Apple Siri Tips And Tricks

What Can Siri Practise for You?

Apple tree was among the start technology companies to put a vocalisation-based virtual assistant in your pocket. And while Siri at present has visitor amidst iOS assistants, Apple tree’s digital helper remains a large part of our lives, cheers to its e’er-expanding bag of tricks. It started with 2016’s iOS 10 update, which let Siri tap into select tertiary-party apps. iOS xi added even more features to Siri, highlighted by a more natural-sounding assistant.Sometimes information technology’s hard to recollect all the things Siri can practice for y’all, from composing text messages to acting as your personal DJ. To help y’all remember just how powerful that digital assistant living on your phone can exist, here’s a look at some of the cool things Siri tin can exercise — some of which may surprise you.

Epitome Credit: Philip Michaels/Tom’south Guide

Get the Latest Headlines

Siri picked up a new trick with the iOS xi.2.two update, where you can receive a daily digest of headlines from a express choice of news sources. Say “Hey Siri, requite me the news” and Siri will, by default, outset playing a news report from NPR through the built-in Podcasts app. Adopt to get your news from a different source? You can ask Siri to switch to Fox News, CNN or The Washington Mail service for a new sound written report of the news.The feature appears to have arrived for Siri in advance of this year’s anticipated release of Apple’s HomePod speaker. Note that you accept to specifically use the Hey Siri command (though variations along the lines of “what’south the news” volition launch the audio written report); pressing the Home button and asking Siri to give yous the news will instead summon up headlines from iOS 11’s News app.

Make Siri Your Personal Interpreter

Starting with iOS eleven, Siri can brand sure you’re no longer tongue-tied when you’re traveling in a new country. The banana can translate words and phrases into French, Italian, German, Castilian and Mandarin Chinese. Siri speaks and spells out your translated phrase for y’all and gives you the option of playing information technology back, merely in case the words don’t come up trippingly off your own tongue.

Make Siri Your Super Bowl Companion

Siri’s sports smarts are ane of the digital assistant’s strengths, as anyone who’s asked about the latest scores, upcoming games or player stats tin tell y’all. Simply Siri particularly shines come Super Bowl fourth dimension, when asking “Who’south Going to Win the Super Bowl?” not but gives you the odds simply also the kickoff time and the Tv schedule. As you get closer to the big game, you’ll be able to pepper Siri with questions about the players or culling programming like the Puppy Basin. And if you’ve got an Apple TV with built-in Siri, you can ask the assistant to tune into the game for you on Feb four.

Request an Uber or Lyft

Need a ride? If you’re running iOS 10 or later, Siri can phone call one for you. Just say, “Hey Siri, get me a ride to the airport” (or wherever yous’re going). Depending on which ride-hailing apps you have installed on your iPhone, Siri can offer you an Uber or a Lyft. (It also provides a prompt to detect local taxis, though you’ll accept to call them yourself.) Confirm the asking, and Siri volition become a car for you without the demand to open up the app in question.

Where Did I Park My Car?

Ever since iOS x, your iPhone can remember where you parked your car by recording exactly when and where your phone asunder from your auto’s Bluetooth system. Now you tin just enquire Siri “Where did I leave my car?” and you’ll get an answer in map form.

Clarify Your Question

Siri tries its all-time to understand what you’re maxim, merely sometimes it’s quicker just to blazon a question. iOS 11 adds a feature that helps y’all brand Siri understand your question in the course of a Tap to Edit button that lets you lot correct any misheard words. Siri will fifty-fifty take a stab at guessing at what yous might accept been proverb.

Send Cash

If you lot owe a friend a few bucks for the beers you had the other night, you don’t take to wade through a bunch of app screens to ship the money. Starting with iOS 10, you could tell Siri “send Cameron five bucks,” and the assistant would carry out your request using a third-political party app similar Square Cash or Venmo. Since iOS 11 adds the ability to send money to friends and family using Apple Pay, Siri tin can handle that now, too — bold you lot’ve set upwardly that feature in Apple Pay, that is.

