Siri is an inbuilt digital personal assistant that comes with the iOs, the Apple’s operating system. For all the Apple users, Siri does so many tasks much faster than tapping and scrolling on the screen. Besides, why would you type when you can say it instead?
The iOS 9 will have improved functions for Siri. Now, all you need to do is say “Hey Siri,” and it replies “What can I help you with?”. You don’t have to tap it anymore. Although Siri has some limitations, e.g., it can’t access every app, and it needs internet to operate, we can still use Siri to our maximum benefit by following these tips below.
1. “Remind me about this at 8 tonight”
Siri can remind you about unfinished tasks or new tasks now. Although Siri has been able to set reminders based on places as well, its function has improved. It will remind you to do a task like a laundry when you reach a particular place like home. Suppose you are going through a page on your iPhone, and you ask Siri to remind you about this later, it will understand that “this” means the page you are looking at. It will then save that page for you.
2. “Turn on ‘Do not disturb’ mode”
You can direct Siri to turn on the “Do Not Disturb” function by a simple voice command. You can also ask it to turn on Bluetooth service that required half a dozen of taps earlier.
3. “Set an alarm for 7 am on Wednesday”
Setting time and date for the alarm includes many tabs and scrolls. This is such a hassle, but not anymore. You can simply ask Siri to set the alarm based on your desired time, day, and date. Siri can also put a timer for you. For example, you are working and want to nap for 20 minutes, Siri will help you do that!
4. “Read the unread messages from Jack”
This feature allows you to multi-task. For example, you are eating and you don’t want to use a napkin for picking up your phone, you can simply ask Siri to read out the message for you. You can also dictate your reply to Siri if you want to. Same is the case while driving as well!
5.”Make reservation at the nearest seafood restaurant”
Confused about what and where to eat? Siri can help by being an excellent concierge that it is. It checks the ratings from Yelp and suggests a list of restaurants that meet your requirements based on style, location, or star rating. If the desired restaurant uses OpenTable app, it can also make a reservation for you.
6. “How many centimeters in an inch?”
Yup, Siri can even help you with such questions. You can ask Siri to make conversions, find math equations while you are studying mathematics, or even ask for help with common kitchen measurements while cooking.
7. “Find photos I took last month”
Instead of scrolling through hundreds and thousands of pictures, you can simply direct Siri to open pictures based on the month, date, or year. Also, if you have Location/ GPS enabled, it can also direct you to pictures you took at a particular place e.g., photos of the trip to Italy.
8. “What is the name of this song?”
You are enjoying the music at some restaurant or listening to the radio, and suddenly you take a liking to a new song. Now, you want to know its name. Siri will take help from Shazam app to identify the song and tell you the name as well as the artist who sang it.
9. “Play top songs in Recently Added”
Siri can play any song for you that is in your music store. It can directly go to any of your playlists as well or even search song by the name of its artist. If you have subscribed to Apple Music, it is even better. You have a database of about 30 million songs to choose from.
10. “Turn on the upstairs lights”
Siri can turn the lights on and off for you, provided that you have HomeKit enabled smart lights. You can also set certain keywords for your commands e.g., “Good Morning” could turn on the lights and “Good night” could turn off all the lights while turning on the lamp.
Aren’t these tips and tricks just awesome and pretty beneficial? Share your views in the comments’ section below.