Ben's Blog World: 16 Siri commands to save you time on your Apple Watch

Sunday, May 24, 2015

16 Siri commands to save you time on your Apple Watch

Siri is a voice-controlled virtual personal assistant, and it's built right into your Apple Watch.

On the iPhone, Siri is a secondary interface used when talking is more convenient than tapping. On the Apple Watch, Siri is a primary interface. It's not just the only way to enter text and a much more convenient way to initiate actions, but it's also the only way to search web services like Wikipedia, Wolfram Alpha, and Bing images. Talking to your watch might seem like sci-fi, but Siri makes it a reality.

Set reminders

There may not be a Reminders app on the Apple Watch, but you can still use Siri to set reminders for a time or for a place. "Hey Siri, remind me to call Georgia when I get home."

Change alarms

Not only can Siri set alarms to wake you up or for any time at all, Siri can change an existing alarm to another time. Meeting cancelled? "Hey Siri, change my 7am alarm to 8am!"

Send messages

There are a ton of ways to send messages using Siri. You can "tell Steve", "send a message to 408-555-1212", "text Tim", or "reply to Angela", and you can add anything you want to the end of any of those. It's especially great when you hear a number and want to send a message to it immediately. "Hey Siri, text 4440! I want to win!"

Get the time... anywhere

Siri can tell you today's date and time, what days any date or holiday falls on, how many days are left until a special occasion, and also what the time is anywhere — even if the location isn't pre-set in your World Clock. "Hey Siri, what time is it in Tokyo?"

Set and start timers

You can set, pause, resume, and stop timers. So whether you're exercising or cooking, you can keep track of everything with just the sound of your voice. "Hey Siri, set a timer for 12 minutes."

Show your schedule

Creating meetings, even recurring meetings, is easy with Siri. But you can also check when a specific meeting is set for, or check your entire schedule, either for today or any day. "Hey Siri, what's my schedule for Monday?"

Call anyone

You can ask Siri to call anyone by saying their name, or their relationship to you (if it's been set), at home, work, or on a cell, or simply by saying the number. If someone gives you a number, it's a great way to call it without having to tap the whole thing out. "Hey Siri, call 408-555-1212."

Show the weather... anywhere

Siri can tell you the current temperature, chance of precipitation, and sunset/sunrise times. Not only for your current place and time, but for any place in the world, and any time in the next week. "Hey Siri, is it going to rain in Paris on Thursday?"

Find places

You can find out where you are, where the place is you're going, and get driving or walking directions between the two. But you can also find places to eat, like an Italian restaurant, and places that sell electronics, sell aspirin, or fix cars. "Hey Siri, where can I get coffee?"

Find movies

Whether you're looking for what's playing in your area or another, what movies are showing in 3D, who starred in The Avengers, which movie won Best Picture in 2012, or what the reviews are like for Ant-Man, Siri can tell you. "Hey Siri, where can I see Mad Max?"

Answer questions

Siri can tap into Wikipedia and Wolfram Alpha to answer almost any question thrown its way, including calorie counts, math problems, geography, and general knowledge It's a great way to satisfy your curiosity, as well as settle family disputes and even win bets. "Hey Siri, what was the biggest dinosaur?"

Get scores

You can ask Siri all sorts of questions about sports, including team rosters, starters, game schedules, league and division standings, and of course scores. You can even ask what about TV channels. "Hey Siri, what channel is the hockey game on?"

Compare stocks

Current price, closing price, and the status of exchanges and the market are all things you can ask Siri. You can even ask Siri to compare two stocks. "Hey Siri, what's the difference between Apple and Google stocks?"

Launch apps

Pressing the digital crown, panning around for an icon, and tapping to launch an app is so old school. New school is just asking Siri. "Hey Siri, start a Workout."

Search for pictures

Your Apple Watch may not have Safari, but you can still search for images. You can ask to see pictures of your favorite singers or actors, cars or works of art, or anything else that interests you. "Hey Siri, show me the Hulk."

Tell me a story

Yes, it works on the Apple Watch as well. On the iPhone, Siri demurs repeatedly before finally relenting and telling its story. On the Apple Watch, at least so far, it tells the story right away. "Hey Siri, tell me a story!"

Handoff

There are some things Siri can't (yet) do on the Apple Watch, like show you Twitter results or make restaurant reservations. What Siri can do, however, is "Handoff" to your iPhone. Just look for the Siri icon at the bottom left of your iPhone lock screen, swipe up, and get your results!

More secret shortcuts

If you just can't get enough of Siri, or you want to learn more of the secrets to Apple mastery, check out our ultimate guides and secrets and tips pages. And if we missed any of your favorite Siri tips, add them to the comments below!