Apple’s iOS 27.2 update, released on October 26, 2026, quietly added one of the most useful privacy controls the iPhone has had in years. Siri AI can now read far more of your life — your messages, photos, Safari history, calendar invites and even voicemails — but a new Excluded Apps menu finally lets you decide exactly which apps it is allowed to touch.
Until now, limiting Siri meant hunting through a different settings screen for every single app and switching off several toggles one by one. The new menu replaces all of that with a single list. Pick the apps you want kept private, and Siri stops reading them — in Siri, in Search, and in suggestions.
Key Takeaways
- What is new: iOS 27.2 adds a Settings > Siri > Excluded Apps menu that blocks Siri AI from reading selected apps.
- Why it matters: Siri AI in iOS 27.2 can draw on Messages content, Photos, Safari history, calendar attendees, voicemails and conversations from the past week.
- What it blocks: Excluded apps are cut off from Siri, system Search and suggestions, including on-screen awareness.
- Who can use it: Siri AI is still beta software and needs an Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone — iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 or newer.
- Availability: Siri AI is limited to English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish, and is still unavailable in the EU and for users under 13.
How to Block Siri From Reading an App
Setting it up takes less than a minute. Open Settings and tap Siri, then tap Excluded Apps. Tap Add Apps, select every app you want blocked — you can pick several at once — and tap the checkmark in the top-right corner to confirm.
That is the whole process. There is no need to visit each app’s own settings page any more, and you do not have to turn Siri off entirely to protect one sensitive app. The setting works immediately once you confirm your selection.
What Happens to an Excluded App
Once an app is on the list, Siri can no longer read or respond to anything inside it. Excluding Messages, for example, means Siri cannot read your texts or answer questions about them. Excluding a banking or journal app keeps its contents out of Siri’s answers entirely.
The exclusion goes further than Siri itself. The app’s content also disappears from system Search and from Siri suggestions, and on-screen awareness stops working inside it — so asking Siri about whatever is on screen in a blocked app will not work either. It is one switch that covers all three surfaces at once.
You can reverse the choice just as easily. Open Settings, tap Siri, then Excluded Apps, tap Edit, tap the minus button next to the app, choose Delete, and confirm with the checkmark.
Which Apps Should You Exclude?
A good rule is to keep the apps you actually ask Siri about — Calendar, Mail and Notes — and exclude anything you would never want surfacing in an answer. A banking app, a journal, a dating app or a private work app are the obvious candidates. If you would not want Siri quoting it back to you in a reply, it belongs on the list.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has welcomed the change, saying it answers a request from its Encrypt It Already campaign earlier this year and is far clearer than the confusing per-app toggles iOS 27 launched with. One honest caveat remains: Apple has not said whether users can tell from an individual Siri request whether it was processed on-device or routed through Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers. Treat Excluded Apps as a meaningful control over what Siri can read, not as an airtight guarantee about where every request is processed.
What Else Arrived in iOS 27.2
Excluded Apps is one of three personalization controls in the update. Messages now offers customizable Suggested Actions across five categories, and the Apple TV app on iPhone supports multi-user profiles, so different household members get their own viewing history. The update also expanded Siri AI into five more languages and added conversation memory on Apple Watch with watchOS 27.2.
If you updated to iOS 27.2 and never opened the Siri settings, now is the time. Check your version under Settings > General > About, then open Excluded Apps and decide what Siri is allowed to read.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Excluded Apps menu in iOS 27.2?
It is a new menu in Settings > Siri that lets you block Siri AI from reading specific apps. Any app you add is cut off from Siri, system Search and suggestions, all from one setting.
How do I block Siri from reading an app on iPhone?
Open Settings, tap Siri, then Excluded Apps. Tap Add Apps, select the apps you want blocked, and tap the checkmark in the top-right corner to confirm.
What data can Siri AI access in iOS 27.2?
On supported iPhones, Siri AI can draw on Messages content, Photos, Safari history, calendar attendees, voicemails and conversations from the past week to answer questions across apps.
Can I undo an app exclusion from Siri?
Yes. Open Settings, tap Siri, then Excluded Apps, tap Edit, tap the minus button next to the app, choose Delete, and tap the checkmark to save the change.
Which iPhones support Siri AI and Excluded Apps?
Siri AI is beta software that requires an Apple Intelligence-capable device: iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 or newer. It supports English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish, and is unavailable in the EU and for users under 13.
Related:
- iPhone XS and XR Owners: Install iOS 27.2.1 Now — It Fixes an Exploited Zero-Day
- Siri AI Health-Data Feature Flags Found in iOS 27.3 Beta
- Apple CEO Wants to Turn Siri Into a Real AI Agent
Sources: Gadget Hacks, “How to Limit Siri App Access in iOS 27.2: Step-by-Step”, Nov 11, 2026; TechBriefly, “iOS 27.2 adds one-stop controls to block apps from Siri”, Nov 9, 2026; Memeburn, “iOS 27.2 Adds Three iPhone Settings Worth Customizing”, Nov 8, 2026.
