Do you love the convenience of AirPods, but tire of Siri constantly interrupting your media to announce incoming messages? You‘re not alone. While helpful, many find nonstop text notifications through headphones frustrating.
Thankfully, you can take control and customize – or outright disable – when and how AirPods read your texts aloud. This guide will provide fixes tailored to your exact needs and preferences.
What‘s Causing My AirPods to Read Texts?
First, it helps to understand why your AirPods suddenly started announcing notifications from various apps.
Models with Announce Messages Capability
Apple introduced the Announce Messages feature alongside iOS 15 for select, newer AirPod models:
- AirPods Pro (1st & 2nd gen)
- AirPods (2nd gen and up)
- AirPods Max
- Select Beats headphones
So if you own original AirPods (2016 model), you luckily won‘t experience interruptions for incoming texts.
User Reception of Constant Notifications
According to a 2022 survey by Consumer Reports, over 60% of Announce Messages users felt text reading was:
- Disruptive
- Hard to disable
- Triggered too frequently throughout the day
So while handy for some contexts, most find nonstop announcements through their earbuds annoying.
The good news? You can fully customize AirPods to end distracting text notifications.
How to Stop AirPods Reading Text Messages
Disabling AirPods text announcements requires diving into your iPhone‘s Settings rather than tweaking the earbuds themselves.
Here are the step-by-step instructions to prevent notifications:
Access Notification Settings
First, unlock your iPhone and locate the Settings app icon on your homescreen:
Tap to open Settings, then scroll down to Notifications:
This is where you‘ll configure announcement behavior.
Toggle Announce Messages to Off
Under Notifications, choose Announce Messages:
This screen allows you to disable announcements completely with the switch at the top.
But you can also customize per app – more on that next!
For now, toggle Headphones to disable texts reading through your AirPods and Beats:
| Announce Messages | Don‘t Announce | |
|---|---|---|
| Headphones | On | Off |
| CarPlay | On | On |
Customize Announce Apps and Notifications
Rather than completely disabling, you can choose which apps get read aloud.
For example, many find social media notifications distracting, while wanting timely messages from certain contacts.
Under Announce Messages, tap individual apps like Messages, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger to toggle text reading on/off.
You can even specify whether all notifications or only time-sensitive ones are eligible for AirPods announcement.
Take a few minutes to tailor configurations exactly how you want them.
Add Announce Messages to Control Center
Beyond adjustments in Settings, also add Announce Messages quick access via Control Center:
Then text reading is two taps away whenever you need to toggle it off.
Here‘s how to set this up:
- Open Settings
- Choose Control Center
- Tap the + icon next to Announce Messages
Now you‘ll have it readily available in Control Center for convenience.
Use Siri Commands to Instantly Stop Active Notifications
Once your AirPods start announcing a text you‘d rather not hear, use voice to halt Siri mid-sentence!
- AirPods Pro (both generations): Press and hold force sensor
- AirPods 2nd Gen or Later: Say "Hey Siri, stop!"
- AirPods Max: Press and hold Digital Crown button
Refer to Apple Support guidance for instructions specific to your headphone model.
In Summary
While the Announce Messages capability aims to keep users connected, too many text interruptions causes headaches. Take back control by:
- Disabling AirPods announcements completely
- Customizing notifications per app
- Adding a Control Center toggle for convenience
- Leveraging voice and gestures to immediately stop Siri
With a few quick adjustments, you can tailor AirPods‘ behavior to best suit your needs – not Siri‘s!
