More useful things to say to Siri (iPhone and iPad voice commands)

Siri is Apple's voice assistant available on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, useful for carrying out certain tasks without using your hands, for obtaining specific information and also for asking funny questions. The best of himself Siri gives him as a voice assistant to manage appointments and mark reminders, as if we had a real secretary in our hands, with coherent and precise answers.
In this guide we will show you the most useful voice commands to say to Siri, so as to start using it more assiduously when we need to search, start an app or mark an appointment or a reminder without using our hands.
We will first show you how to activate it on iOS (iPhone) and iPadOS (iPad) (also to start it automatically with the phone locked) and then we will show you the list of the most useful commands that we can say to the voice assistant.

How to activate Siri

To activate Siri, open the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad, press the Siri menu and search, then enable the two voices Enable "Hey Siri" and press the Home button for Siri . On iPhone X and later we can activate Siri by holding the left side button for a few seconds, while up to iPhone 8 Plus we can activate Siri also by holding the Home button for a few seconds.

At the first start the configuration screen will start, in which Siri will learn our voice model : just repeat the activation command "Hey Siri" until the voice assistant has followed our voice well (essential to be able to start Siri only with our voice or activate only our Siri if there are more iPhones nearby).
If we want to enable Siri even when the screen is locked and we have our hands busy (we cannot therefore press the Home button or the side button), just activate the button next to the item Use Siri when locked . We can thus launch a voice search without ever touching the phone or tablet, simply by saying the command Hey Siri and the combined search.
NOTE : with the Use Siri when locked option active, the iPhone and iPad microphone will always be active, even with the screen off.
In the same screen we can customize Siri by choosing between the voice of a woman or a man, whether to get voice feedback, choose in which language Siri must respond and where to search when we pronounce a search command (App Store, on Google, on WhatsApp etc. ).

More useful things to say to Siri

After seeing how to activate the voice assistant, let's see together the most useful functions of Siri, which can be spoken verbally, in Italian, to the iPhone or iPad every day . Before continuing, remember that the Siri voice assistant works only when there is an Internet connection (Wi-Fi or mobile data).

Open an app

If we need to quickly open an app, we say the activation command "Hey Siri", followed by "open [app name]", so that we can open any app installed on our iPhone or iPad, without having to press on its icon.

Manage your contacts

To quickly manage the contacts in the iPhone address book, say the activation command "Hey Siri", followed by "show me the phone number of [contact name]" to view the phone number of a specific contact in the address book . Alternatively we can use one of the following commands:

• Call [contact name]
• When is [contact name] birthday
• Tell me the address of [contact name]
• Show me the email address of [contact name]
• Show me [contact name]
• Start Facetime with [contact name] (only if you have an iPhone or other Apple device)

Obviously many of the commands shown will only work if the contact card is complete with all the required data (such as the email address, birthday date and physical address).

Manage calendar and appointments

To turn Siri into our personal secretary, we say the activation command "Hey Siri", followed by one of the following commands:

• Create meeting at [say the time]
• Create meeting with [contact name] at [say the time]
• Add [contact name] to appointment with [contact name]
• What is the next appointment ">

  Set alarms, alarms and reminders

  Another very useful feature of Siri is the full management of alarms and alarms, which we can create and modify at will. Say the activation command "Hey Siri", followed by one of the following commands:
  
  • Wake me up at [say the time]
  • Wake me up in [indicate time interval in minutes or hours]
  • Create an alarm at [say the time]
  • Cancel the [say the time] alarm
  • Cancel the [say the time] alarm (turn off the alarm, without canceling it completely)
  • Create an alarm from Monday to Friday at [say the time]
  • Create an alarm on the [day of the week] at [say the time]
  If instead of an alarm clock we need a reminder for a specific activity or an appointment not to be forgotten, we can launch one of the following voice commands:
  
  • Remind me of [we provide the necessary information]
  • Remind me of [we provide the necessary information] on [say the time and any date]
  • Remind me of [we provide the necessary information] when I leave here (the iPhone will check via GPS when we have left the place)
  • Show me reminders
  • Clear all reminders

  Manage clocks and timers

  If we work a lot with colleagues abroad, it is good practice to inform us in advance about their time zone; in this regard, we issue the activation command "Hey Siri", followed by one of the following commands:
  
  • What time is it in [New York, London etc.]
  • What day is [day of the week]?
  If, on the other hand, we need to keep track of time, we can quickly set a timer with one of the voice commands below:
  
  • Set the timer to [time interval]
  • Show the timer
  • Stop the timer
  • Cancel the timer
  • Change the timer to [time interval]

  Pin notes

  If our job requires taking many notes (including mental ones), we can avoid keeping pen and paper always at hand, asking for help from Siri. To start pinning a new note, we say the activation command "Hey Siri", followed by the command:
  
  • take note
  Siri will kick off and begin transcribing everything we say into text until we stop talking (after about 3 seconds of silence, he will close the note).

  Conclusions

  The voice commands that we have reported above are very useful in the workplace, so you can manage every "serious" aspect of your work without making multiple appointments on paper calendars or on sheets of paper that we lose on time. Obviously Siri has many other voice commands (such as those for the weather), but learning to use the illustrated ones we will use Siri much more often, given the convenience of being able to issue orders and plan activities without even touching the phone screen.
  If we want to replace Siri with another voice assistant, we can both set Google Assistant, as seen in our guide Google Assistant Settings (OK Google) on Android, iPhone and Home, and set Amazon Alexa, as seen in the guide Use the Alexa App on Android and iPhone as a virtual assistant .
  If we are looking for other virtual assistants other than the famous ones, just read our article on the best voice assistants for Android and iPhone (alternatives to Google and Siri) .