Was there an Apple device under your Christmas tree? If so, with Siri you now have a digital assistant at hand, which you should set up properly first. These tips will help beginners as well as true professionals.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1-The Siri basics
2-Siri in the iPhone: Telephoning & Co
3-Well entertained: music with Siri
4-News, Traffic and Weather
5-Manage calendar, to-do and shopping lists with Siri
6-Playing with Siri – is that possible?
7-arithmetic and knowledge
8-thSiri controls your smart home
Siri can do much more than set an alarm or read the weather . We show you the most useful voice commands for making phone calls, listening to music, checking knowledge and even playing games. Even if you’re already a Siri expert, you’re sure to find one or two previously unknown commands here. But first, let’s set up Siri on your Apple device.
THE SIRI BASICS
In order to have the best conversation with Siri, you should set up a few things beforehand. You can optionally specify in the settings of your iPhone or other Apple device whether Siri should listen for the voice command “Hey Siri” so that you can be reached without pressing a button. You can find the option in the settings under “Siri & Search”. During setup, you’ll be prompted to say a few phrases so Siri can learn your voice and respond only to you.
Telling Siri who you are is also very important. You can also do this in the settings by specifying your contact under “My information”. You can then use the command “Call me …” to set any nickname for yourself.
Siri can also learn relationships, birthdays, addresses and much more. All you have to do is tell the voice assistant who your father or grandma is. This information is saved and can be called up in the future. For example, the first time you say “Call my dad,” Siri will ask you who your dad is and then save that information to your contact in the phone book. Here you can also remove this information if necessary. With similar commands, further details about addresses and birthdays can also be stored.
SIRI IN THE IPHONE: TELEPHONING & CO
One feature Siri comes in handy for is texting or calling people when your hands aren’t available. Be it driving in the car or on the bike. A “Hey Siri” is enough and the voice assistant will rush to your aid. Possible commands are here:
Call “my brother”.
Facetime call with “Michael”
Write a message to “Blasius”
The same voice commands can also be used with other messengers. For this purpose, Siri will ask you the first time you use it whether the data of the respective app may be accessed.
Write a WhatsApp message to “Hayo”
Skype call with “Thorsten”
WELL ENTERTAINED: MUSIC WITH SIRI
It doesn’t matter whether it ‘s Apple Music , Spotify or the classic way via radio. Siri can play music from a variety of services. All you have to do is install the appropriate app. Classic radio is also not automatically supported. Here you need an app like TuneIn. You can then tell Siri what to play on which service.
play Salt by Ava Max on Spotify
play music by “Billie Eilish” on “Apple Music”
what is the name of this song?
play the album “Woodstock” on “Spotify”
play “Radio Ö3” on “TuneIn”
With simple commands you can pause the running music or change the volume. So: “Hey Siri, louder”, “… next song”, “… pause”.
NEWS, TRAFFIC AND WEATHER
Would you like to know the current weather report or the traffic situation for your work? Siri can answer these questions too. If your device has a display, you will also get the requested information clearly displayed.
how is the weather in “Bonn”
how is the weather in “Vienna” this weekend?
do I need an umbrella today?
What is the traffic situation like on the way “to work”?
How did “Fortuna Düsseldorf” play this weekend?
MANAGE CALENDAR, TO-DO AND SHOPPING LISTS WITH SIRI
Your language assistant can also help you with these tasks, at least if you use Apple apps. You can create new calendar entries with Siri, even if your calendar is in Google or Outlook, as long as you have stored it in the calendar app on your iPhone or iPad. To-do lists and shopping lists in the Reminders app can also be managed in this way.
add the date ” iPhone 15 sales start for Thursday 12 o’clock”.
what day of the week is christmas eve?
put “book flight” on my to-do list
add “dog food” to the shopping list
what’s on my shopping list?
PLAYING WITH SIRI – IS THAT POSSIBLE?
Unlike Alexa and the Google Assistant, Siri is comparatively serious. The smart assistant knows a few jokes, but not much more is possible. After all, you can let difficult decisions be decided by a coin toss or a random number. There are no random letters for Stadt-Land-Fluss. A few funny Easter eggs can be found. Why not ask Siri what 0 divided by 0 is or what color is her favorite color.
tell a joke
flip a coin
Harry Potter fans can also try the Lumos command.
ARITHMETIC AND KNOWLEDGE
Siri voice commands can also help you with work or schoolwork. But here too, Alexa and Google offer far more functions. Siri, on the other hand, starts a web search for most questions or even provides wrong answers for some arithmetic operations such as percentage calculations. These commands are possible:
What does “mobile phone” mean in English?
define “lock down”
How much “Euros are 100 British Pounds”?
What is the name of the capital of Argentina?
when does summertime start ?
SIRI CONTROLS YOUR SMART HOME
If you have smart gadgets in your home, Siri can control the lights, operate the heating or air conditioning, switch sockets, display cameras and much more. It is only important that the corresponding devices are listed in the Home app on your iPhone. Corresponding smart home devices are marked with the seal “Made for iPhone” or “Apple Home Kit”. You can find the corresponding hardware here at Tink .
In addition to your iPhone and iPad, you can also use Siri on the Apple Watch or an Apple Smart Speaker. HomePod and HomePod mini can follow any commands that your iPhone or iPad can.
