When someone calls us on the phone the first thing we want to know is who he is. Something as simple as taking our iPhone out of our pocket, sometimes, for example if we are cooking, we have gone for a run or we are driving, it is impractical. Of course we can take a look at our Apple Watch, but there is another way: ask Siri to announce the calls.

Call-on-demand announcements

The function of announcing calls with Siri is quite simple, but it has a couple of options that we can customize. When activated Siri will say out loud the name of the person who calls us along with the ringtone in itself. To activate this option, the steps are as follows:

  1. We open the app Settings on our iPhone or iPad.
  2. We came in Telephone (in FaceTime in the case of the iPad).
  3. We played on Announce calls.
  4. We choose one of the following four options.
  • Forever: Siri will announce the name of the caller out loud in each call, as long as it is on our agenda (otherwise, it will say that it is unknown).
  • Headphones & Car: Siri will announce the call only if we have headphones connected, they can be wired, they can be Bluetooth or it can be the car’s Bluetooth. In all other cases, it will not announce anything.
  • Headphone only: Same behavior as above, but without ads in the car. Considering that some cars classify their bluetooth as headphones, in this case, Siri will continue to announce the calls. On newer cars, this detail should be taken into account.
  • Never: As the name suggests. It is the default setting.

So between Forever and Never we have a couple of options that can be very useful especially if we are used to using AirPods on a regular basis. Before an incoming call, we can know who it is and, without having to touch our iPhone or Apple Watch, answer with a double tap on the headphones.

Announcing calls with Siri has been around since 2016 and yet it sometimes goes unnoticed. It is clear that the way we interact with our iPhones has evolved over time. Before the interaction was much more direct, now, either through our Apple Watch or simply by voice, the system has evolved.