Ask HN: Is it impossible to disable Siri on macOS 27?

I disabled Siri in the Settings app, and then further disabled Siri and its extensions in Settings > Screen Time. Next, I disabled all Siri-related and Apple Intelligence-related services as per…

154 points•semidror•10 days ago•87 comments•

#siri #macos #impossible #x2f #related #apple #disabled #disable

I disabled Siri in the Settings app, and then further disabled Siri and its extensions in Settings > Screen Time.

Next, I disabled all Siri-related and Apple Intelligence-related services as per https://github.com/OleksandrKrupko/mac-os-debloat

But after restarting, I could still see a "Siri" process running in Activity Monitor. Upon further inspection, I found that it is the "Siri AI.app".

These "features", together with Apple's Personal Context sound very similar to Microsoft's Recall.

Does anyone have the same experience? Is it really impossible to fully turn off Siri, Siri AI, Apple Intelligence and all related services and features on macOS 27?

87 comments

jodrellblank9 days ago

You should make use of Cunningham's Law[1]. Instead of posting an "Ask HN" asking if it's impossible to disable, post a "Show HN" claiming that it is impossible to disable.

Then people will flock to tell you how it can be disabled by XYZ.

[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cunningham%27s_Law

anguishe9 days ago

Great advice. I should definitely heed this more often.

nottorp9 days ago

Just as a note, from what I see the problem is not only the privacy implications but also that the local AI comes with a baggage amounting to 10% of the space on the base mac models. Which is already severely limited.

threetonesun9 days ago

I have not found the local/remote hand off to be very reliable either, so tasks that used to be almost instantaneous for Siri are now spinning to the point where I assume they failed. A simple 2 minute timer took almost 30 seconds to set the other day.

nottorp9 days ago

You're brave. I'm still on Sequoia.

galad879 days ago

The process that shows the Spotlight UI is now the one called "Siri", previously it was called "Spotlight".

semidror9 days ago

Thanks, that's an interesting observation! When I double-clicked on the "Siri" process in Activity Monitor, I saw that it's an app called "Siri AI".

If the "Siri AI" app has replaced Spotlight, then I wonder if Apple keeps building "personal context" despite Siri and Apple Intelligence being disabled.

It for sure doesn't sound well to disable Siri and still see a "Siri" process.

cosmotic9 days ago

This sounds similar to Microsoft and the start menu. A few years ago I went to extreme lengths to disable cortana (powershell guid uninstall). This invisibly and inexplicably disabled updates to the start menu search feature. The index remained the feature worked, it just never got updated again. No amount of manually reindexing the disk helped. Reinstalling cortana got it working.

kccqzy9 days ago

That makes sense. Sending SIGKILL to that process causes the spotlight UI in the menu bar to flash.

chuckadams9 days ago

I've been daily-driving a mac for 10 years now and I've only ever triggered Siri by accident. I do use it pretty regularly on the phone, mostly to set timers, get directions, and call contacts, but I've been well trained over these years to not expect it to be capable of more than that.

lloydatkinson9 days ago

I remember it being pretty useful on phone. Now, it can't even "like" a song when I'm driving and I want it to add a song to my Spotify favourites list. It could do a few months ago, now it refuses with "sorry there was a problem with the app".

I've had to resort to asking it to take a screenshot so I can go find the song later. Three quarters of the time it never saves the screenshot though, despite seeing the screen flash out of the corner of my eye.

selicos9 days ago

Gemini is similarly a step back. Google Assistant could hear me speak up and ask it to like or skip a song being played, driving or otherwise. It would quickly beep at me, pause the music/etc, accept input, process, then finish and resume the music (or skip to next track if asked).

Now it takes 10-15 seconds to start after a voice command, won't audibly alert or even stop music to take voice input, and usually fails to hear anything then quit out. Half the time it does that it then pauses the music and quits...

With Tidal Gemini can't do anything using voice commands. Maybe SOTA models can help those on the bleeding edge, but 95% of tech users just want it to work and be cheap enough. Apple figured this out a long time ago but can't help itself with being too clever.

embedding-shape9 days ago

I've been using an iPhone 12 Mini since however long it's been out, never used Siri intentionally either, would prefer to disable it fully, but CarPlay for some reason cannot be used without Siri, even though I never use Siri. I consider it 1st party malware at this point.

gumby9 days ago

It’s because they’d prefer you interacted with CarPlay with voice rather than looking away from the road.

An admirable objective, but given how “well” siri has worked in the past, an unrealistic one. We’ll see if 27 is a significant improvement. If I had to bet, I’d bet no, at least for the next year.

runjake9 days ago

Trivia: the most popular method of using Siri, per the analytics, is "accidental activation".

baggy_trough9 days ago

Your training is now out of date.

Nata_Elisym9 days ago

In Screen Time -> Content and Privacy, there's a setting to switch Siri to 'Siri Classic' which strips out the Apple Intelligence-backed behavior specifically.

semidror9 days ago

Instead of "Siri Classic", I selected the "Don’t Allow Siri" option, but it didn't help. The "Siri" (Siri AI.app) process keeps running regardless.

pixl979 days ago

Sounds like Apple hired some of the Microsoft project managers.

Read the full thread on Hacker News →

87 comments

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