Tag: Siri

Use Siri to go directly to any iOS app’s preferences

Quit hunting around in the iOS Settings app, looking for some setting. Instead, ask Siri. Siri can take you right where you need to go.

Let’s face it, there are a LOT of preferences in the Settings app. Finding the one you want can be tough. Siri can help!

For example… want to see the preferences for Safari? Just say “Show me Safari preferences” and voila, there they are.

Asking Siri to show Safari preferences

Same thing with iCloud settings:

Asking Siri to open iCloud settings

Siri isn’t limited to helping with Apple apps. It can help you, for example, with the settings for Google Maps, like so:

Asking Siri to open Google Maps’ preferences

Notice how there’s no “perfect” way to phrase your request– you can ask Siri to “show preferences,” or “open settings,”, or “open preferences” for the app in question. There are probably other phrases that work.

Regardless of the exact phrasing you use, being able to go directly to the settings you care about will save you a ton of time. Try it and see!

Check out my Seven Super Siri Tips for more. And, check out my giant, up-to-date list of every Siri article on this site.

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Siri Tip of the Day: What Song is that?

You can ask Siri to listen to the music and tell you what’s playing. Yes, this is Shazam, but Apple bought them, and now it’s part of Siri.

You may know about an app called Shazam.

Shazam app icon

When activated, Shazam will listen to whichever song is playing on the radio or TV and identify it for you. Very cool, but it gets cooler, because Apple acquired Shazam and added Shazam’s abilities to Siri. So now, instead of launching the Shazam app (which still works, ad-free by the way) you can say “Hey Siri, what song is this…”

Siri, what song is this?

… and get your answer, without opening an app. Pretty neat.

Here’s your answer: Siri knows songs!

Of course there’s a “Buy” button right there alongside the name of the song, in case you have that urge. The main thing is, you can get the name of the song, and the artist.

Try it and see. Quicker and easier than opening an app, available hands-free (“Hey, Siri!”) in case you’re in the kitchen making pancakes.

Check out my Seven Super Siri Tips for more. And, check out my giant, up-to-date list of every Siri article on this site.

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Siri Tip of the Day: What’s my Elevation?

Want to know your elevation? Just ask Siri. This works on phones from the iPhone 6 and newer as they have a barometer to measure pressure.

Your iPhone, if it’s new enough, knows your elevation. You can find out how high up you are by simply asking Siri. There are various ways to phrase it, but the way I do it is “What’s my elevation?”

Siri knows how high you are.

Check out my Seven Super Siri Tips for more. And, check out my giant, up-to-date list of every Siri article on this site.

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Siri Tip of the Day: Translate

Use Siri to translate from nine foreign languages into English. See the translation, and hear it also. It’s as easy as “How do you say…”

Translate words and phrases into other languages using Siri. It’s easy when you know how, and here’s how:

Just say “How do you say…” and then the words you want to translate and then “… in Spanish.” Or “… in French.” Or “… in German.” (Or one of several other languages.) For example:

How do you say “Where is the bathroom” in Spanish?

Siri: How do you say “Where is the bathroom” in Spanish?

You’ll see the translation written out, and also spoken. Want to hear it again? Tap the “play” button at the right of the translation.

Or… how do you say “Where is the nearest train station” in French?

Siri: How do you say “Where is the nearest train station” in French?

Or… how do you say “I would like three pretzels with mustard” in German?

Siri: How do you say “I would like three pretzels with mustard” in German?

Not sure which language to translate into? Just ask “How do you say…” and then your phrase, but don’t specify a language to translate into. Then, choose a language from the list that appears. For example:

Siri: How do you say “I love you”

(If you scroll you’ll see that Siri also knows Mandarin Chinese.)

Tap a language and see the result.

How to say “I love you” in Russian

Speaking of Russian, here’s a phrase that may have, possibly, come in handy for some people recently:

Siri: how do you say “Could you help me get elected” in Russian

Want to go in the other direction– Spanish to English, or French to English, or German to English, or (whatever) to English? Sorry, Siri can’t do that. Not right now. (Technically Siri CAN do that, but you’d have to set the Siri language to Spanish, or French, or German, or whatever, and that messes up other things, so for now, the answer is “Sorry, Siri can’t do that.”)

Check out my Seven Super Siri Tips for more. And, check out my giant, up-to-date list of every Siri article on this site.

