Top 10 secret Siri commands
Maybe you’ve already mastered the basic Siri commands, read our tips on setting up relationships and improving pronunciation, and even joked around a bit and are itching to try out something a little more ninja? Well look no further! You’ve shared with us your favorite secret Siri commands and we’re sharing them back to all our readers.
- [Punctuation/symbols/emoticons]. Siri can understand many basic symbols, emoticons and punctuation marks, as long as you say them by the right name. Examples include “open parenthesis”, “close square bracket”, ” “frowney face” (love it!), “new paragraph”, “pound sign”, etc.
- Play playlist [playlist name]. Siri will play not just a song, but a whole playlist for you.
- Find all email by [contact]. Siri will give you a short list of emails from the contact you ask for.
- What’s on my calendar for [date]. Siri will show you all your appointments for today, tomorrow, next Monday, or February 28 (2012) if you ask nicely.
- Search [Bing/Yahoo]. If Google’s not your cup of tea, Siri will search the competition for you.
- Search [Google/Bing/Yahoo] for [specialized information] [time] [place]. Whether you want the latest scores, show times, etc., if you phrase it just right, Siri can often find it for you.
- Who was in the cast of [movie]: Siri can tell you the name of that actor you know you’ve seen before but just can’t remember.
- Delete all alarms: Siri will delete all alarms, not just individual ones, in case you never want to be woken up again! (I found this by accident on Rene’s phone. Shhhh!)
- Message [Social network] [Status]. If you’ve set it up on Twitter, Facebook, or another social network that lets you update via SMS, Siri will message your status right to it.
- Restart. Siri will re-spring the Springboard. It’s not a full reboot, but it’s faster.
There are some other super-ninja style tips in the links below, like CalDAV accounts so Siri can post to Remember the Milk, or adding URL schemes to get Siri to open apps. Do you have any other secret, advanced Siri commands? Let us know in the comments!
More: CrushApps, TUAW, MacRumors Forums, TechLand
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Every post on this site seems to be about Siri now. Is there anything else to talk about? Anything at all?
Lol yes Rene, while that’s very true – I was exaggerating to make my point. I undertsand that Siri is the most celebrated feature on the 4S. However, I would certainly like to see more coverage on the other features since Siri seems to have been covered every which way to Timbuktu.
If by Rene you mean Georgia then ya. Jackass.
If by Rene you mean Georgia then ya. Jackass.
What it ‘re-spring the Springboard’…?
like a refresh of sort..
If you have a Macintosh, it’s kind of like relaunching the Finder.
Basically, if you don’t know what springboard is then you won’t need to use it.
Basically, if you don’t know what springboard is then you won’t need to use it.
Not very helpful of you, but, thanks for stopping by
The “new paragraph” and “new line” commands only seem to work when you start dictation from the mic button on the keyboard. When composing an email, Siri ignores the commands. Kinda strange
LOL what a joke Siri cant even reply bACK MUCH. Iphone 4S still NO FLASH, NO MicroSD Card Slot, No 4G, Stupid Battery still cant swap for newer charge battery. This will be terrible for traveling.
I travel. I have the 4S. It is wonderful.
no one if forcing you to use it! if you don’t like it send it to me and go get a droid and see how that works for ya!
Actually, there is a flash and siri indeed can reply. I think the real joke is your username.
I think he means Adobe Flash.
Ah, I already forgot about this ancient tech
I must agree, HTML5 is such a great improvement to web standards. Flash is going the way of the Dodo Bird.
I think he means Adobe Flash.
An Apple-hater AND republican, who’d have thunk!
you are just as bad as he was. By attacking someone based on a political view. And I thought this was a tech site, not a club for democrats. Enough with the political talk, cant we have one site were we can come without the hate?????
So.. You look at this why then? If you think one of the most revolutionary products that Apple has made is not good enough for you, than dont get on and stfu?
Most useful for me is, “Add eggs to my shopping list”. I simply created a list called “shopping” in my reminders app and now I can just tell Siri what I want to eat. I love you Siri… Siri replies, “I bet you say that to all your Apple products”.
Was not able to get Siri to add an item when using a grocery in Reminders but it worked for me when I created a grocery in my Notes. Has anyone else tried this?
I tried what “Buyfromdjsstore” said, and it worked. Make sure you create a list in reminders that is actually called “shopping”. Siri should then recognize that list when you say “Add eggs to my shopping list”.
You can also say “add to my shopping list”, then Siri will ask what you would like to add afterwards.
Funny, created a reminder called shopping, but when I as Siri “add eggs to shopping list” it replies, “You don’t have a shopping list… Just reminders”. And if I ask Siri “add eggs to shopping reminders” it replies with the same answer?
