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How to Use Siri on iPhone and iPad

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Siri is a workhorse of a virtual assistant for iOS, but I rarely see anyone actually using the feature on the iPhone. Maybe it is because most people don't know all of the amazing things she (or he) can do. Siri's improved a lot over the past several years and there's now a long list of tasks she can accomplish, so if you haven't been using Siri it might be time to give it another look.

siri_how_to.jpg

Siri can schedule appointments, call your friends, read your text messages to you, play back your music, and much more. Apple recently updated Siri's webpage with more details on the different commands. Today, we've got a quick set up guide for using Siri, plus a list of features that Apple's virtual assistant can perform if you already know how to use it.

Set up Siri
set-up-siri-250x542.jpeg


  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Select Siri & Search from the menu.
  3. Turn on the toggle switch alongside Press Side Button for Siri.
  4. Optionally, turn on the toggle switch for Listen for "Hey Siri" to use the feature hands-free.
  5. Select "My Information" to add your contact details to Siri's database.
Once activated, to use Siri, simply hold the Home button or the Side button on the iPhone (or iPad) until the microphone icon appears, or simply say, "Hey Siri" (note that this handsfree activation only works on iPhone 8 and earlier when the device is connected to power). On the Apple Watch, you can hold the Digital Crown to bring up Siri, or just say "Hey Siri" immediately after raising your wrist or tapping the screen to wake up the watch.

Siri can perform a variety of tasks to make your life easier. Below is a list of phrases that you can use to make the most of your virtual assistant


Click here to read more...

Article Link: How to Use Siri on iPhone and iPad
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/siri-iphone-ipad/
Nothing more annoying on Siri then Siri taking your input, displaying the correct message on your display, then Siri changing the message to something incorrect before replying.
 
I don't understand why siri runs on iPhone 4S but not iPad 2. I have never been able to use siri.
 
There is nothing graceful about someone talking into their phone in public.

"Text mom, the doctor said to just apply a cream for a few weeks."
"Siri, how are the Red Skins doing?"
"Add a reminder, buy 50 Shades of Gray next time I'm near Barnes and Noble."
 
While her snarky-ness may have been amusing at the beginning now I find it just annoying. And when you're legitimately trying to ask her question and she comes up with some sarcastic response, all I want to do is throw my phone
 
lk400 said:
Oh no, the over the top user guides for apple watch are leaking!!
Click to expand...

Oh no, this site is going to have some basic information to help out the typical basic and/or new iOS users. The horror!
 
skellener said:
I've never even turned it on.
Click to expand...

Siri or raise to speak?

I rarely use Siri. Either it instantly stops listening or it take way too long to process. I could have manually completed the task faster.

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oneMadRssn said:
There is nothing graceful about someone talking into their phone in public.

"Text mom, the doctor said to just apply a cream for a few weeks."
"Siri, how are the Red Skins doing?"
"Add a reminder, buy 50 Shades of Gray next time I'm near Barnes and Noble."
Click to expand...

I've only ever seen one guy talking to his phone and public and it was annoying. I only ever use it at home or at a red light. But I'd say I only average maybe 3 uses a month.
 
Yeah, Lory! A macrumors front page article!
I've been trying to use Siri more now that i've got an iPhone 6. When i bluetooth connect it to my Amazon Echo its a battle of me yelling "Siri play this song", "Alexa, volume 7", etc.
 
Plutonius said:
Nothing more annoying on Siri then Siri taking your input, displaying the correct message on your display, then Siri changing the message to something incorrect before replying.
Click to expand...

More annoying than sitting next to that person?
 
"iOS Blog: How to Make a Phone call using iPhone...
Start by making sure your device is fully powered-on. You can be certain that your device is powered on if the display lights up when the home button is pressed. On an activated iPhone, start by opening the green Phone app icon....."
 
scwinsett said:
"iOS Blog: How to Make a Phone call using iPhone...
Start by making sure your device is fully powered-on. You can be certain that your device is powered on if the display lights up when the home button is pressed. On an activated iPhone, start by opening the green Phone app icon....."
Click to expand...
You might be surprised how many people (unfortunately) might find something like that useful.
 
What's the "2nd" most popular Mac site?

I can't take this crap anymore.

Next week, there will be articles of how to clean our screens and plug in the cables #
 
oneMadRssn said:
There is nothing graceful about someone talking into their phone in public.

"Text mom, the doctor said to just apply a cream for a few weeks."
"Siri, how are the Red Skins doing?"
"Add a reminder, buy 50 Shades of Gray next time I'm near Barnes and Noble."
Click to expand...

Do you even realize how stupid that is? You do know the original purpose of a phone, right? Making a phone call? That involves talking into a phone.

There's nothing weird at all about talking into a PHONE. How times have changed where people think it's now weird to TALK into a communication device.
 
Thanks for the helpful reminders and tips about Siri.

I really like Siri but there are times when something that Siri previously handled brilliantly dozens of times will just fail and I give up on it. :(:apple:
 
Lmao at these desparate "how to articles" for long tail search queries. I guess MR didn't get the heads up about the recently speculated "how to" Google algo update targeting this types of crap content.
 
I just wish I knew how to shut her/him up. I can whisper a question to her/him. But then Siri blurts out the answer. There is no way to silence her/him without turning down the volume all the way and then turning it up afterwards. Kinda defeats the purpose.

A way to overcome this without leaping to a general universal setting is a "Siri, silence" command and a "Siri, speak" command.
 
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