Apple to Issue Fix to Stop Siri Reading Hidden Lock Screen Notifications

[Maura]

Apple has today told MacRumors that it is working on a fix to stop Siri being able to read out loud hidden lock screen notifications.

“We are aware of the issue and it will be addressed in an upcoming software update,” said Apple. It’s not yet known if this will be in the forthcoming iOS 11.3 update, which is currently in beta testing, or if Apple will release a minor update especially to deal with the issue.

Earlier in the week a Brazilian website, MacMagazine, revealed that if you ask Siri to “read my notifications” it will read aloud all your notifications, including those that you have hidden, even when the phone is locked. This includes notifications from third party apps such as Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Gmail, including emails and WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger messages.

MacRumors has tested the issue on an iPhone X running the newest iOS 11.3 beta as well as iOS 11.2.6. and found that it did not affect iMessage, but it did seem to affect the Apple Mail app, with Siri reading out the subject of a test email.

Until Apple issues the fix, the best way to avoid Siri reading out something that you don’t want it to is to turn off lock screen notifications for the particular app you’re concerned about, or use the toggle in Settings that disables Siri when the phone is locked.

Image: MacRumors

Source: Apple to Prevent Siri From Reading Hidden Notifications on Lock Screen in Future Software Update