Introduction To Siri
Siri is an abbreviation of “Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface”. It is a part of Apple Inc.’s iOS, WatchOS, and TV OS. It is basically computer software developed by Siri Inc., United States that works as an intelligent personal assistant and navigator.
It has the ability to answer questions, make recommendations, use Web services to perform different user requested operations. The software has an incredible ability to adapt any language according to the user’s geographical area.
Sir is now most popular virtual assistant in the world. It was added to the third generation iPad in May 2012. Here in this article, we have taken a detailed look at how to use and handle Siri from start through frequently asked questions.
How to set up, secure, and start using Siri
Siri can help you do all sort of amazing things. But first of all, you may need to get Siri set up for reaping all the great benefits it brings with its speedy capabilities. Before making commands to your favorite personal assistant, you need to start the Siri so it can be ready for you. For that, you need to press the Home button on your iPhone or iPad. That will activate the virtual assistant Siri. Now You are ready to deliver commands.
Follow these steps to make Siri listen to you properly;
- Launch Siri by pressing the Home Button as explained above and dictate Siri to do something for you. The words you have spoken will instantly appear on the screen. If you cannot see them, just scroll up a bit, if you want to edit your command, just tap on the text of command and edit it. Now your wish will be properly delivered to Siri.
Now follow the next steps to secure the Siri with a passcode:
It is better to secure your iPhone data and contacts by securing Siri with a passcode. That way you can make sure no one can open the lock except yourself. To do that, Launch the settings app and then tap on “touch ID and passcode”. Here you can tap on the passcode and type in your desired password. In the bottom you can select Off option in the Allow Access.
How to change Siri’s language on iPhone and iPad
In order to change the language of Siri in the iPhone or iPad, you have to:
- Launch the settings app on your Apple device like before. Go to the General Settings and tap Siri. Tap on the Language to change to your desired language.You can also select the male or female voice by choosing on Gender Option.
How to manually control when Siri listens to you
When Siri stops listening to you, here is what you need to do:
- On your iPhone press the Home Button and hold it down with your finger for a little while. This way Siri will start listening to you. Do not release the Home Button and let Siri keep listening to you. Now you can release the Home Button if you want to end your command.
How to use Siri with typing instead of your voice on iPhone and iPad
Press and keep holding the Home Button to launch Siri. Scroll upwards and view the text you have opened. Tap on the text to edit it like before. When your changes are done, then tap on done.
How to change and adjust settings on your iPhone or iPad with Siri
Now follow these steps to disable the Siri in your iPhone / iPad;
- You can turn off Siri in the Settings on your Apple device. For that open the Settings App. In the General, tap on the Siri. There will be a switch there to turn off the Siri. Once you disable Siri from there, you will be asked to confirm your choice. That turns off Siri for you. Now if you want to configure Siri to use many different languages, do the following:
- Launch the Settings App like above, then tap on General and Siri respectively. There you will see a language option, tap on voice my info to select your contact information and make it known to Siri. Siri can now call you by your name and make any information available for you.
How to teach Siri to pronounce someone’s name correctly
To teach Siri to pronounce a name correctly tap select next in each sample of pronunciation you prefer,. Afterwards tell Siri your name, if you like how Siri pronounce your name, then you can move ahead and tell it your last name too.
How to call, message, and email your contacts using Siri
Activate Siri by pressing the Home Button. Tell Siri about the relationship you want it to remember like your sister and mother, then tap yes button and confirm upon asking. Now you can tell Siri to call your mom. Confirm the number Siri has for your mother and it will instantly place the call.
In the same way we can send SMS by Siri. Tell Siri that you want to send message to your sister Michelle and describe the message like, “ I will not be there for the dinner tonight”. Wait and confirm your message and Siri will send it. Now Emailing through Siri is also the same. By just telling Siri to email a particular person, and telling it to enter a subject for email, you can send the email by just dictating the content body for the email.
How to check your iPhone’s call history using Siri
To check the Call History using Siri, do the following steps:
- Press and hold the Home button to activate Siri on your iPhone. Now you can say something to Siri like order it to check your call history. Say, “check my call history”. Siri will then pull up the recent calls from the call history. That’s very simple!
How to check your iPhone’s voicemail using Siri
To make Siri check your voice mail, Press and hold the Home button on your iPhone to activate it. Say something like Check my voicemail or Do I have any voicemail? Immediately after that Siri will be ready to tell you about the details of your messages in your voice mail box.
How to check for and read email messages with Siri
As usual, Press and hold the Home button on your iPhone or iPad to activate Siri. Now again, say something to Siri to command, like; “Check to see if I have any new emails”. And you are done.
How to add reminders to specific lists with Siri
Do the first step similarly by pressing and holding the Home Button on the iPhone or iPad. Say something like. “Add bread to my shopping list.” A summary of your reminders will be pulled out by Siri and will be displayed on the screen for you. For editing, follow the same tapping rule of text editing and confirm done.