Transport a Bulletin Via Third-Party Apps

Y’all’ve long been able to take Siri relay your texts via Messages. iOS 10 added the ability to have the virtual assistant send letters via 3rd-political party apps similar Confide, LinkedIn, or WhatsApp, and that feature continues in iOS eleven. Just say “Hey Siri, transport Ryan a message via Confide.” Tell Siri what you want the message to say, confirm it, and off information technology goes. (As with Messages, you tin can shortcut this past saying, “Tell Diane via Confide that dinner on Saturday sounds skillful.”)

Help Take a Selfie

Cut to the chase the next time you want to snap a self-portrait. Just tell Siri “take a selfie,” to have your iPhone jump to the front-facing lens mode in the photographic camera app. It beats pawing through the Control Center or trying to activate the camera from the lock-screen.

Turn Siri Into a Virtual Freddie Mercury

This play tricks’s fabricated the rounds on Twitter, but it’s still a fun fashion to charm your friends. Simply tell Siri “I see a little silhouetto of a homo.” Then, sit back equally Apple’s digital assistant shows a heretofore untapped enthusiasm for the music of Queen.

Accept a Laugh with Siri

You’ve probably asked Siri to tell yous a joke, only to have the digital banana demur. (“I don’t think y’all’d understand a joke in my language.”) But Siri’south sense of sense of humour shines through when it comes to popular culture, whether it’s Star Wars (trying telling Siri that yous’re its father), Game of Thrones (“Wintertime is coming” may or may not trigger a weather report from Westeros) or Batman (“Hey Computer” produces all sorts of Batcave-themed responses). Also, look up information on Blade Runner, and you may learn that Siri has some surprisingly strong feelings virtually that motion picture’s plot.

Search for Specific Photos

Finding photos of a specific matter or from a certain event tin be annoying, simply Siri can assistance ease that pain. Just say “show me my Hawaii photos from before this year,” and Siri will open up upwards Photos with the relevant pictures displayed. As of iOS 10, you tin besides ask for photos from a third-party app updated to piece of work with Siri, such as “Show me pictures of cats in The Roll.”

Offset a Workout

Last year’southward iOS 10 update as well makes it easier to outset workout routines in certain apps with the virtual banana. Merely say, “Hey Siri, start my workout in Pedometer” or “I want to work out in Seven.” Siri will launch the app and, generally, kicking off any workout office, without you having to futz with the touchscreen.

Call Via VoIP Apps

Placing phone calls with Siri is another long-running feature, simply in iOS 10, Apple extended that capability to third-party Voice over IP (VoIP) apps, and it’southward something you lot can relish afterwards upgrading to iOS eleven, too. Just say something like, “Telephone call Donna via Viber” to launch the appropriate app and initiate a phone call.

Convert Measurements

Siri is an excellent banana in the kitchen, fix to convert amounts of measurements for you. So whether you lot need to know how many ounces there are in a centiliter (0.34 liquid ounces) as he did, or just need to know how many teaspoons are in half a tablespoon (i.5 teaspoons) like I did last weekend, just ask Siri in the format of “How many ounces are there in a centiliter?” Siri handles currency conversions, besides, only in case you need to interpret your dollars into euros, pounds or yen.

Control Your Smart Dwelling house

Siri can assistance y’all take amend control of your smart-home appliances — or at least the HomeKit-compatible ones. Not only can yous tell it to turn devices on and off, but yous can also use it to trigger a specific predefined scene. And when you’re set up to go to bed, merely tell Siri “Proficient dark” to shut everything downwardly for the evening.

Acquire to Pronounce a Name

Find that Siri constantly bungles one of your contacts’ names? (Or, sky forbid, your own?) Practiced news: Apple’due south virtual banana takes correction. Merely tell Siri to “learn how to pronounce John Bosworth” and the amanuensis will enquire you lot how to pronounce both the showtime proper name and last name, more often than not providing multiple options in each case.

