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

[MacRumors]

Apple has confirmed it will fix a privacy issue in which Siri can read aloud hidden lock screen notifications from many apps on iPhones.

In a statement provided to MacRumors, Apple said "we are aware of the issue and it will be addressed in an upcoming software update." It's quite possible the fix will be included in iOS 11.3, which remains in beta testing, but Apple may elect to address the problem with a minor update such as iOS 11.2.7.

As reported by Brazilian website MacMagazine earlier this week, users can simply ask Siri to "read my notifications" and the assistant will read aloud the contents of notifications, including ones that are hidden, from a wide selection of apps.

Siri's behavior becomes a privacy issue because it can read aloud messages and emails from third-party apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Gmail, even if an iPhone is locked and notifications are hidden. This violates the trust of users who expect that their notifications cannot be read by others.

MacRumors has reproduced this issue on an iPhone X running both iOS 11.2.6 and the latest iOS 11.3 beta, but we can confirm that it does not affect iMessage. However, the issue did partially affect Apple's stock Mail app, as Siri was able to read the subject line of an email we sent as part of our testing.

Lock screen notifications are hidden by default on iPhone X, meaning the contents of notifications are concealed until a user authenticates with Face ID. The setting isn't turned on by default on other iPhones, but it can be enabled in Settings > Notifications > Show Previews, which presents three options:
Always: Lock screen notifications are fully visible
When Unlocked: Lock screen notifications remain hidden until a user authenticates with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode
Never: Lock screen notifications are always hiddenThere are two workarounds that users can implement until the fix is released to prevent Siri from reading aloud notifications from the lock screen:
Turn off lock screen notifications for sensitive apps: Settings > Notifications, select an app, and toggle off Show on Lock Screen
Fully disable Siri whenever the iPhone is locked: Settings > Siri & Search > Allow Siri When LockedMacRumors will update this article as soon as the software update with a fix is released.

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

 

[WilliamG]

I really hope iOS 12 is just iOS 11 without the ridiculous number of bugs.

 

[otternonsense]

Oh, Siri. What started as the very first intelligent personal assistant, ended up a mildly retarded sidekick.

 

[spiddyman007]

the only thing siri is useful for is to bypass security

 

[calzon65]

Apple lead with Siri, but seems to have lost the momentum to Alexa.

 

[justperry]

Oh, Siri. What started as the very first intelligent personal assistant, ended up a mildly retarded sidekick.

the only thing siri is useful for is to bypass security

Apple lead with Siri, but seems to have lost the momentum to Alexa.

What has this to do with the topic, literally nothing.

It's about a bug, not Siri.

 

[TheShadowKnows!]

"Fully disable Siri whenever the iPhone is locked."

Better yet: Fully disable Siri, period.

 

[outskirtsofinfinity]

It's about a bug, not Siri.

No, Siri should know better.

 

[techno-Zen]

How did this even pass testing?

 

[w00master]

It just works! (TM)

 

[calzon65]

I really hope iOS 12 is just iOS 11 without the ridiculous number of bugs.

Amen to that! IOS has become a bloated (slow) operating system with a myriad of bugs. Apples needs to stop the garbage like the rush to release more and more emojis and focus of fixing the damn bugs!

I am so disgusted with IOS11 bugs. IOS 10.3.3 worked well for me, it was finally relatively stable, but Apple’s Nazi incessant non-stop irritating upgrade messages that kept popping up for months on end (you can’t disable those messages) finally caught me off guard and I mistakenly clicked upgrade to IOS11.

Now I completely regret that move to IOS11 and wish I could roll back to 10.3.3. But since I did an over-the-air upgrade, the Apple "geniuses" said sorry, you are totally out of luck, there is nothing we can do for you, you are stuck with IOS11 so get used to it.