@MLC – you need to create a list called “shopping” or “groceries” – not just an item within your reminders list. Then, you have Siri add items to that list.
How do u create the list though and not just a reminder ?
Seem to have a problem with Siri taking this command when using a Reminder called Grocery, but created a Note called Grocery and Siri was able to add to that note. Anyone else tried this?
I tried it with Grocery List and then she would say she was adding paper towels to my Grocery List list.
Doesn’t work just says you don’t have a shopping list and sets it as a new reminder
You need to add a new list, not a task! Go into Reminders and tap the list icon in the top left corner. From here, hit Edit in the top right corner and Create New List… will pop up. Here, you can create a list entitled Shopping or Work or even Book if you’re an avid reader!
I also created a Note called Grocery and have been adding items to it via Siri as I think of them – thanks for the hint!
I get so sick of trolls trying to hijack every frickin Apple discussion. Don’t like Apple, go some where else.
Georgia, Im slightly confused as to your recent articles about Siri. I do recall reading an article as to why you would not be upgrading to the 4s and using Siri. Now all of the sudden you are posting articles on all the good things that Siri brings. What gives?
it would be great if I4s was available in SIngapore without waiting hours at Singtel or M1 under the rain. Forget it!
it would be great if I4s was available in SIngapore without waiting hours at Singtel or M1 under the rain. Forget it!
Instead of “delete all alarms” you can also say “disable all alarms”. That way, you can enable them again by saying “enable all alarms”, instead of having to set it all up again the next time.
Useful if you use more than one alarm to get up in the morning, for instance if you think 9 minutes of snooze time is far too much.
are some of these questions US only ? i asked siri a few of those and she wasn’t able to it, such the movie cast one and restart the phone.
Movie cast didn’t work for me in Australia (like locations), but restart was fine.
Movie cast didn’t work for me in Australia (like locations), but restart was fine.
If you say ‘shuffle’ before the playlist music command, Siri will play the songs randomly. Works for other music commands, too…
The playlist function was avalaible before Siri, I’ve been using it in my iPhone 4 for a long time
I asked Siri to download an app for me but she stated that she wasn’t allowed to do that. haha…
My current favorite- “Where can I hide a dead body?” Disturbingly entertaining.
My current favorite- “Where can I hide a dead body?” Disturbingly entertaining.
My current favorite- “Where can I hide a dead body?” Disturbingly entertaining.
Add to “Groceries” works for me. Only weird one I’ve found is that if I say “play album” it starts playing a random song on that album instead of the beginning of it. Anyone know of a fix?
I like the fact Siri can do the most simple to the most complex math problems for you! Thought that was a really neat feature
Sussed the Shopping one out!
Click on the top left of reminders and it let’s you manage and create new lists.
Otherwise you are creating a reminder on the ‘reminders’ list.
Sussed the Shopping one out!
Click on the top left of reminders and it let’s you manage and create new lists.
Otherwise you are creating a reminder on the ‘reminders’ list.
Sussed the Shopping one out!
Click on the top left of reminders and it let’s you manage and create new lists.
Otherwise you are creating a reminder on the ‘reminders’ list.
Sussed the Shopping one out!
Click on the top left of reminders and it let’s you manage and create new lists.
Otherwise you are creating a reminder on the ‘reminders’ list.
Sussed the Shopping one out!
Click on the top left of reminders and it let’s you manage and create new lists.
Otherwise you are creating a reminder on the ‘reminders’ list.
Sussed the Shopping one out!
Click on the top left of reminders and it let’s you manage and create new lists.
Otherwise you are creating a reminder on the ‘reminders’ list.
Sussed the Shopping one out!
Click on the top left of reminders and it let’s you manage and create new lists.
Otherwise you are creating a reminder on the ‘reminders’ list.
Sussed the Shopping one out!
Click on the top left of reminders and it let’s you manage and create new lists.
Otherwise you are creating a reminder on the ‘reminders’ list.
Sussed the Shopping one out!
Click on the top left of reminders and it let’s you manage and create new lists.
Otherwise you are creating a reminder on the ‘reminders’ list.
Siri is great calculator also. Just tell it to “add 5+3+7 etc…
I don’t quite need Siri to answer 5+3+7! “What is 28374 times the square root of 83828 divided by 14 plus 1″ was calculated quite fast though.
Aunt wasn’t in the relationship list. But I got Siri to add it by saying “Call my aunt” She asked “Who is your aunt?” When I told her, she said. “Do you want me to refer to (name) as your aunt?” When I said yes, she said “I will add aunt to your relationships”
She calculates tips really well. That is so cool.