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Quicker way to turn off ALL the Siri shortcut suggestions on iPhone or iPad

Is there a quicker way to turn off ALL the Siri shortcut suggestions for apps on iPhone and iPad in IOS 12 ???


I have over 250 apps on my iPad and it took me 20 minutes clicking off the three settings for each app just up to the letter 'C' !!


I have turned off all the available settings in Siri & Search as well as suggestions in General/Dock, shut down and started up again - but shortcuts still appearing, aargh!


iPhone SE

Posted on Aug 3, 2019 11:20 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 6, 2019 6:21 AM

It is probably defaulted on, just like background app update and refresh are defaulted to on. In Apple’s world that’s how they think we should use things, so those of us that think differently have to go in and change things.

8 replies

Aug 6, 2019 2:56 AM in response to Skydiver119

Many thanks for confirming what I suspected - at least it badgered me into organising my apps and deleting a lot of those I hardly ever use - I only had to spend another 20 minutes tediously clicking off all the settings on the remaining apps.


My only reservation now is whether, every time I add a new app to my iPad, I will have to remember to turn off Siri individually.


Do you happen to know whether Siri is activated by default on any new app added ???

Aug 6, 2019 7:13 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

I do not want to have Siri on my system, full stop. It initially was promoted as a help and information system, but it has now turned out to be a massive data mining device for AI user profiling purposes.


I don't use Siri or her shortcuts, they communicate information back all the time to Apple systems that are vulnerable despite encryption, and recent news about Siri privacy failures regarding data protection merely confirm why I do not want to have Siri shortcuts.


Having used Apple Macs since the late 1990s when you were able to freely configure your system to your own requirements, I no longer have any faith in Cook's new platform innovations that abuse that control, especially in the case of privacy.


If people are mad enough to trust AI with their personal data, then let them go ahead, but it should not be imposed by default upon those who, like me, do not accept or trust it. My own phone and iPad are there to serve my own needs, not Apple's.

Aug 6, 2019 8:53 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

I had already turned off Siri at the menu level, but you appear to be technically unaware (QED) that to turn of the option for shortcuts you have to physically deselect Siri for every app you have on your individual IOS device!! There is no longer a single button to turn off Siri (QED).

In fact, with 5 in the family, I so far haven't mentioned the greater inconvenience I have which is to police 5 separate devices, that may install different new apps, all of which will be by default set to use Siri.


May I remind you that you were the person who asked me what problem the shortcuts were causing. I replied fully to your question with what I thought was a reasonable explanation.


The word 'mad' does not necessarily imply that somebody is 'mentally ill': it has several meanings and certainly in British English conversational style it usually implies 'foolish', 'imprudent', etc. and that is how it was meant. I apologise if you took offence, but none was intended. I could have said 'you' instead of 'people' which would have been directly offensive, but I intentionally avoided that because I was not trying to imply any personal criticism.


I think it was fair of me to raise the main problem of Siri, i.e. that the imposition of default settings was non-user-friendly and time-wasting, specifically in the case of shortcuts.


I think that raising my issue has been positive in making you and other users better aware of the fact that Siri cannot be simply 'turned off'.


Similarly, by comparing my 38 years use of Apple Macs and the changes that have occurred over that period with several CEOs, I was merely stating that in my particular case I did not trust the latest innovations under the present CEO.


Having been a loyal user of Apple computers and a developer of educational applications for nearly four decades, I therefore take offence at your claims that I am casting 'aspersions' on Cook or other Apple users rather than making acceptable informative comments.


I shall certainly be taking up your suggestion of raising the issue directly with Apple using the details of this thread.


I now consider this thread closed and you will no doubt be pleased to know that I shall not be using the forum again thanks to your contribution.



Quicker way to turn off ALL the Siri shortcut suggestions on iPhone or iPad

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