In a recent call to BMW to ask about all the IOS11 Bluetooth connection problems, they said for months they have been inundated with thousands of calls complaining about the unreliability of IOS11. The person I spoke to at BMW said for the past five months IOS11 has been the bane of his existence. They [BMW] continue to complain to Apple, but it's nothing but crickets from Apple

 

[78Bandit]

Is it my imagination, or is this one of the longest development periods for a point release? There's been talk about the battery monitoring function being in 11.3 for over three months now, it was in developer beta on January 24, and it still isn't available.

 

[kemal]

If siri is silent, is it reading aloud the root password?

 

[Tech198]

Apple just introduces it own best practices, then smites them later on.

I would have thought having convenience would be a good thing.

If it violates the people of others than perhaps they should change how others have access to their phones. But Apple thinks what it is doing by affecting all.

 

[The Game 161]

Never knew this could even happen

 

[justperry]

Is it my imagination, or is this one of the longest development periods for a point release? There's been talk about the battery monitoring function being in 11.3 for over TWO months now, it was in developer beta on January 24, and it still isn't available.

Fixed that for ya.


24 Jan-24 Feb-24 March=2 months not three.

 

[44267547]

The overly redundant And mildly exacerbated hating Siri comments are typical on here. I use Siri every single day through multiple Apple products and for dictation, and it works perfectly fine for me, with the exclusion of some minor discrepancies. And no, I don’t need to compare it to anything else with Alexa or Google, Siri works exactly how I intend it to and the above comments from others are overboard.

 

[Apple blogger]

Hey I have an idea, we all should publicly disclose all these bugs to these big media companies, and ask them to publish articles about them.. and seriously, before the WWDC, we’ll have an awesome iOS, which would effectively 99% bug free..

Because Apple is creating more bugs with every update, be it small, just to that it can fix it later...

 

[applerocks]

HOW did they miss this? Cmon!!!!!! And HOW did no one else catch this until now? This isn't an edge case... this is tablestakes!!

 

[IPPlanMan]

This is a ridiculous oversight by Apple.

Does anyone at Apple actually test these devices for real world usage?

This feels like it’s amateur hour over there.

Seriously, how wasn’t this on some checklist to test?

Oh I know why... more Animoji...
[doublepost=1521737132][/doublepost]

How did this even pass testing?

You’re assuming they tested it.
[doublepost=1521737190][/doublepost]

I really hope iOS 12 is just iOS 11 without the ridiculous number of bugs.

But we need more Animoji.

 

[dandy1117]

HOW did they miss this? Cmon!!!!!! And HOW did no one else catch this until now? This isn't an edge case... this is tablestakes!!

The fact that no one recognized the bug does suggest it is an edge case and might explain (although, not necessarily excuse) how Apple failed to catch it as well!

 

[tdar]

Is it my imagination, or is this one of the longest development periods for a point release? There's been talk about the battery monitoring function being in 11.3 for over three months now, it was in developer beta on January 24, and it still isn't available.

They were clear when this round started that it would be taking this long. But as a Developer who's had access to iOS 11 since WWDC last June,it's all been one very long beta,but with millions of testers.

 

[Nicksd84]

The overly redundant And mildly exacerbated hating Siri comments are typical on here. I use Siri every single day through multiple Apple products and for dictation, and it works perfectly fine for me, with the exclusion of some minor discrepancies. And no, I don’t need to compare it to anything else with Alexa or Google, Siri works exactly how I intend it to and the above comments from others are overboard.

Good for you. It doesn’t work for me consisntely with the same commands. That’s a problem. This specific bug is not necessarily Siri related. Could be an iOS issue. Either way it’s embarassing for Apple

 

[44267547]

Good for you. It doesn’t work for me consisntely with the same commands. That’s a problem.

I never gave an example of specific commands, so I’m not sure how you compare specifically what I’m referring too. Regardless, I don’t expect you to have the same result as I do with Siri, but if someone as myself who owns multiple Apple products and has been using Siri heavily for years, there are many improvements over the years and versus setbacks. To each their own based on your experience.

 

[Solver]

Things have gotten a bit more complicated over the last 30 to 40 years. We essentially have a souped up room size super computers from the 1980s, in our pockets.