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Siri Tip of the Day: Add item to Reminders

Add an item to any list in Reminders just by asking Siri. If the list doesn’t exist, Siri will offer to make the list for you. Super handy.

Siri can add things to your Reminders app, so you can forget about them. I use it for grocery store things– when I think of something I need, I ask Siri to add it to my Groceries list, like this:

Adding items to my groceries list, with Siri

(If the list doesn’t exist, Siri will offer to create it.)

Using this technique, your Groceries list will grow item by item over a number of days, and when you go to the store you will have the whole list right there with you.

Check out my Seven Super Siri Tips for more. And, check out my giant, up-to-date list of every Siri article on this site.

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Siri Tip of the Day: Make it Louder

Siri can adjust the volume for you, hands-free. Just say “Hey Siri, turn it up” or “Hey Siri, make it softer.”

If you’re playing something on your iPhone or iPad you can make it louder by asking Siri to turn it up. (You probably guessed that you can also make it softer by asking Siri to turn it down.) You can say “make it louder” or “increase the volume” instead of “turn it up” and there may be more phrases that work. Experiment, and if you find a phrase that I don’t know about, put it in the comments.

Note: if you aren’t currently playing something (music, a podcast) you’ll get a message like this one:

Oopsy– you’re not playing anything, so Siri can’t make it louder.

UPDATE April 2019: now you can tell Siri to make it louder, and she (he) will not complain. This improvement came without an iPhone iOS update– it must have been fixed at Apple’s end, silently. Thanks, Apple!

Siri will make things louder when the time comes.

Check out my Seven Super Siri Tips for more. And, check out my giant, up-to-date list of every Siri article on this site.

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Siri Tip of the Day: Built-in Cheat Sheet

Siri can do a lot of things and the list continues to grow. Find out what she can do by asking! Day “Hey Siri: what can you do?” and she’ll give you a list.

Siri has a built-in cheat sheet. There are other ways to reveal it but the easiest is to have Siri do it herself. Just say “Hey Siri— show me what you can do.”

Siri, show me what you can do!

Items in the list have options. For example, if we click on “Phone” (where it shows “Call Brian”) we get several variations:

Siri Phone app options

And of course the list scrolls, so do some scrolling and some experimenting and find something that works for you.

Check out my Seven Super Siri Tips for more. And, check out my giant, up-to-date list of every Siri article on this site.

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Siri Tip of the Day: Do Math

Siri is good at math. Simply put your math question into words and she will solve it. Yes, this is “Word Problems.” You probably thought you were through with them.

Siri is good at math. All you have to do is ask. For example, “What’s 490 divided by 139?” (Siri will read the answer to you out loud.)

Siri: 490 divided by 189

In some cases, Siri doesn’t provide the answer natively. Instead, she gets the answer from Wolfram Alpha. Either way, you get what you want, without using your hands.

Siri using Wolfram Alpha to get your answer

Check out my Seven Super Siri Tips for more. And, check out my giant, up-to-date list of every Siri article on this site.

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Siri Tip of the Day: When’s my Next Appointment?

Siri can look at your calendar and tell you what’s coming up next.

Keeping a calendar on your iPhone is a great idea, and Siri makes it better. Just say “Hey Siri, when’s my next appointment?” and Siri reads it to you out loud (assuming you’re using the built-in Calendar app). Really handy when your hands are full, or wet, or whatever.

Hey Siri… when’s my next appointment?

Check out my Seven Super Siri Tips for more. And, check out my giant, up-to-date list of every Siri article on this site.

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Siri Tip of the Day: Adjust Screen Brightness

Siri can adjust screen brightness! Easier than doing it by hand, and after adjusting the brightness, Siri leaves a slider for you to play with just in case.

Who knew? Siri can adjust your iPhone’s screen brightness. Just say “Make the screen brighter” or “Make the screen dimmer” and Siri takes care of it.

Siri, make the screen brighter. Or dimmer.

Notice the little slider, in case you want to do some fine-tuning.

Alternative: just say “Make it brighter” or “Make it dimmer” and Siri assumes that “it” refers to the iPhone’s screen.

Note: I just learned this one.

Check out my Seven Super Siri Tips for more. And, check out my giant, up-to-date list of every Siri article on this site.

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