siri prefer silent responses but not always

I use Siri a lot. I prefer her to usually respond silently and she does that because I have the setting set to “prefer silent responses”. But, often I wake up in the middle of the night and I want to ask Siri what is the time and I would like for her to respond verbally (so I don’t have to put my glasses on ). I have tried many different ways to ask Siri to override the setting and announce the time verbally but so far I haven’t found a way.

iPhone 14

Posted on Dec 23, 2023 08:51 PM

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4 replies

Dec 24, 2023 08:10 AM in response to lkrupp

Thanks for the quick response. But just to be clear, Im not looking for a setting, I was hoping there’s a way I could tell Siri to verbally announce the time in spite of that setting. The phrasing of the setting seems to imply to me there should be a way since after all it says “prefer silent responses” , it doesn’t say “always silent responses”. Thanks again for all your help.

Dec 23, 2023 10:30 PM in response to ringtoot

Instead of ticking “prefer silent responses” I would recommend using "Automatic" because...


Siri's ability to determine when to speak on iOS devices relies on a combination of on-device intelligence and sophisticated algorithms. This process involves several steps:


  1. Contextual Understanding: Siri analyzes the context of the conversation or situation. It considers factors like the user's location, time of day, recent activities, and the nature of the request to determine the appropriate response. This analysis happens locally on the device, utilizing the device's computational power without needing to send data to external servers in many cases.
  2. Response Decision: Based on the gathered information and the user's query, Siri decides whether a spoken response is necessary. For instance, if the query requires a verbal response or confirmation, Siri will speak out loud. However, for simple tasks like setting an alarm or turning off a setting, Siri might execute the task without verbal confirmation.
  3. Natural Language Processing (NLP): Siri uses natural language processing to understand the intent behind the user's request. It interprets the meaning of the query and formulates an appropriate response or action.
  4. Voice Synthesis: When a verbal response is needed, Siri generates the spoken response using a combination of pre-recorded phrases and synthesized speech. The device's speech synthesis capabilities allow Siri to deliver responses in a natural and human-like manner.


The key aspect of Siri's on-device intelligence is its ability to handle many tasks locally, preserving user privacy by minimizing data sent to Apple servers while still providing a seamless user experience. This blend of hardware and software capabilities enables Siri to determine when to speak based on various contextual cues and user interactions.

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siri prefer silent responses but not always

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