Why Typing in Siri Is My Favorite New IOS 18.1 Feature
Siri got a new coat of paint with the iOS 18.1 update , although most of its Apple Intelligence features are yet to be implemented. But this does not mean that nothing new and interesting appeared in it. By far my favorite Siri update is that I can now type questions into the chatbot instead of speaking them out loud.
Apple used to have an accessibility feature called Type for Siri that let you switch to a text-based version of Siri, but it completely disabled Siri’s voice input and was slow and cumbersome to use. With iOS 18.1/iPadOS 18.1 on iPhone/iPad and macOS Sequoia 15.1 on Mac, there’s now a much better and faster way to enter text in Siri, and it doesn’t prevent you from using your voice when you want.
But why type into Siri? Well, in addition to no longer having to worry about a chatbot misunderstanding you, there are autocomplete suggestions. Type a few characters and you’ll see prompts to quickly check the weather, call a friend, answer a question (ChatGPT will be available soon), or toggle system settings. It really can be a faster way to get things done.
How to Type to Siri on iPhone or iPad
To use Type to Siri on your iPhone or iPad, you first need to turn on Apple Intelligence . Turn it on in Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri > Apple Intelligence . Unfortunately, you’ll need an iPhone 15 Pro or later (or an iPad with an A17 Pro chip or later) to use this feature. You’ll also have to wait on a short waitlist, although Lifehacker staff usually don’t have to wait more than a couple of hours to gain access.
If Apple Intelligence is turned on, all you have to do to enter text in Siri is double-tap the Home panel (the white bar at the bottom of the screen that you use to go to the Home screen). If you don’t see the Home panel, simply double-tap the very bottom of the screen and Siri should still appear. You can even use Type to Siri from your lock screen.
The keyboard and the new Siri interface will open. Start typing whatever you want and you’ll see Siri suggestions at the top. The new Siri makes suggestions quickly enough that you probably won’t feel the need to type a full sentence or question before Siri prepares a suggestion. This works very well for general questions, such as asking for the weather or what time it is in another time zone. After typing a question (or clicking on a suggestion), click the “Submit” button to submit your request. You’ll find Siri’s response in the floating window at the top.
As with regular Siri, you can continue typing and asking questions as you please. Thanks to Apple Intelligence, Siri will even do its best to maintain context from one question to the next (for example, you can ask “What’s the weather like where I am” and then answer “How are things in London?” and Siri should do everything I also know how to check the weather).
If you don’t like using text input for Siri, you can turn it off in Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri > Speak & Type for Siri > Type for Siri .
How to Type to Siri on Mac
The Mac also has a quick shortcut to call up Type in Siri. On an M series Mac running macOS Sequoia 15.1 or later, first turn on Apple Intelligence in System Preferences > Apple Intelligence & Siri > Apple Intelligence . Just like on mobile, you’ll have to wait through a short waiting list.
Then, by default, double-click the Command button to bring up Typing in Siri. But since we’re talking about Mac, the shortcut can be customized. In the Apple Intelligence menu, go to Keyboard Shortcuts to see options for binding Siri to just the left command key or just the right command key. Alternatively, you can leave it bound to any of them, or use the Globe + S key combination to bring it up.
Or you can take full control and use the Customize option to change the shortcut to the one you like.
Typing into Siri on Mac works the same way as on mobile devices. You’ll still see suggestions from Apple, which you can select by clicking on them or using the arrow keys. Press the Enter key to send the request to Siri.
The text box will remain in place after you submit your request, so you can ask a follow-up question.
When to Use “Text for Siri” Instead of “Talk to Siri”
For the most part, Siri is still Siri, with the same knowledge base limitations, except for the ability to offer technical support for some Apple products. Some of these restrictions will be relaxed when ChatGPT integration is included in the iOS 18.2 update , which also works with Type to Siri, but won’t be available to the general public until around December.
My two favorite uses of Talk to Siri at the moment are using shortcuts and customizing or accessing device settings and features.
Shortcuts are deeply integrated into Siri, and the same can be said for typing in Siri. You can simply start typing the shortcut’s name, and in just a couple of characters the shortcut will appear in the suggestions above Siri’s text field. Click on it and the shortcut will instantly activate. I found this to be much faster than using Siri voice commands to launch shortcuts.
Siri is also very useful for setting up settings, launching device features, and using Apple’s own services like Apple Music. Find a playlist or track and it will appear in suggestions almost immediately. The same goes for toggling settings like low power mode, dark mode, or anything else you can think of.
You can go even further by creating text expansion shortcuts for frequently used commands. For example, you can simply type “drkmd” to enable dark mode on your phone. Set this up by going to Settings > Keyboards > Text Replacement and then clicking the Plus button. Type the phrase “toggle dark mode” and the shortcut “drkmd”, then click ” Save “. Now when you open Typing for Siri, type “drkmd”, press Spacebar and press Send to let it do its thing.
This is a fairly simple example, but you can also create similar text extension shortcuts for “Ask ChatGPT” since you may be doing this quite often when running iOS 18.2.