Last updated on 14 May 2022
Siri is a clever virtual assistant that comes with you everywhere and can help you by answering questions, setting up tasks, and executing simple commands. In this guide, you will find out just how simple it is to use Siri on your iPhone.
Siri can be activated in three ways:
- Your voice saying “Hey Siri” followed by your question; or
- Long-pressing the Side Button of an iPhone with Face ID or the Home Button on an older iPhone model; or
- Pressing the centre button or call button on your EarPods or AirPods.
You can then ask any question such as “What is the weather going to be like today?” or “What is the square root of 87?” or even “What can you do for me?“.
You can ask Siri as many questions as you like. Simply say: “Hey Siri“, followed by your question. When you are done or if Siri was activated by accident and you wish to turn Siri off, simply say something along the lines of “Hey Siri, bye” or “Hey Siri, go away“.
System Requirements
Siri is available on all your Apple devices; iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, Apple TV, AirPods and HomePod.
In order to be able to use Siri on your iPhone you will need:
- A working internet connection.
- An up-to-date iOS.
- iPhone 4S or later.
To set up Siri on your iPhone, all you have to do is:
- Go to your “Settings” app.
- Look for and tap on “Siri & Search“.
- Activate “Listen for ‘Hey Siri’” to be able to activate Siri by voice.
- Activate “Press Side Button for Siri” for a device with Face ID or “Press Home for Siri” on a device with a Home button.
A step-by-step photo-guide can be found further down in this blog, so you will know what to look for when you go through the setup process.
How to set up Siri on your iPhone
First things first. Usually, you will be asked to set up Siri during the initial iPhone set-up process. If you did not wish to do it at that time, or if you simply missed that part, setting it up later on is a quick and simple process.
Simply:
- Go to your “Settings” app.
- Look for and tap on “Siri & Search“.
- Activate “Listen for ‘Hey Siri’” to be able to activate Siri by voice.
- Activate “Press Side Button for Siri” for a device with Face ID or “Press Home for Siri” on a device with a Home button.
Once “Listen for Hey Siri” is enabled for the first time, your phone will ask you to say “Hey Siri” and ask a very short list of questions so that it can learn to distinguish your voice and accent and recognise it is you speaking when you use Siri in the future.
Other Siri settings
In the same settings “Siri & Search” section, you will also find the following useful additional Siri options:
- Whether you wish for Siri to be available when your device is locked.
- What language you want Siri to be in.
- What voice (male or female) and what accent you want Siri to have.
- Whether you want Siri to respond out loud (Always, on Loud Mode, Only with “Hey Siri”) and if you want captioned responses and/or questions.
- Whether you want Siri to announce calls and/or notifications.
- Link Siri to your personal contact details so you can set up relationships (ie brother, mom, dad) which you can use for commands such as “Hey Siri, call dad“.
- Choose if and how you want search content responses shown on your device.
- Enable Apple application suggestions.
- Choose which apps you want Siri to interact with and how.
What can Siri do for you?
Siri is very versatile and can be used with a variety of applications. It is especially useful when you are busy and helps you to stay organised without having to flick through all your different apps, spending valuable time making notes on each of them.
Here are some examples of what you can use Siri for:
- Find your Apple devices (“Hey Siri, where is my iPad?”).
- Schedule a meeting (“Hey Siri, schedule a meeting with Amanda at 3 pm”).
- Set up alarms (“Hey Siri, set up an alarm for 7:30 am”).
- Ask questions (“Hey Siri, what does a horse sound like?”).
- Set up a timer (“Hey Siri, set up a time for 20 minutes”).
- Translate into different languages (“Hey Siri, how do you say ‘forever’ in French?”).
- Add a reminder (“Hey Siri, add tomatoes to my grocery list”).
- Share content such as photos or web links with your contacts.
- Play music on your phone or other connected devices (“Hey Siri, play classical music”).
- Meditate (“Hey Siri, play meditation music”).
- Control your compatible smart home devices such as temperature, lights and locks (“Hey Siri, turn the bedroom lights on at 9 pm”).
- Get directions when your precise location is enabled on your phone (“Hey Siri, where is the nearest charging station?”).
