When Siri first came out a few years ago, it was quickly dubbed as your “personal assistant” on your iPhone. Despite how inaccurate and sometimes limited Siri was, the feature list has slowly grown over the years to the point where it can actually do a lot of things to help you throughout your day.
The voice recognition has been a notably underused feature of iPhones over the past couple years, but perhaps it’s because people aren’t aware of just how much they can do with Siri. You may ask it to make phone calls and jot down notes for you, but there are actually many more things it can do that you may not know.
Here are 15 that you might want to put to use:
1. Set Relationships With Contacts
You can use Siri to establish relationships with certain contacts. For example, say “Hey Siri, (insert name) is my sister.” From now on, you can say “Hey Siri, call my sister” and Siri will dial her for you. You can use the same thing to compose a text or email message. Of course, this only works best if you have one brother or sister or Siri will ask you which sibling you want to call if you have multiple ones.
2. Relearn How to Pronounce Certain Words or Names
When Siri was first launched, it didn’t really know how to pronounce certain words or names but starting in iOS 7, you are able to help it out. If you hear Siri mispronounce something, say “That is not how you pronounce (insert word or name).”
3. Look Up Sports Scores
I bet you didn’t that Siri is quite the sports fan. You can ask it to look up scores, upcoming games, standings, and more. It can even tell you random trivia like who weighs more, Kobe or Lebron?
4. Movie Times and Information
Siri can tell you which movies are playing around you and at what time. Can’t decide on what movies to watch? You can ask to show you which comedy movies are playing around your area and it will also tell you the Rotten Tomatoes score so you can get an idea of how good a certain movie is.
5. Restaurant Recommendations
Not sure where to get dinner tonight? Siri can tell the restaurants in your area as well as a type of restaurant if you are in the mood for Italian, burgers, etc.
Along with that, it will include pricing info (1-4 dollar signs) and restaurant reviews via Yelp. If you do find something you like, you can make a reservation via Open Table by saying “Book a table for 4 people at (insert restaurant name) at 7 PM.”
6. Look Up Random Information
Along with common knowledge, Siri (along with the help of Wolfram Alpha) can tell you a lot of things you might not know that can be quite useful. For example, don’t know many tablespoons are in a cup? Ask Siri. The answer is 16, by the way.
It can also tell you currency conversions and other random information like how many hours are until Christmas.
7. Post to Social Media
You can post to your Facebook or Twitter account by saying “Post ____ to Facebook” or “Tweet ______”.
8. Read Your Emails and Texts
Driving but still need to check your email? You can say “read my email” and Siri will read the subject and the sender. If you want to hear a specific email, say “read this email” or “read the third email.” This only works if you are using the stock Mail app. It can do the same for text messages as well.
9. Access Siri Hands Free When Charging
When you have your iPhone plugged in, you can access Siri without having to hold down the Home button. This is very useful if you are driving or when lying in bed and you don’t want to get up to look at your schedule or want to know a certain NBA score.
10. Make Speakerphone Calls
With the new iOS 8.3 update, you can tell Siri to make a phone call and put it on speakerphone. Another useful tip when you are driving and don’t want to take your eyes off the road.
11. Flip a Coin
Can’t decide between two things? Siri can help you make a decision by asking it to “flip a coin.” Similarly, you can also have it “Roll a dice” to help make those tough decisions.
12. Random Password
Need help generating a random and secure password? Just tell Siri the minimum amount of characters needed and it will give you a few different options consisting of numbers and lowercase and uppercase letters.
13. System Toggles
You can easily turn your wifi, bluetooth, airplane mode, and do not disturb mode on or off by asking Siri to do it for you. Siri can also make screen adjustments by saying “make the screen darker/brighter.”
14. Open Apps
Can’t find a certain app or just too lazy to tap on an app to open it? Say “Open Twitter” or “Play Clash of Clans” and it will open instantly. However, if you have a passcode, you would need to unlock your phone before the app can open.
15. Change Your Nickname
Want to Siri to refer to you as “Iron Man” from now on? Just tell Siri to “Call me Iron Man from now on” and it will do so.