You can ask Apple’s virtual assistant app Siri to do anything. Siri will do what it can, and what it can’t, will let you know and try to suggest an alternative. For example, if you ask Siri to make a cup of coffee, Siri will say that it can’t make coffee for you – but Siri will show you the address of a nearby coffee shop on the screen.
Siri can send messages, search for information and even open the camera. Apple has never released a complete command list of Siri, but you can still get some help. Turn on Siri and say Help, the app will tell you what it can do!
This post gives some unofficial guides on Siri’s commands and questions. Remember, some commands may not work equally well in iOS, even if they work on Mac.
To use these commands, you must first enable Siri on your iPhone or Mac. On iPhone, enable / activate Siri from Settings> Siri option. Go to System Preference> Siri menu on Mac and see if Siri is active. If not, activate it.
Hold down the home button to start talking to Siri on the iPhone. You can provide any instructions when turned on. Also, if you run the “Hey Siri” command from the Settings> Siri option, Siri will appear whenever you say ‘Hey Siri’. No need to press the home button.
You can create a keyboard shortcut to launch Siri on Mac and find Siri in the menu bar! The default keyboard shortcut for launching Siri is ‘Command + Spacebar’ although you can change it by going to System Preferences> Siri.
Examples of some common commands in Siri
- To call someone or make a facetime call: “Call Sarah,” or “FaceTime Mom.”
- To make an emergency call: “Call 911,” or “Call the fire department.”
- To check voice mail: “Do I have any new voice mail?” or “Play the voice mail from Mom.”
- To send a text message to someone: “Tell [name] I am on my way,” or “Tell [name] I am going to the store.”
- To email someone: “Send email to [name] about [subject] and say [message].”
- To read messages or emails: “Read my new messages,” or “Check email.”
- To set the timer: “Set the timer for 10 minutes.”
- Find out the weather: “What’s the weather like today?” or “Do I need an umbrella?”
- To see the stock update: “What’s Apple’s stock price?” or “Where’s the NASDAQ today?”
- To make any conversation: “How many cups are in a quart?” or “How many dollars are in a Euro?” or “How many pounds are in a stone?”
- For the calculation: “What is a 20 percent tip on 68?”
- To solve the problem of calculation: “What is 234 divided by 6?” or “What is the square root of 16?”
Phone / Settings
- To take a picture: “Take a picture.”
- To take a selfie: “Take a selfie.”
- Other: “Turn on / off [Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Cellular Data, Airplane Mode, Do Not Disturb, Night Shift.]”
- Brightness Adjustment: “Increase / decrease brightness.”
- To launch the app: “Open [app].”
- Relationships with acquaintances: “My mom is Sandy Jacobsson,” or “Timmy Jacobsson is my brother.” Once a relationship is established, you can say relationships instead of names (e.g., “Call my brother,” instead of “Call Timmy Jacobsson”).
- Volume reduction: “Adjust volume to 80 percent,” or “Turn the volume up / down.”
- To see free space: “How much free space to I have?” (Mac specific)
Schedules and reminders
- To create a schedule and reminder: “Schedule a meeting with [name] tomorrow at 11:30 a.m.” or “Cancel my 5 p.m. appointment. ”
- See schedule: “What appointments do I have tomorrow?”
- Add position: “Remind me to remember my keys when I leave,” or “Remind me to feed the dog when I get home.”
- Holidays / Special Days: “When is Easter?” or “When is Labor Day?”
- To set an alarm: “Set an alarm for 1 a.m.” or “Set an alarm for six hours from now.”
- To cancel the alarm: “Delete all alarms” or “Turn off all alarms.”
- To know the distance between two dates: “How many days until October 6?” or “How many days between April 3 and June 16?”
- To know the instant time of any city: “What time is it in Tokyo?”
- To find the meaning of a word: “Define [word].”
- To find a synonym for a word: “What is a synonym for [word]?”
- To find the opposite of a word: “What’s the antonym of [word]?”
- Find photos: “Show me photos from last week,” or “Show me my selfies,” or “Show me photos from Tokyo.”
- Looking for something on Twitter: ”What’s Kylie Jenner saying,” “Search Twitter for [keyword],” or “What’s trending on Twitter?”
- Find specific notes or emails: “Find my note about [keyword],” or “Find emails about [keyword].”
- To find friends: “Find My Friends” (if the option is set up): “Where is Ron?” or “Who is near me?”
- Find the app: “Get the Twitter app,” or “Search the App Store for word games.”
- Word / PDF / PowerPoint etc. Download / My Documents / etc folder to find: “Show all PowerPoint presentations in my school folder.” (For Mac).
Navigation
- Home road: “Take me home.”
- Traffic Update: “What’s traffic like on the way home?”
- Finding the way: “Find [driving, walking, transit]”
- Directions to [destination]. “
- How to get there: “How do I get to [destination] by [walking, bus, bike, car, train, etc.]?”
- Where is the organization: “Where is [business name]?”
- How long does it take to get to the destination স্থানে “What’s my ETA?”
- To know the current market price of something: “How much does gas cost right now?”
Entertainment
- Game Update: “Did the Tigers win?” or “What was the score the last time the Tigers played the Aussies” or “How did the Tigers do last night?”
- To know someone or something: “What basketball games are on today?” or “Get me college football rankings” or “Show me the roster for the Red Wings.”
- To know when to watch a movie or a movie: “What’s playing at Regal L.A. Live? ” or “What are some movies playing near me?” or “Is [movie name] playing near me?”
- What song is being played nearby (via Shazam): “What song is this?”
- Management: “Play, pause / stop, skip / next, play previous song.
Others
- Send a message using WhatsApp / LinkedIn / Skype / WeChat / etc
- Call me an Uber / Lyft / etc.
- Show me photos in [app name].
- Show me the pin / creation in [app name].
- Random tips and tricks
- Find out which planes are currently flying over you. Such as: “Do I have a plane above me?”
- A die roll or two dice roll.
- Flip a coin.
- What is your favorite color?
- Tell me a joke.
- What does the fox say?
- Knock knock
- Who is the first?
- Why did the chicken cross the road?
- What happens if you divide zero by zero?
- Learn how to say my name.
With iOS 10, developers are getting the opportunity to use Siri in their apps. As a result, you can use third-party apps called Siri. However, you can only use the apps that are allowed to use Siri. You can further personalize the use of Siri by going to Settings> Siri> App Support.
