Siri Settings and How to Shut Her Up

By Edward C. Baig and Bob LeVitus from iPad For Dummies, 5th Edition

Siri, the chatty personal digital assistant who can remind you whether to take an umbrella or clue you in on how the Giants are faring in the NFL, has found her way to the iPad from the iPhone 4S. You can talk to her by pressing and holding the Home button and speaking out loud. She will talk back.

But sometimes, well — there’s no way to say this kindly — you want to shut her up. To do that, just turn the Siri setting from On to Off. If you do disable Siri, be aware that the information she uses to respond to your requests is removed from Apple’s servers.

So if you call her back into duty later, it may take a little bit of time for her to resend information. Don’t fret if you don’t remember any of this. Apple reminds you ahead of you silencing Siri.

Other Siri settings to take note of:

Default language: You can choose the language in which she will speak to you. The default is U.S. English.
Voice feedback: You can select whether to always get voice feedback from Siri as opposed to only when you’re in a “hands-free” situation.
Your info: And you can let Siri know who you are by choosing your name (if not already shown) in the My Info section of Siri settings. If for some reason you want to pick another name, you can do so from your list of Contacts.