What You Can Do With Apple’s Siri
Apple’s virtual assistant Siri has been around for 12 years and is supposedly a way to interact with your Apple devices using just your voice. Although Apple provides a wide list of things you could use Siri for , in reality you’ll probably use it for things like setting reminders, checking the weather, asking questions that are otherwise easy to Google, and managing with your smart devices. home devices.
First introduced on the iPhone 4S, the digital assistant can now be found on most Apple devices, including iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch, HomePod, and the upcoming Apple Vision Pro headset .
Here’s a quick guide on how to use Siri and what you can do with it.
What is Siri?
Siri is the name Apple gave to its voice-controlled, artificial intelligence assistant. This is the voice you hear when you say “Hey Siri” on your phone or hold down the Side button or Home button on your Apple device. Siri was designed as an easy way to interact with your Apple devices, including iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod and Mac.
Because Siri is built into various Apple operating systems (including iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS), the voice assistant has direct access to certain built-in apps like Mail, Contacts, Messages, and more, allowing you to do various manual tasks. free using voice commands only.
Where did Siri come from?
Although the voice assistant has become synonymous with Apple, the company did not originally create Siri. The voice assistant was developed by Siri Inc., a subsidiary of the SRI International Center for Artificial Intelligence project.
The first version of the Siri voice assistant was introduced back in February 2010 as a separate application for iOS. At the time of launch, the Siri Inc. team also planned to launch a Siri app for Android and BlackBerry devices, but a few months later, in April 2010, Apple acquired the company and its technologies, including Siri.
In October 2011, Apple released the iPhone 4S with a beta version of Siri built right into iOS.
Where is Siri available?
You can find the virtual voice assistant on all Apple devices. This includes iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, iPod Touch (if you’re still using it), Apple TV, HomePod, and even AirPods (when connected to an iPhone or iPad).
Siri will also be built into Apple’s Vision Pro “spatial computing” headset when it launches in February 2024. You’ll be able to use Siri to open or close apps in VisionOS, as well as for voice dictation (the device lacks controllers or a physical keyboard , which reportedly makes “typing” quite tedious , so if you have one, you’ll be able to You’ll probably be talking to Siri a lot.)
What can Siri do?
Siri can perform basic tasks such as creating calendar appointments, checking the weather or traffic, playing music, and sending messages. Siri can also be used to identify songs (thanks in part to Apple’s 2018 acquisition of Shazam) and provide turn-by-turn directions in Apple Maps. Since 2016, this technology has also been available to third-party developers, so you can also use Siri to control your smart home devices and perform other tasks.
If you’re just getting into smart home technology, Siri on iOS or HomePod can be used to control your HomeKit-enabled devices, like lights, thermostats, smart locks and more.