![\"What](\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Apple-snuck-something-dirty-in-our-phones-Learn-from-this-App-setting-600x300-1.jpg\")
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There\u2019s been a bit of a panic on social media lately. People are freaking out about Siri allegedly sending data from all their apps to third parties. There are videos on TikTok and Instagram, and social media posts on all the main services alerting people to this supposed threat to their privacy. One particiular concern revolves around a feature called “Learn from this App.”<\/p>\n
Let’s examine and fact check the claims, and determine whether they have any merit.<\/p>\n
In this article:<\/em><\/p>\n I spotted this post on Bluesky; I\u2019ve obfuscated the user name and profile picture to not embarrass this person:<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s look at this. The user claims that \u201cApple snuck something dirty in our phones last night.\u201d<\/p>\n And\u2014O, the horror\u2014\u201cMy garage app, my BANKING APPS, others had that turned on automatically.\u201d We\u2019ll get to that in a minute.<\/p>\n As to this specific Siri feature, “Learn from this App,” it\u2019s actually not new; it has been on the iPhone since iOS 9<\/a>, and has been enhanced over the years. The basics of what Apple called, at the time, Siri Intelligence are:<\/p>\n \u201cProactive assistance presents the most relevant information without compromising users\u2019 privacy and suggests actions at a particular moment \u2014 even before you start typing \u2014 automatically suggesting apps to launch or people to contact based on usage patterns, and notifying you when you need to leave for appointments, taking into account traffic conditions. iOS 9 can even learn what you typically listen to in a certain location or at a particular time of day, so when you plug in headphones at the gym or hop in the car before work, it can automatically display playback controls for your preferred app.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/a>The poster was panicking because people on social media are claiming that that this setting iOS to snarf up data and send it to third parties.<\/p>\n I\u2019m loath to link to the Daily Mail, a British newspaper that is far from the newspaper of record, but on January 9, they said<\/a>:<\/p>\n “iPhone users have been warned of two settings that sneakily allow third party apps and websites to access your data.<\/p>\n \u201cThese settings allow your iPhone to share data that helps third parties target advertisements to you and measure advertisement engagement.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is false. Here\u2019s why.<\/a><\/p>\n The setting in question, “Learn from this App,” allows Siri to learn a number of things when you use apps. For example, Siri learns which apps you use at which time of day and which apps you use often. You can see the results of this in two ways:<\/p>\n From any Home Screen, pull down and look at the Siri Suggestions at the top of the screen. Tap Show More to see an additional line of four apps, or tap Show Less to hide the second line.<\/p>\n Or, add a Siri Suggestions widget<\/a> to one of your home screens, where you\u2019ll see eight apps. <\/a>If you check this during the day, you\u2019ll notice that the apps will change a bit, reflecting your use over time. (To be fair, I don\u2019t know why the Xbox app is first on my iPhone; I don\u2019t use it much.)<\/p>\n Finally, none of this data goes to third parties. Some encrypted data stored in your iCloud account is available across your Apple devices. But Siri is not reading data from your banking app. As Apple says<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cYour Siri settings and Siri Suggestions personalization will sync across your Apple devices using end-to-end encryption if you use iCloud. If you have set up Siri, a small sample of your requests will also sync using end-to-end encryption to improve personalized Siri recognition on each device. The personalized speech recognition models and your interactions with Siri and Dictation that are performed on device may leverage your on-device information to improve accuracy and model performance. The status of your nearby timers, alarms, shared media, and, if you opted in to Personal Requests on HomePod, phone call status, from your device and the proximity of such device may be shared locally with your nearby Apple devices for others to be able to control them from your nearby devices with Siri enabled.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In the same document, Apple later says:<\/p>\n \u201cYou can see and control the full list of features that Siri personalizes and apps that Siri suggests shortcuts for in Settings > Siri. To stop apps from contributing information to personalize Siri, go to Settings > Siri > Apps > [app name], then tap to turn off Learn from this App. To stop app clips from contributing information to personalize Siri, go to Settings > Siri > App Clips and tap to turn off Learn from App Clips.\u201d<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The setting in question is well hidden within Apple\u2019s operating systems. To access it on an iPhone or iPad, go to Settings, then tap either “Siri” if you have an older device, or “Apple Intelligence & Siri” if you have a device that can run Apple\u2019s new AI features. Swipe down to the bottom of the screen and tap Apps.