How to create location based reminders with Siri
Siri gives you an option to create location based reminders, just tell it what you want to be reminded about and then tell it where. Tap on confirm on settings and you are done.
How to create time based reminders with Siri
Press and hold down the Home button to activate Siri. Now go ahead and tell Siri what you want to be reminded about, and when. You can do that by saying, “Remind me to call Leanna at 9pm.” Tap Confirm to set the reminder.
How to create and share a shopping list with Siri
For that, you have to Launch the Reminders app on your iPhone or iPad. Now press and hold the Home button to launch Siri.
How to view, update, and cancel Calendar events using Siri
Press and hold the Home button on your iPhone or iPad to launch Siri. To cancel an appointment for example on the calendar event, Say “Cancel my 2 pm appointment tomorrow.” Which will enable Siri to make changes to your events and ask you to confirm it.
How to set an alarm with Siri
Setting up the alarm on Siri is also very simple. Press and hold the Home button on your Apple device to activate Siri. You can say anything now about your wake-up time. For example tell Siri to wake you up in 40 minutes and start taking a nap. It will wake you up after 40 minutes. It will also confirm you that your alarm is set .
How to turn on and off alarms with Siri
This is very easy with Siri to turn on or turn off your alarm. Simply Press and hold down the Home button to activate Siri. Tell Siri which alarm you want to turn off.
How to change or edit an alarm with Siri
Press and hold the Home button on your iPhone or iPad to activate Siri. Now Say something like “Change my 9:30 am alarm to 8:06 am.” You will need to confirm Siri if you have more than one alarm setup. Now it will confirm your new time upon your orders instantly.
How to delete alarms with Siri
Press and hold the Home button on your device to activate Siri. Say something like “Delete my 9 am alarm.” Siri will confirm the alarm you want to delete; in case of the multiple alarms setup.
How to set a timer with Siri
Hold down the Home button on your iPhone or iPad to activate Siri. Say something like “Set a time for 10 minutes.” Upon confirmation from Siri, you can check the clock app and and see the timer.
How to edit an existing timer with Siri
To set timer with Siri is as easy as asking your personal assistant to do it for you. Now its time to tell you to edit existing timer for your specific need. Following these steps;
- Press and hold the Home button on your iPhone or iPad to activate Siri. Now command Siri to “stop the timer” for you. Issue a new command to “restart the timer”. Tell Siri exactly what kind of changes you would like to make and Siri will make them for you. If you do not tell anything, it will just update the current settings.
How to check the time anywhere in the world with Siri
Press and hold the Home button on your iPhone or iPad to activate Siri. Now you have to ask Siri “what time is it in a specific city, say, London, United Kingdom”. There is a clock app which can be directly accessed with a clock widget. Press the Hone button again to continue using your Apple device. You are done!
How to find places with Maps and Siri for iPhone and iPad
You will be taken to the maps app by Siri if you tap on the the map. There you will find a green car on the left, you can choose your desired route from there and tap start on the upper right hand.
How to find your way home with Siri
Sometimes you are unable to find your way back home if you are in an unknown location you some place you are not familiar with. In this time of need, your faithful assistant Siri is going to solve your worry. Just Press and hold the Home button to launch Siri. Talk to Siri and ask her “ how can you take me home from here?” She will instantly pull out information for you to follow a map back to your home. You need to tap the map and find your way back home. One thing to remember is that this procedure will not be able to take you home unless you have your home address saved in in your contacts .You can create that card from Settings => General.
How to use Flyover with Siri and Maps
The detailed 3D maps feature inside an Apple device is called a Flyover.
- Press and hold the Home button to activate Siri. Command Siri to show you a map of the Madison Square Garden United States. Siri will launch the Maps app. Now tap on the flyover button and that button will look like your desired building now. Now you should be able to use Flyover with Siri map for your desired location. One thing to keep in mind is that not all countries and a areas are supported by the Flyover. In the case of unknown areas, the flyover button may not be visible.
How to get walking directions with Siri and Google Maps
You can use Google Maps when asked by Siri about which app you want to use. If the Google Maps is not installed on your Apple device, install it first. Now tap on route and Google Map will provide you the directions.
How to check stocks and exchanges using Siri
Press and hold the Home button to launch Siri. Ask Siri to show you the stock information for Apple today. Siri will do it exactly as you have commanded and provide you with the stock information for Apple. That can be done with tapping the stock widget in the iPhone. Now you are able to check the whole stock exchange.
How to take a note on your iPhone or iPad with Siri
Press and hold the Home button on your iPhone or iPad to launch Siri. Start dictating Siri with your words and Siri will start taking the dictation. That will be accomplished using the built-in free notes app. When you are done with dictation, press the Home Button and your task is accomplished.
