Which Apple devices include Siri?
The iPhone, iPad, Mac, HomePod, Apple TV, and Apple Watch all support Siri.
Is there a Siri app?
No, there isn’t a standalone Siri app that can be installed, the virtual assistant is built into iOS and macOS.
How do I ask Siri something?
To talk to Siri, hold down the Home button on your device or say “Hey Siri” if Allow Hey Siri is enabled. You’ll hear two quick beeps and see “What can I help you with?” on the screen. Just begin speaking. The microphone icon lights up to let you know that Siri hears you talking. Once you’ve started a dialogue with Siri, tap the microphone icon to speak to it again.
Siri also works with headphones and Bluetooth headsets. When you’re using headphones with a remote and microphone, you can press and hold the center button to talk to Siri. With a Bluetooth headset, press and hold the call button to bring up Siri.
Siri waits for you to stop talking, but you can also tap the microphone icon to tell Siri you’re done talking. This is useful when there’s a lot of background noise.
What happens after I ask Siri a question or ask it to do something?
When you finish speaking, Siri displays the text of what you said and provides a response. If Siri needs more information to complete a request, it will ask you a question. For example, if you say “Remind me to call my mom,” Siri will ask, “What time would you like me to remind you?”
When you use earphones or a headset, Siri reads back text messages and email messages you’ve dictated before sending them. It also reads back the subjects of reminders before you create them. This is especially helpful when you’re driving and can’t see the screen.
Do I have to say things a certain way to get Siri to respond?
No. You can speak to Siri as you would to a person – in a natural voice with a conversational tone. If you want to know what the weather will be like tomorrow, simply say, “What will the weather be like tomorrow?” Or “Does it look like rain tomorrow?” Or even “Will I need an umbrella tomorrow?” No matter how you ask, Siri will tell you the forecast.
Does Siri work out of the box, or do I have to teach it?
Siri works right out of the box, without any work on your part. And the more you use Siri, the better it will understand you. It does this by learning about your accent and other voice characteristics. Siri uses voice recognition algorithms to categorize your voice into one of the dialects or accents it understands. As more people use Siri and it’s exposed to more language variations, its overall recognition of dialects and accents will continue to improve, and Siri will work even better.
Siri also uses information from your contacts, music library, calendars, and reminders to better understand what you say. So it responds more accurately when you ask to make a phone call, play music, or create an appointment or reminder.
If you like, you can reset what Siri has learned about your voice by turning Siri off and then back on in Settings > General > Siri.
Siri works with almost all of the built-in apps on your device. And it’s smart enough to figure out which apps to use to provide you with answers. It also uses Search and Location Services to help you with your requests. Here’s a list of apps and services that Siri works with worldwide:
- Phone
- FaceTime
- Apple Music
- Messages
- Calendar
- Reminders
- Notes
- Contacts
- Weather
- Stocks
- Web Search
- Find My
- Alarms, World Clock, and Timers
- Maps
- Local search with Yelp!
How does Siri learn who I am?
If Siri knows who you are, it can use your information to help you. To make sure Siri knows who you are, select your contact information in Settings > General > Siri & Search > My Information.
Your information is used for questions like “How do I get home?” or “What good restaurants are near work?”
How does Siri learn about my key relationships?
Siri also helps you by learning about the key people in your life. The first time you ask Siri to call your sister, it will ask you who your sister is. That information is stored in Contacts along with other relationship information like “mom,” “husband,” and “grandma.”
How do location-based reminders work?
Because Siri knows your current location and other locations like “home” and “work,” it can remind you to do a specific task when you leave or arrive at a location. So if you tell Siri, ”Remind me to call my wife when I leave the office,” Siri does just that.
To turn off the ability for Siri to use your location, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and set Siri to Off. Information about your location is not tracked or stored outside the phone.
Does Siri take dictation?
Yes. Siri supports dictation in any app that has a keyboard. So instead of typing, you can speak and your words will be entered as text.
To start dictation, tap the microphone button on your keyboard and start talking. When you’re finished, tap Done, and your words will be turned into text. Dictation for each language is built into the keyboard for that language.
Is Siri accessible to blind and visually impaired users?
Yes. VoiceOver, the screen reader built into iOS, can speak any text displayed in responses from Siri. You can navigate through the responses and have each one read to you. This includes the days of a weather forecast, the body of an email, the details of an answer from Wolfram|Alpha, and more