<\/p>\n You now see all the apps on your device. Tap one to see its settings:<\/p>\n All apps show the first setting and the last two in the screenshot above, but some have an additional setting. Here, for the Contacts app, you can turn off contact suggestions when you\u2019re typing.<\/p>\n Finding this setting on macOS is difficult, and it looks like Apple made a mistake in its System Settings app. As with the iPhone and iPad, you go to the Siri or Apple Intelligence & Siri settings, but when you get there, you don\u2019t see any settings for apps.<\/p>\n You need to click “About Siri, Dictation & Privacy\u2026”, at which point you see this dialog:<\/p>\n On macOS, the label says, “Learn from this application,” rather than “this App.”<\/p>\n Once there, you can then make changes to this setting for some, but not all of the apps on your Mac.<\/p>\n The only real reason to turn the setting off for individual apps is if you don\u2019t want to see them when you search or in the Siri Suggestions widget, though you can also just toggle off Suggest App to keep apps from showing in these locations.<\/a><\/p>\n Over the years, Apple has modified Siri Intelligence features. In the iPhone User Guide for iOS 12<\/a> on the Apple website (for some reason, I can\u2019t find a US English version of this, so I will link to the UK version), says:<\/p>\n \u201cGlance at the Lock screen or start a search: As Siri learns your routines, you get suggestions for just what you need, at just the right time. For example, if you frequently order coffee mid morning, Siri may suggest your order near the time you normally place it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is the main use of this \u201cLearn from this App\u201d feature. But this feature has other uses:<\/p>\n All of these are still available in iOS 18, as per the iPhone User Guide<\/a>, but the key feature is described a bit more succinctly:<\/p>\n \u201cGlance at the Lock Screen or start a search: As Siri learns your routines, you get suggestions for just what you need, at just the right time.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n To be fair, calling this \u201cSiri\u201d is somewhat incorrect.<\/p>\n Users generally see Siri as the feature on an Apple device that responds to commands and requests. But Siri is actually an integral part of Apple operating systems and goes far beyond that rudimentary voice chatbot.<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s clear that this \u201cLearn from this App\u201d setting is vague, and it\u2019s understandable that people may misinterpret it. Not many people will read the Siri, Dictation & Privacy document<\/a>, from which I have cited above. And even if they do, it\u2019s difficult to understand.<\/p>\n But the bigger problem is that when misinformation circulates on social media and in newspapers, people panic rather than trying to find out if it is true. It\u2019s not a good idea to trust some random TikToker, or poster on Instagram or Bluesky; chances are, they are probably not savvy enough to understand what is going on.<\/p>\n So, yes, I think Apple should make this setting clearer. But the panic over this feature, which has been in Apple operating systems for nine years, is unwarranted.<\/a><\/p>\n Having said all that, Siri does have privacy settings that you might want to adjust.<\/p>\n Voice activation (i.e. “Hey Siri”) is a potential concern. Siri doesn’t distinguish between your voice and anyone else’s. That means that anyone else can give commands to Siri on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.<\/p>\n Disturbingly, Siri may also send voice recordings and transcripts to Apple. This helps the company improve its voice assistant\u2014but it could also leak personally identifiable information.<\/p>\n For some people, if you don’t use Siri at all, you might just want to turn it off altogether.<\/p>\n To adjust any of those settings, see our article, “How to turn off Siri completely on iPhone, iPad, and Mac<\/a>.”<\/p>\n How to turn off Siri or improve its privacy on iPhone, iPad, and Mac<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
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The sources of misleading claims about Siri<\/h3>\n
![\"Viral](\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/siri-panic-clueless-user.png\")
<\/p>\nWhen the news picks up viral posts<\/strong><\/h4>\n
What is the “Learn from this App” Siri feature?<\/h3>\n
![\"Siri](\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/siri-suggestions.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nYour Siri data is not being sent to third parties<\/strong><\/h4>\n
The setting people say to change: “Learn from this App”<\/h3>\n
![\"Learn](\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/siri-setting.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"About](\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/macos-siri.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Learn](\"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/siri2.png\")
<\/p>\nHow Siri Intelligence has changed over the years<\/h3>\n
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Are these really Siri settings?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
What Apple has gotten wrong<\/h3>\n
Are there Siri privacy settings I should be concerned about?<\/h3>\n