Make Eating house Reservations

Running late and forgot to book a table? Siri tin help you out there. Merely tell it to “book a table for two at 7 p.g.” and it’ll provide you with a list of options pulled from OpenTable. Tap through the options and Siri will handle the reservation process for yous.

Define Your Relationships

Siri understands the names of your contacts past default, but with a petty help it can get relationships also. Tell Siri “Donna Clark is my mom” or “Tom Rendon is my husband” and you lot’ll and so be able to refer to them simply past that moniker, maxim “text my mom” or “telephone call my husband.”

Open up and Adapt Settings

Excavation through the Settings app to find one particular matter tin be kind of a pain, but Siri can simplify things. Tell the intelligent agent to “open Accessibility settings” to take you to that specific section. You tin also tell it to turn certain features on or off by saying “turn on Bluetooth” or “turn off Wi-Fi.”

Buy Picture Tickets

Ownership movie tickets online has become commonplace, which means that Siri is well positioned to help yous make your date dark plans. For instance, tell Siri “Find me ii tickets for The Magnificent Seven at 7 p.m. tomorrow” and it volition use Fandango to search for relevant showtimes near you lot, and even allow y’all buy tickets.

Search the App Store

At that place are a metric ton of apps on the App Store, and their number is simply growing. With Siri, y’all can at least save a little time past not having to  blazon what you’re looking for. Say “notice me the best reckoner app” or “download the Twitter app” and Siri volition launch the App Store and give you what you want.

Find a Friend

If you utilise the Notice My Friends app to share your location with friends and family unit, Siri tin can hook into that to provide you with the current location of any contact who also shares his or her location with you. Only say “Where is Gordon Clark?” or “Where’s my brother?” and Siri volition bring upwards a map of that person’s current location for you.

Roll the Dice, Flip a Coin or Pick a Card

Having trouble making a conclusion? Need a random number? Siri’s here for you. The virtual assistant can curlicue a polyhedral die — one bearing any number of sides — and requite y’all the result. Say “ringlet a twenty-sided dice” or “roll a d12.” And before you ask: no, Siri cannot calculate your THAC0. (If you’re only trying to decide between two things, you can always say “Siri, flip a coin.” And Siri is playing with a total deck — just say “pick a bill of fare.”)

Find Out Which Plane Is Flying Overhead

Ever wondered which airplane that is, fashion up there in the sky? Enquire Siri “what flights are overhead” and the agent will query the Wolfram Alpha service for a list of current plane flights visible from your position, including current altitude, bending, type of plane and even a sky map.

Spell a Word

Can’t quite remember whether or not “judgment” has one “e” or two? No problem. Just enquire Siri “how do you spell judgment?” and the virtual assistant will not simply provide a definition, but will fifty-fifty spell the discussion out loud for you. (You might want to close the office door first.)

Agree Your Calls

When yous have a really important coming together, yous can tell Siri not to bother you by saying “Agree my calls.” The virtual assistant will plow on the Practice Not Disturb mode to ensure that a ringing phone won’t interrupt you in the middle of a crucial give-and-take.

Identify a Song

It’south happened to all of u.s.a.: a song comes on the radio, or is playing in the coffee store, and its name is on the tip of our natural language. Fortunately, Siri’s got built-in support for Shazam, which ways it can answer that question for you. Just ask the virtual assistant “What song is this?” or “Who sings this?” for the respond. And yes, if the song is bachelor through iTunes, Siri will throw in a buy link.

Read My Notifications

What fun is a voice-based interface if y’all have to look at your screen? Tell Siri “read my notifications” to accept the virtual assistant relay any important data yous may have missed while y’all weren’t looking at your phone.

Read Your Tweets

Siri may not take its ain social-media accounts, simply it tin assist you navigate some of the more popular networks, such as Twitter. Inquire the intelligent agent to “show me tweets from Joe MacMillan” and it’ll give you the rundown of that person’due south latest posts, though it won’t read them aloud. Yous tin as well tell Siri to “post I’m having tacos for dejeuner to Twitter” to do a little of your own sharing.