How do I turn off the microphone from listening on the Apple Watch series 9

I want to turn off the microphone on my new Apple Watch series 9. I have no reason for the microphone to be on. How do I turn the microphone off?


Apple Watch Series 9

Posted on Sep 28, 2023 05:29 PM

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Posted on Sep 29, 2023 10:27 AM

Thanks for replying!

Well, I truly bought my first Apple Watch 9 to track health by my sleep, heart rate, oxygen levels daily …. In addition to fitness. Of course, I use it as an ordinary watch, too.

I don’t use the Apple Watch to make a phone call, record videos or pictures, or voice memos, etc. I use my iPhone for all that.

I’m just concerned that the watch is “listening” ……. Not that I have any espionage secrets to share ….. 😁. On my other Apple products I can turn off and on the Microphone when I need it or not. It seems the watch does not have that. I have disabled Siri and Dictation but those pesky little red and orange dots still appear.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 29, 2023 10:27 AM in response to Branta_uk

Thanks for replying!

Well, I truly bought my first Apple Watch 9 to track health by my sleep, heart rate, oxygen levels daily …. In addition to fitness. Of course, I use it as an ordinary watch, too.

I don’t use the Apple Watch to make a phone call, record videos or pictures, or voice memos, etc. I use my iPhone for all that.

I’m just concerned that the watch is “listening” ……. Not that I have any espionage secrets to share ….. 😁. On my other Apple products I can turn off and on the Microphone when I need it or not. It seems the watch does not have that. I have disabled Siri and Dictation but those pesky little red and orange dots still appear.

Sep 29, 2023 11:44 AM in response to Loisfromexton

Apple does not do that sort of thing, and because all apps have to be approved by Apple, 3rd party apps do not do that, and if any are found to have slipped through, Apple revokes their authorization and disables the app.


Also in watchOS 10, Siri actions are done on-chip and only complex requests are sent to Apple for processing. So unless you actually say "Hey Siri, mumble, mumble" no sounds are recorded, and no sounds leave your Apple Watch. And in some cases, even the request is handled totally on the Apple Watch with no outside intervention.

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How do I turn off the microphone from listening on the Apple Watch series 9

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