Your 'hidden' iPhone notifications can be outed by blabbermouth Siri

Your hidden iOS 11 notifications can be read aloud by Siri, even when your iPhone is locked, according to a newly discovered privacy bug.

Simply ask Apple's voice assistant to read your notifications and it'll comply with a full rundown of your freshly received email, WhatsApp messages, and Facebook alerts, reports Brazilian site Mac Magazine.

iOS 11 conveniently now lets you hide notification content, giving you the message sender's name, but masking the details. It then displays a very general 'Mail message' for email and 'iMessage' for text content in the notification box.

Apple's now-thwarted privacy option is turned on by default on the iPhone X, giving you more reason to appreciate Face Unlock. It's just a little less secure than before.

Why this is a big problem

Apple can easily fix this latest iOS 11 problem in an update. iMessage notifications, for example, can't be read aloud. Siri requires you to unlock the phone in this case.

However, we did experience the vulnerability with every other app notification we tested, even in the latest iOS 11.3 beta for iPhone X, so a fix isn't here just yet.

The big problem is that Apple is touting the iPhone X as a way-more-secure option compared to Android phones through its marketing campaigns. This includes targeted ads for Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus users.

Apple is said to be retooling its mobile operating system with iOS 12 this year, even going as far as holding back on several front-facing features. Today's iOS 11 problem is just another sign that this may be a good direction.

Via 9to5Mac

Matt Swider