Best security settings

Your phone's own assistants and search can read what is on its screen and in its notifications. CHANNEL cannot switch them off for you: only you can, in the phone's own settings. These steps reduce what they can see of your CHANNEL use. Each one was checked against the maker's own help pages for iOS, iPadOS and macOS 27 and for Android and Windows. Menu names are given in English, as the makers publish them; your device shows them in its own language, and makers rename things between releases.

If you need the most privacy

The safest choice is to keep the assistants away from CHANNEL altogether. These steps go further than excluding CHANNEL, strongest first. Each one is also explained below, with its menu path.

Turn Siri off. iPhone and iPad: Settings › Siri › scroll down › Turn Off Siri, and again to confirm. Mac: System Settings › Siri › Turn Off Siri, and again to confirm. Android: Settings › Apps › Default apps › Digital assistant app › Default digital assistant app › None.
Turn off the Apple Intelligence features one by one. Apple's help page lists them as separate switches. Start with Summarize Notifications and Prioritize Notifications in Settings › Notifications.
Turn the ChatGPT extension off. Settings › Siri › Extensions › ChatGPT › Use Extension, off.
Keep Siri conversations for the shortest time. Settings › Siri › Keep Conversations › 30 days, the shortest option Apple's page names.
Opt out of sharing with Apple. Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements › Improve Siri & Apple Intelligence (or Improve Siri & Dictation), off.
Hide notification previews. Settings › Notifications › Show Previews › Never.
Turn Predictive Text off. Touch and hold the emoji or globe key, tap Keyboard Settings, and turn off Predictive Text.
Keep private contacts out of the phone's Contacts app. Apple says Siri draws on your contact card in Contacts. A contact that exists only in CHANNEL is not in the phone's Contacts app.

The middle option is to exclude only CHANNEL from Siri: step 1 under iPhone and iPad below, or step 1 under Mac.

What CHANNEL already does

A notification says only CHANNEL and that something arrived, unless you turn on more. See Privacy on this device.
The app switcher shows a blank page instead of your conversations. On Android the same switch also refuses screenshots inside CHANNEL.
A profile in Secure Mode shows New message and nothing else. See Privacy on this device.

What CHANNEL cannot do

It cannot see or control what the phone's assistants read, or what Apple or Google keep.
It cannot know what the rules of each country require Apple or Google to do, and these can differ between countries.
It cannot stop an assistant reading what is on the screen while a conversation is open. Apple says Siri AI can answer questions about what is on your screen, and Google says the same of Gemini.
It cannot see whether you did any of the steps below, and it cannot do them for you.
It cannot change what the phone keeps outside CHANNEL, such as a screenshot you took yourself.
What never reaches them cannot be handed over by them. That is why the safest choice is to keep the assistants away from CHANNEL.

iPhone and iPad (iOS and iPadOS 27.2)

Exclude CHANNEL from Siri. Open Settings › Siri › Excluded Apps › Add Apps, choose CHANNEL, then confirm. Apple says excluded apps are not available to Siri, Search or suggestions. The Electronic Frontier Foundation reported on 28 October 2026 that Siri stops reading the screen for an excluded app; Apple's own wording does not say so.
Take CHANNEL out of Search. Settings › Search, scroll to CHANNEL, and turn off Show App in Search, Show Content in Search, Suggest App and Suggest Notifications. Apple says turning off the first two stops Siri AI finding personal context from the app.
Hide previews. Settings › Notifications › CHANNEL › Show Previews (if it appears) › Never (or When Unlocked).
Turn off summaries. Settings › Notifications › Summarize Notifications, off. Then Prioritize Notifications, off.
Limit what Siri keeps. Settings › Siri › Keep Conversations › 30 days. Older conversations are then deleted for good. Delete the rest in the Siri app.
Switch off the ChatGPT extension. Settings › Siri › Extensions › ChatGPT › turn off Use Extension.
Opt out of sharing with Apple. Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements › turn off Improve Siri & Apple Intelligence (or Improve Siri & Dictation).
Stop keyboard suggestions. While typing, touch and hold the emoji or globe key, tap Keyboard Settings, and turn off Predictive Text.
Limit the Lock Screen. Settings › Face ID & Passcode (or Touch ID & Passcode) › under Allow Access When Locked, turn off what you do not need.
Or turn Siri off. Settings › Siri › scroll down › Turn Off Siri, and again to confirm. Apple's page names Siri Classic as the alternative.

Mac (macOS 27)

CHANNEL runs on a Mac as the iPad app.

Exclude CHANNEL from Siri. System Settings › Siri (scroll the sidebar if needed) › Excluded Apps › Add Apps, choose CHANNEL, then Done.
Or turn Siri off. System Settings › Siri › Turn Off Siri, and again to confirm.
Take CHANNEL out of Spotlight. System Settings › Spotlight › Results from Apps, and turn CHANNEL off if it is listed.
Hide previews. System Settings › Notifications › Notification Center › Show previews › Never (or When Unlocked).
Turn off summaries. System Settings › Notifications › Summarize Notifications, off.
Limit what Siri keeps. System Settings › Siri › Keep Conversations.
Opt out of sharing with Apple. System Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements › turn off Improve Siri & Apple Intelligence (or Improve Siri & Dictation).
Check who may record the screen. System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen & System Audio Recording, and turn off any app you do not recognise.

What happened on one Mac with macOS 27: after CHANNEL and other apps were added to Excluded Apps and Siri was turned off, the Ask Siri item no longer appeared in menus. That is one report, not a promise.

Android

Names below are from Google's help pages for Pixel and Android; other makers word some of them differently. Google does not document that these switches cover every way an assistant can read the screen, so treat them as reducing what is seen, not removing it.

Turn off Gemini's screen reading. Open the Gemini app › your profile picture › Settings › Screen context, and turn off Use text from screen and Use screenshot.
Turn off Circle to Search. Settings, search for Circle to Search, open it and turn it off. On a Pixel: Settings › System, then turn it off.
Stop Gemini reading notifications. Settings › Apps › Special app access › Notification read, reply & control › Google, off. On some phones: Apps › More › Special access › Notification access.
Hide private lock-screen content. On a Pixel: Settings › Notifications › Notifications on lock screen, then turn off Show sensitive content.
Limit keyboard learning. Settings › System › Language & input › On-screen keyboard › Gboard › Privacy: turn off Personalize for you and Improve for everyone, then tap Delete learned words & data.

Windows

If the PC has Recall: Settings › Privacy & security › Recall & snapshots › Apps to filter › Add app, and choose CHANNEL. Microsoft says filtering has gaps, so this reduces what Recall keeps and does not remove it.

Good to know

Do the steps on every device that holds CHANNEL. They belong to the device, not to the profile.
These steps lower what the system can see. They do not make a conversation private from the person you are talking to. See Privacy on this device.
For a device that is no longer in your hands, see If you lose control of a device.

English is the reference text; any translation is a convenience. Help is stored on this phone and never contacts anyone.