How to update a note on your iPhone or iPad using Siri
Press and hold the Home button on your iPhone or iPad to launch Siri. Now you will be able to see a list of your previously created notes. Pick one note you want to update, and re-dictate the text to Siri if you want to make changes and update that note. You are done.
How to view a note on your iPhone and iPad using Siri
Siri can show you notes about anything you have saved with the help of notes app.
As usual, you need to start Siri to view notes. Press and hold the Home button on your iPhone or iPad to launch Siri. Just command Siri to show you your notes and it will display you a list of your notes.
How to check current weather conditions with Siri
Checking weather is no big problem with Siri. You have to turn on the Siri first like you always do by pressing down and holding the Home Button. Now you can go ahead and command Siri to show you the weather and the obedient assistant will grant your wish.
How to check weekly weather forecasts with Siri
Checking weekly weather forecast is easy with Siri. The procedure is straight forward and simple like above. The weather app can do this magic for you after starting the Siri with holding down the Home Button first. Ask Siri directly what is the weekly forecast for weather in your specific area? You can mention your state like Florida or Missouri, Siri will give you the forecast immediately with ultimate accuracy.
How to get sunrise and sunset information with Siri
You can check the timings of sunrise and sunset from Siri by using the voice command with Siri. Just ask her about the time of sunrise or sunset, then she will pull out that information for you without delay. However it is noticeable that; Siri is not able to provide you the future sunrise or sunset information.
How to play iTunes Radio stations with Siri
Siri can also play the iTunes for you and manage your music too. By holding the home button as usual, you can activate Siri, now dictate her to play a specific radio station for you. Do not forget to mention the radio station name. You can also mention an artist name too.
How to pause, play, skip, and shuffle tracks with Siri.
If you feel like not touching the audio controls yourself, you can always ask your favorite personal assistant Siri to play, skip track, pause and shuffle the music for you. All you need to do is to speak words like pause music, never play this song, skip song etc; while the song is still playing on iTunes radio.
How to ask Siri to play a specific song
Playing a song is easy with Siri. Hold after pressing the Home Button as usual. When the Siri is listening to you, you should tell her to play a song of your choice, and she will play it for you. Siri will confirm your request if she finds that song is stored on your iPhone. Start enjoying the music straight ahead.
How to play music from a specific artist or album with Siri
Sometimes you are in a mood to listen to a particular collection from a particular artist on your iPhone. You can tap three dots on the right of the artist name in your library and then add. But that is a manual work and does not involve Siri. Simply ask Siri to play all the songs by “Richard Marx” instead of going through the player yourself. Isn’t that relaxing?
How to play music from a specific playlist with Siri
You can ask Siri to play music from a music playlist. Press and hold the Home button. The rest of the work is very simple, just tell Siri to play a specific playlist by mentioning its name.
How to play a specific music genre with Siri and iTunes Radio
To play songs from a specific genre like dance, pop or rock, the trick can be a little bit confusing. It may also result in playing incorrect songs from the genre. Therefore this can be made easy by asking Siri to play them for you. After pressing down the Home Button to summon Siri, you can go ahead and say “play pop”. The Siri will play the songs from the pop music genre for you; available on iTunes or Radio.
How to search the web with Siri
When it comes to internet search on your iPad or iPhone, Siri is able to do a great job for you. The Safari browser inside your iPhone does not need to be opened in a traditional way. Siri can take your commands related to which search engine you want to use and which particular item you want to search for on the internet.
How to get Wolfram|Alpha results with Siri
Press and hold the Home button on your iPhone or iPad to launch Siri. Now speak to Siri like: “what is the square root of 64?” With the help of Wolfram Alpha, the Siri will give you the required information. Wolfram Alpha is so powerful that it enables Siri to answer a variety of questions related to mathematical equations, perform mathematical conversions and much more.
How to use Siri to search Google instead of Bing
Siri would use Bing as its default search engine. Search results received from Bing may not be as good as Google sometimes. Google always gives you most powerful searches based on keywords and use of modern search algorithms.
Therefore in order to search from Google instead of Bing, you need to activate the Siri by holding down the Home Button as always. Now the rest of the procedure is very simple, you need to simply tell Siri to “ Search the Google” or “Google Search the Best Movies”.
How to find movies and show times in your area with Siri
Press and hold the Home button on your iPhone or iPad to launch Siri. The next step is very simple. Just go ahead and ask Siri to show you “what new movies are playing near me?” Once you have the list of movies by Siri, you can tap on any of them for Showtime information.
How to watch movie trailers with Siri
Watching movie trailers on your iPhone are a treat when Siri does all the hard work for you. You just simply sit back and enjoy your weekend. Press the Home Button and issue the command to Siri like “ show me the trailer of the Titanic movie”. And Siri will make it ready for your entertainment.
