VoiceOver reading messages automatically

By Alicia Krage, 7 November, 2024

Forum
macOS and Mac Apps

Hi AppleVis community, I was hoping someone could help me with this one.

Even though I have notification previews set to never, VoiceOver not only reads the person's name, but the entire message when I receive an iMessage while on my Mac. Is there a way to disable this?

Thanks!

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Comments

By Levi Gobin on Monday, November 11, 2024 - 18:15

You could probably turn off the switch next to show as banner, and you’ll still be able to see them in your notifications center.

By Alicia Krage on Monday, November 11, 2024 - 18:15

I don't have banners turned on. I have it set as alerts, which is fine. I just don't want it reading everything. But maybe that's just how it is?

By Brian on Monday, November 11, 2024 - 18:15

Could this be Siri doing this? On iOS we can now have Siri read aloud Notifications. Is this feature also on macOS? Could be the cause of this persistent issue you are experiencing. 🤷

By Tyler on Monday, November 11, 2024 - 18:15

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

To my knowledge, Siri on macOS cannot speak messages like it can on iOS and iPadOS.

If you don't find Messages notifications useful, you can turn them off completely in System Settings > Notifications. Also, depending on your use case, you may want to consider keeping your Mac on or asleep rather than powered off when you're not using it, so that messages can continue to sync in the background.

HTH

By Alicia Krage on Monday, November 11, 2024 - 18:15

Hi all, thank you for your suggestions.

I did some experimenting, and under the notification style, I have none selected and I have alerts turned on. I tested it and it works. It'll play the sound but won't read it out loud anymore.

Thanks for the suggestions though. Appreciate it.