AirPods have a unique feature that lets you use your voice to skip through music, skip forward and backward through podcasts, and even reply to text messages. You can enable or disable the feature for a specific period of time and then return it to default. However, there are times when you may not want to have Siri reading the messages. Here are some ways to stop this from happening.
First, you can go to Settings. From there, you will want to find the Siri & Search section. This will take you to a list of options to manage your voice and your devices. The Announce Messages option will be located under the Notifications menu. To turn off Announce Messages, you will want to check the switch in the Announce When Connected to box.
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You can also turn off Siri entirely by going to the Control Center. The Control Center is accessed by swiping down from the upper right corner of the screen. Once you have swiped down, you will see the menu. There will be a menu option that says, “Siri & Search”. Go to this menu and click on the toggle switch. If it is green, you should be able to silence the announcements. For other toggles, you will need to tap on the item you wish to activate.
Next, you will need to decide if you want to disable the Announce Messages feature for a specified period of time. You can choose to disable it for one hour, a day, or for an entire month. Keep in mind that this will apply to all of your apps. As you might imagine, this will cause a lot of notifications.
Finally, you can turn off the Press Side Button for Siri. This will prevent you from pressing the button to send a message. It will also prevent the app from interrupting your listening experience. Alternatively, you can just turn off the “Reply Without Confirmation” feature, which will prevent your app from allowing you to reply.
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In addition to controlling the Announce Messages feature, you can also set the “Do Not Disturb” mode. Turning the Do Not Disturb toggle will stop all notifications from being read when the device is in use. This is a useful feature when you need to be focused on something else. Other options include skipping forward or backward through music and audiobooks, or even just removing the AirPods.
Depending on the settings, you can also disable the Live Listen feature. AirPods have a force sensor that plays the audio. If this sensor detects that the wearer is not wearing the earbuds, the audio will not be played. Also, you can disable the Live Listen feature by going to the Control Center and selecting the Live Listen option.
While you have the AirPods connected, you will be able to access the Control Center. This is the same control center that can be found on the iPhone.
Photo by Omid Armin on Usplash