Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, can handle a lot of different requests, some of which are funny and some of which are useful. It can look up “bevy” for you, for example, and if you ask it something funny, it’s quick with a joke.
Many of Siri’s basic features are well-known, especially the ones that let you call people or play music without touching your phone.
But it can do a lot more that you might not know about. Here are a few helpful voice prompts that iPhone users can use.
1. Turn off My Alarm
Tell Siri “snooze” the next time you’re cozy in bed and wish your phone would let you stay there for five more minutes.
Want to live on the edge? You can also say “turn off my alarm” or “stop.”
It’s also great if you have a lot on your hands.
Even better, if you set it up right, you can tell your Siri to turn off the phones of your family members.
2. Show me the Password
Using a computer that doesn’t remember your passwords? If you have it saved on your phone, you can just tell Siri, “Show me the password for a specific website,” and it will do so.
Siri will still take you to a list of your saved passwords if you don’t give a specific password or Siri doesn’t understand the name.
3. Where is?
Is your friend going to be late for the lunch date you both have scheduled? Siri will be able to tell you where someone is if they have previously shared their location with you on their device.
4. Translate
Siri can translate a word, phrase, or speech into one of a dozen languages. (If you have an older iOS version, you may have to download the Translate app first.)
Just say “translate” followed by what you want translated and “into” the language you want. “For example, translate the phrase “you can pet my dog” into Spanish.” You can also write it as a question.
5. Give Me Directions to My Car
It can be hard to remember where your car was after a nice dinner, movie, or shopping trip. Siri can make a good guess if you tell it, “Give me directions to my car.”
This works because when you get out of the car and unplug your phone from CarPlay or Bluetooth, your phone marks on a map where that happened. (Apple says this only happens when you don’t usually park there, like at home or work. This feature can also be turned off.)
6. Remind Me
Have you ever remembered something important, but then forgot it again before you could write it down? Get Siri to do it.
You can tell Siri to “remind me” of something when you leave or get to a certain place. For example, you could tell Siri, “Remind me to email the client when I get to work” or “Remind me when I leave here to pick up some milk.”
7. Whatever Else You Want?
These are just a few examples, but if you really want to get creative, you can set up a lot of DIY instructions.
First, make a custom shortcut on your phone that does what you want the order to do. Apple gives you a lot of ideas to get you started, like finding a place to eat and asking your friends.
You can give each shortcut whatever command phrase you want, and Siri will know what you mean. Siri will then answer to the name of that shortcut just like it does to any other phrase.
For a phone, that’s really pretty smart.