How to check movie ratings with Siri
Going out to watch a movie depends on its rating as we love to check them before making the decision to finally watch the movie. Siri makes it really easy to view movie ratings. Do the usual thing to turn on the Siri for voice commands. Now speak the words like “show me the ratings of Spider Man3”. You can name any other movie of your choice which is new in town. If the rating is good, you can get ready to hit the theater.
How to buy movie tickets with Siri on your iPhone and iPad
Buying movie tickets is simple with Siri but not possible unless you have an app called Fandango. It is freely available on the Apple app store. Press the Home Button to summon Siri. Now as you are ready to deliver commands, tell Siri to “Find Showtime for a particular movie” and you are done.
How to get directions to the movie theater with Siri
Press the Home Button on your iPhone and keep holding till Siri is alive and talking. Deliver the command “Find movies playing near me”. Now simply you can tap the movie name and view the details you desire to see, such as, theater name.
How to search for movie theaters in specific areas with Siri
Siri can efficiently find the nearby movie theaters for you and can find out which movie theater is closest to your hometown. As always you have to summon Siri. Then deliver your command like “Find movie theaters near Washington DC”. All the movie theaters will be provided to you in a list. You can tap the theater name to view the name of the movie playing there.
How to get information about a movie, director, or actor with Siri
Siri can not only find movies and theaters for you but also makes it easy to get detailed information about the particular actor and director in that movie. Just activate Siri. Now deliver the command like “Who directed the Jurassic World?” Or “Tell me how many movies Tom Hanks have worked in?”
How to look up sports scores and game information with Siri
Hold down the Home Button on your iPhone and activate Siri. Siri will obediently ask you how can she help you! Ask her the score of football game or soccer or whatever games’ score you want to know. That’s it!
How to look up game schedules for your favorite sports teams with Siri
You might be wondering when is the next time your favorite football game or basket ball championship is going to be played again. Siri can get you the game schedules in no time. As usual simply activate Siri, say your command like “Show me the schedule for the season of New Jersey Cubs”.
How to look up sports league standings with Siri
Press and hold the Home Button on your iPhone. Now when Siri is ready, give her the command to “Show me the MLB standings for this year”. Siri will present this information in no time to you.
How to look up player stats with Siri
This simple task can be accomplished with the help of Siri the same way. You can activate Siri and ask her to deliver the stats of a specific player like “ Show me stats for the wrestler John Cena”.
How to find a local business or restaurant with Siri
Siri can help you check out the new fancy restaurants or a local business like no one can. Just press and hold down the Home Button until Siri is ready for a command. Deliver the command like “Give me directions to ABC restaurant”. You can use the name of your own business too. Siri will accomplish this using maps app.
How to get pricing, hours, and general restaurant information with Siri
Getting information about the local restaurants is easy with Siri and is described above, now if you need to know about restaurants in other locations, follow these steps:
- Hold the Home Button for a few seconds to activate Siri. Deliver your command like “Show me restaurant information on Panera.” You will get the information you requested from Siri by tapping on the top.
How to make restaurant reservations with Siri
After you have activated Siri, you should be able to see the restaurant information you have requested. Select a restaurant of your choice and view its information card. If you are satisfied with everything, you can tap on “make reservation” and confirm it. Your reservation is made. Siri will show you the Open Table app now.
How to look up different kinds of restaurants with Siri
If you are not in a mood for the same old food you eat every day, its time to get something new. You can ask your faithful Siri to tell you about the new places and different kinds of restaurants.
- Just activate Siri. Now tell Siri something like this:”Find some Chinese restaurants near me.” Siri should automatically pull out your required data according to the command.
How to post a tweet using Siri
Posting a tweet yourself is fun on twitter. If you want your assistant do this for you, then simply activate Siri. Now tell Siri that you would like to tweet something. Say the exact words you want to tweet so that Siri can post your tweet exactly. Tap the send option to confirm it. You can speak “yes” also if Siri wants you to confirm your posting.
How to keep up with Twitter using Siri
Siri can not only post your tweets for you but can also help you keep up with things like showing you who is tweeting and the new trends on Twitter. To do so, first activate Siri and hold down the Home Button on your iPhone or iPad. Deliver your voice command like“ What is Taylor Swift Tweeting About?” Siri will show you the tweets that Taylor Swift or any other artist or person has been posting recently on their Twitter page.
How to get Siri to tell you a bedtime story
Siri can do much more than an ordinary human assistant can do. Another example of magnificent function that Siri can do is to read your kids a bedtime story. This is helpful in case you are too sleepy yourself to read them a good one. Activate Siri and tell it something like this: “Tell me a bedtime story.” If Siri does not understand what you are saying, repeat it until it gets it and you are done.
Hope you have understood everything about Siri now? Do let us know!