Listen and respond to incoming notifications with AirPods and Beats headphones on Apple Watch

Siri can read out incoming notifications from many apps without having to unlock your iPhone when you’re using supported AirPods and Beats headphones. Siri avoids interrupting you and listens after reading notifications so you can reply without saying “Hey Siri.”

Turn on Announce Notifications

Put your paired headphones in or on your ears, depending on the kind of headphones you have.
Pair them with Apple Watch.
Go to the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
Go to Siri > Announce Notifications, then turn on Announce Notifications.

You can also go to the Settings app on your iPhone, go to Notifications > Announce Notifications, then turn on Announce Notifications.

Tip: Siri can also read your unread notifications in Notification Center—either through the Apple Watch speaker or headphones connected through Bluetooth. Just say “Read my notifications.”

Choose apps for notifications

You can choose the apps that are allowed to announce notifications.

Put your paired headphones in or on your ears, depending on the kind of headphones you have.
Go to the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
Go to Siri > Announce Notifications, scroll down, then tap the apps you want audio notifications from.

Temporarily turn off Announce Notifications

Press the side button to open Control Center.
Tap .
Tap again to turn it on.

Note: The Announce Notifications button is disabled when you remove AirPods.

Reply to a message

Say something like “Reply that’s great news.”

Siri repeats what you said, then asks for confirmation before sending your reply. (To send replies without waiting for confirmation, go to the Settings app on your Apple Watch, go to Siri > Announce Notifications, scroll to the bottom, then turn on Reply without Confirmation.)

Stop Siri from reading a notification

You can do any of the following:

Say something like “Stop” or “Cancel.”
Press the Digital Crown (AirPods Max).
Note: While listening to a notification, you can turn the Digital Crown to change the volume.
Press either Force Sensor (AirPods Pro and AirPods 3).
Double-tap either of your AirPods 2.
Remove one of your AirPods (AirPods Pro, AirPods 2, and AirPods 3).

If you didn’t turn on Announce Notifications when you set up your AirPods, go to the Settings app on your Apple Watch, go to Siri > Announce Notifications, then turn on Announce Notifications.

Helpful?

Apple Watch User Guide