New Siri Podcast News Feature Begins Rolling Out in iOS 11.2.2

by

A new feature that allows Siri to provide audio-based news updates appears to be rolling out to iOS users, allowing iPhone and iPad users to get audio news updates via the Podcasts app when asking Siri for current news info.

The new audio news feature has been previously seen in the iOS 11.2.5 beta, but until recently it was not available on devices running the current version of iOS. In our testing, the new Siri feature is now accessible on devices running iOS 11.2, iOS 11.2.2 (the current version of iOS) and iOS 11.2.5.

siripodcastnews
When you ask Siri about the news of the day via Hey Siri or another hands-free method, the personal assistant will provide Podcast news from NPR by default in the United States. You can, however, ask Siri to switch to news from Fox News, CNN, or The Washington Post.

In other countries, local news podcasts will be played instead. In the UK, for example, Siri will offer up audio news from BBC, Sky News, or LBC.

The audio news feature, which appears to have been developed primarily for Apple's upcoming HomePod speaker, is invoked when using "Hey Siri" or asking Siri about the news when using CarPlay or headphones. It's essentially designed for situations where you're not looking at your iPhone or iPad's display.

If you activate Siri using the Side or Home button of a device and ask about the news, Siri will instead provide standard text-based news headlines instead of audio news.

The Siri podcast news feature appears to be available on devices running iOS 11 at least as of today, and in our testing, it is confirmed to be working in the United States and the UK.

Related Forum: iOS 11

Popular Stories

iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

iOS 19 to Have Some of the 'Biggest' Design Changes in iPhone's History

Sunday March 16, 2025 10:35 am PDT by
Apple is planning some of the "biggest iOS and macOS redesigns in its history," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman reiterated that iOS 19 will have a visionOS-like design with more transparent interfaces:The new interfaces will adopt the design principles introduced in visionOS, the software for Apple's Vision Pro headset. That includes greater...
Read Full Article • 158 comments
iphone 17 pro asherdipps

iPhone 17 Pro Max Rumors Allegedly Refer to 'iPhone 17 Ultra' Model

Friday March 14, 2025 7:56 am PDT by
If you've been following iPhone rumors over the last few years, you may remember reading reports that Apple flirted with the idea of introducing a super high-end "Ultra" model that would either replace its Pro Max device or sit above it in Apple's smartphone hirearchy. These reports appeared in the pre-launch iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 rumor cycles, but ultimately came to nothing. Now though, the...
Read Full Article • 147 comments
Bent iPhone Air Feature

Apple Canned Larger iPhone 17 Air Model Over Fears of Bendgate 2.0

Monday March 17, 2025 4:07 am PDT by
Apple prototyped a larger ultra-slim iPhone 17 Air with a 6.9-inch display, but ultimately decided not to go ahead with the device because of fears that it could be susceptible to bending, according to a new report. Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, writing in his latest Power On newsletter: When it first started work on the phone, it prototyped a device with a 6.9-inch screen — matching...
Read Full Article • 94 comments
iphone 16 pro models 1

Apple's First Foldable iPhone Estimated to Cost Nearly Twice as Much as iPhone 16 Pro Max

Monday March 17, 2025 6:42 am PDT by
In an investor research note today with British bank Barclays, analyst Tim Long said Apple's first foldable iPhone could have a starting price in the $2,300 range in the United States, which would make it by far the most expensive iPhone model ever. If the first foldable iPhone starts at $2,299, that means it would cost nearly twice as much as the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which starts at $1,199. ...
Read Full Article • 260 comments
General iOS Mail Feature

iOS 18.3.2 Broke iCloud Mail Delivery

Monday March 17, 2025 3:31 pm PDT by
The iOS 18.3.2 update that Apple released last week appears to have broken iCloud Mail for some users. There are multiple complaints on Reddit and the MacRumors forums from users who say that iCloud Mail is not able to push new iCloud emails to their iPhones after the iOS 18.3.2 update. Affected users say that despite having the correct settings enabled, new iCloud emails are not showing up...
Read Full Article • 78 comments
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro Already Rumored to Have Five New Features

Tuesday March 18, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro models are still around a year and a half away from launching, there are already some early rumors about the devices. Below, we recap some key iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. Under-Screen Face ID In April 2023, display industry analyst Ross Young shared a roadmap showing that iPhone 17 Pro models would feature under-display Face ID. In May 2024, however, Young said ...
Read Full Article • 69 comments
iphone 16 pro models 1

All Four iPhone 17 Models Rumored to Feature Upgraded 24-Megapixel Front Camera and More

Monday March 17, 2025 7:50 pm PDT by
All four iPhone 17 models launching later this year will feature an upgraded 24-megapixel front-facing camera, according to analyst Jeff Pu. In a research note today with investment firm GF Securities, Pu shared a chart in which he reiterated that the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will each be equipped with a 24-megapixel front camera. By comparison, all four ...
Read Full Article • 50 comments
iPhone 17 Air Size Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' Rumored to Start at $899 With Surprisingly Good Battery Life, Camera Control, and More

Sunday March 16, 2025 9:05 am PDT by
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today shared some new details about the rumored iPhone 17 Air. In his Power On newsletter, Gurman said he was told that the device may start at roughly $899 in the U.S., which means that it would occupy the same price point as the iPhone 16 Plus. This would make sense, as it has been widely rumored that the Air model will take over the Plus model's spot in the iPhone...
Read Full Article • 52 comments

Top Rated Comments

mtneer Avatar
mtneer
94 months ago
How about getting Siri to do some basic things first??
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
swingerofbirch Avatar
swingerofbirch
94 months ago
Only with Apple would this be OS-specific. Devices that can't update to iOS 11 like iPhone 5 and 5c should have no problem playing back a podcast.

I got a $29 Echo Dot at Christmas-time and it has made me less and less impressed with my $849 iPhone 7's Siri functionality. Just today I asked Alexa how much caffeine is in a 12 oz Coke. She knew immediately. Siri did a web search.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kbfr08 Avatar
kbfr08
94 months ago
...
I have it on good authority that the news source is NPR by default, but can actually be switched to a source of your liking (Fox, perhaps?).

This is classified information, not mentioned in the article anywhere, so don't tell anyone.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WannaGoMac Avatar
WannaGoMac
94 months ago
How about getting Siri to do some basic things first??
"Hey Siri whats the news?"
"Sorry there is no music on news"

"Hey siri whats the news?"
"Sure I can schedule that appointment called appointment"
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
szw-mapple fan Avatar
szw-mapple fan
94 months ago
Please charge that poor phone. The 3% battery is giving me anxiety simply by looking at it.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BaltimoreMediaBlog Avatar
BaltimoreMediaBlog
94 months ago
Oh, and not to beat a dead horse, but why not just get news with little data used via the FM radio chips in all the iPhones? Oh never mind. Timmy said they don't exist even though the teardown says they do. They will be another lawsuit eventually now that Samsung is offering FM access to all their smartphone FM chips.

Sorry Timmy, we KNOW they're there! BUSTED! :D
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments