this entirely, turn it on only when you're in the car, or keep it on but choose which apps trigger it. The setting lives in your iPhone or iPad's Bluetooth settings, not in the AirPods case itself.

Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad, then tap Bluetooth. Find your AirPods in the list and tap the information icon (the small circle with an "i") next to the name. Scroll down until you see Announce Notifications. Tap it and choose Off to silence all voice announcements. If you want announcements only when you're driving, choose Driving instead.

This setting syncs across all your Apple devices that share the same iCloud account, so changing it on your iPhone will affect your iPad and Mac as well. If you have multiple pairs of AirPods, each pair has its own notification settings.

Key Takeaways

  • Siri Announcements is the feature that reads messages and calls aloud on AirPods, and you control it through Bluetooth settings, not the AirPods app.
  • You can turn announcements completely off, keep them only for driving, or leave them on but disable specific apps like Messages or Calendar.
  • The setting syncs automatically across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac if they use the same iCloud account.
  • If you want to hear some notifications but not others, you can choose which apps are allowed to announce through AirPods.

Choose which apps can announce notifications

If you want to keep voice notifications for important things like calls but silence messages or reminders, you can allow announcements from only certain apps. In the same Announce Notifications menu where you turned off the feature, tap Announce Notifications again and choose On or Driving. Then scroll down to see the list of apps below.

Each app has a toggle switch next to it. Turn off the switch for any app you don't want to hear announced — for example, you might keep Phone Calls and Messages on but turn off Calendar, Reminders, and Mail. Only the apps you leave toggled on will announce through your AirPods.

Not all apps appear in this list. Only apps that send notifications to your lock screen can announce through AirPods. If an app you use doesn't appear, it either doesn't support announcements or you haven't received a notification from it yet.

Disable announcements for specific contacts

You can also silence announcements from particular people while keeping them on for everyone else. Go to Settings > Bluetooth, tap the information icon next to your AirPods, and turn on Announce Notifications. Then open the Messages app on your iPhone, find a conversation with someone you don't want to hear announced, swipe left on their name, and tap Hide Alerts.

When you hide alerts from a contact, their messages will still arrive, but Siri won't announce them through your AirPods or on your lock screen. You'll see a small moon icon next to their name in the Messages list to remind you that alerts are hidden. You can turn alerts back on by swiping left again and tapping Show Alerts.

This works only for the Messages app. For calls from specific people, you'll need to use Do Not Disturb or block the contact entirely through your phone settings.

Use Do Not Disturb to pause all notifications temporarily

If you want to silence all notifications — including voice announcements — for a set amount of time, Do Not Disturb is faster than changing individual settings. Swipe down from the top-right corner of your iPhone to open Control Center, then tap the moon icon to turn on Do Not Disturb. You can set it to stay on for one hour, until the end of the day, or until you turn it off manually.

While Do Not Disturb is on, calls and messages will arrive but won't make any sound or vibration, and Siri won't announce them. You can still allow calls from specific people or groups by going to Settings > Do Not Disturb and choosing Allow Calls From. This is useful if you want silence from most people but need to hear from family or work contacts.

Do Not Disturb doesn't change your Siri Announcements setting — it just pauses notifications temporarily. When you turn it off, voice announcements will resume if you had them enabled before.

Turn off notifications at the app level

If you don't want to hear from a specific app at all — not just through AirPods, but on your phone too — you can disable notifications for that app entirely. Go to Settings > Notifications, find the app in the list, and tap it. Toggle off Allow Notifications. The app will no longer send you any alerts, badges, or sounds.

You can also keep notifications on but turn off just the sound. In the same app settings, look for Sounds and toggle it off. The notification will still appear on your lock screen and in Notification Center, but it won't play a sound or trigger a voice announcement on your AirPods.

This approach is useful for apps like email or social media that send frequent notifications you don't need to hear when ready. You can check them when you have time instead of being interrupted throughout the day.

Check your AirPods firmware and connection

If voice announcements aren't working even though you have them turned on, or if they're still playing even after you turned them off, your AirPods firmware might be outdated. Keep your AirPods in their case and place the case near your iPhone. Go to Settings > Bluetooth, tap the information icon next to your AirPods, and scroll down to see the firmware version. If an update is available, the case will update automatically the next time it charges.

If announcements still aren't working correctly after an update, try disconnecting and reconnecting your AirPods. Go to Settings > Bluetooth, tap the information icon next to your AirPods, and choose Forget This Device. Then open the AirPods case near your iPhone and follow the pairing steps that appear on screen.

Make sure your iPhone and AirPods are both running the latest version of their software. Announcements work best when both devices are up to date.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are my AirPods still announcing notifications after I turned them off?

Check that you changed the setting on the device you're using. If you turned off announcements on your iPhone but are using AirPods connected to your iPad, you'll need to change the setting on the iPad too. Also verify that you chose Off in the Announce Notifications menu, not Driving.

Can I turn off announcements for just one pair of AirPods?

Yes. Each pair of AirPods has its own notification settings. If you have AirPods Pro and AirPods Max, you can turn announcements on for one pair and off for the other. Change the setting through the Bluetooth information menu for each pair separately.

Will turning off Siri announcements affect other Siri features?

No. Disabling Announce Notifications only stops Siri from reading messages and calls aloud. You can still use Siri to ask questions, control music, or set reminders — those features work independently of announcement settings.

What's the difference between turning off announcements and using Do Not Disturb?

Turning off Announce Notifications permanently disables voice announcements on your AirPods. Do Not Disturb pauses all notifications temporarily but doesn't change your settings. When you turn off Do Not Disturb, announcements resume if you had them enabled.