Tip Day: How to Turn On Siri Suggestions

To turn Siri Suggestions on or off, open the Settings app, tap Siri & Search, then toggle the switches for “Suggestions on Home Screen,� “Suggestions on Lock Screen,� or “Suggestions when Searching� for individual apps or globally. This article walks you through the exact steps for iPhone and iPad, explains what each toggle does, and covers common troubleshooting issues.

What Are Siri Suggestions?

Siri Suggestions is a feature built into iOS and iPadOS that predicts what you might want to do next based on your usage patterns, location, time of day, and app history. It appears in several places: the Home Screen (as app icons in a widget or the Search screen), the Lock Screen (as suggested shortcuts), and within the Search view when you swipe down from the middle of the Home Screen. The feature is designed to reduce the number of taps needed to open an app, start a timer, message a frequent contact, or begin a workout.

For example, if you open a podcast app every weekday morning at 7:30 AM, Siri may place that app icon on the Lock Screen or in the Search suggestions at that time. It learns from your behavior on-device, meaning the suggestions are personal and do not require an internet connection to generate. The data used for suggestions is stored locally and is not shared with Apple unless you explicitly opt into improving Siri with usage data.

How to Turn On Siri Suggestions (Global Settings)

There are two levels of control: global (all apps) and per-app. To enable or disable the feature entirely, follow these steps:

1. Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap Siri & Search.
3. Under the “Siri Suggestions� section, you’ll see toggles for:

• Suggestions on Home Screen – Shows suggested app icons in the Search screen and sometimes as a widget.
• Suggestions on Lock Screen – Displays shortcuts on the Lock Screen when you swipe right (Today View) or when you raise the device.
• Suggestions when Searching – Shows suggested apps and content when you pull down the Search screen.
• Suggestions on Apple Watch – If you have an Apple Watch, this toggle controls suggestions that appear there.

Turning these off disables the feature for all apps. To turn them back on, simply toggle them to green. There is no “master switch� that disables all suggestions at once, but turning off all three toggles effectively does that.

How to Turn On Siri Suggestions for a Specific App

Sometimes you want suggestions from one app but not another. For example, you might want your calendar app to suggest events but not your games. Here’s how to control per-app:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Siri & Search.
3. Scroll down to the list of apps (below the “Siri Suggestions� section).
4. Tap the app you want to adjust.
5. You’ll see four toggles:

• Search & Suggestions – Allows the app to appear in Search results and in suggestion lists.
• Suggestions on Home Screen – Allows the app’s icons to be suggested on the Home Screen Search.
• Suggestions on Lock Screen – Allows shortcuts to appear on the Lock Screen.
• Show App in Search – Controls whether the app appears when you type its name in Search.

If you want to disable all suggestions for a particular app, turn off all four toggles. To re-enable, turn them back on. Note that turning off “Search & Suggestions� will also remove the app from Siri’s ability to suggest content from that app in other contexts.

Why Are Siri Suggestions Not Showing Up?

If you’ve enabled the toggles but still don’t see suggestions, the most common cause is that Siri hasn’t learned enough about your habits yet. The feature relies on on-device learning, which takes time—usually a few days to a week of regular usage. Another cause is that the app itself has not been used recently; Siri stops suggesting apps you haven’t opened in a while. Additionally, if you have “Location Services� turned off for Siri, it cannot suggest location-based actions like “Open Maps to Home.�

To fix this, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services and ensure it is enabled, and that Siri & Dictation is allowed to use location. Also, check that “Significant Locations� is enabled under Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services. If you’ve recently reset your device or restored from an old backup, learning may have been reset, so give it time.

Another common issue is that the “Suggestions on Home Screen� toggle is off for the specific app. Even if the global toggle is on, the per-app toggle overrides it. So check both levels.

How to Turn Off Siri Suggestions Completely

If you find suggestions distracting or privacy concerns, you can turn them off entirely. Go to Settings > Siri & Search and toggle off all three global toggles: Suggestions on Home Screen, Suggestions on Lock Screen, and Suggestions when Searching. This will stop all suggestions from appearing. However, note that Siri itself will still work for voice commands; you are only disabling the proactive suggestions feature.

To also disable per-app suggestions, you would need to go through each app and turn off the toggles, but that is tedious. A quicker way is to use the global toggles, which override per-app settings. If you later want to re-enable, just toggle them back on.

Does Turning Off Siri Suggestions Save Battery?

Turning off Siri Suggestions may slightly improve battery life because the device no longer runs background processes to predict your actions. However, the effect is usually minimal—on the order of a few percent per day. The on-device learning is efficient and only activates when you use the device. If you are concerned about battery, it’s better to check other settings like background app refresh and screen brightness first.

There is no measurable difference in data usage because suggestions are generated locally. The only network activity is when you tap a suggestion and it opens an app or loads content, which would happen anyway.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do Siri Suggestions appear on the Lock Screen?
Lock Screen suggestions are shortcuts that Siri thinks you’ll need based on time, location, and routine. For example, if you usually call a contact on your commute, that contact’s shortcut may appear. You can turn them off in Settings > Siri & Search > Suggestions on Lock Screen.

Can I clear Siri Suggestions history?
Yes. Go to Settings > Siri & Search > Siri & Dictation History and tap “Delete Siri & Dictation History.� This resets the learning data that powers suggestions. Note that this also affects other Siri features like voice recognition and dictation personalization.

Why does Siri suggest apps I never use?
This can happen if the app is newly installed (Siri may suggest it to encourage exploration) or if you use it occasionally but not enough to establish a pattern. Over time, Siri will stop suggesting it if you don’t use it. You can also manually turn off suggestions for that app via the per-app settings.

Will turning off Siri Suggestions affect Siri voice responses?
No. The toggles only control proactive suggestions. Siri voice commands, dictation, and other features remain unaffected. You can still say “Hey Siri, set a timer� and it will work.

Do Siri Suggestions work on older iPhones?
Yes, as long as the device is running iOS 12 or later. The feature was introduced with iOS 12 and has been refined in later versions. Older devices may have slightly fewer suggestions because they lack the newer neural engine, but the basic functionality remains.

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