I fuck Siri on my iPhone 4S , and I ’m hop full - fledged Siri bread and butter will arrive on the Mac with Mountain Lion . Until then , however , I can still speak to my Mac to get it to take actions , and you may too — thanks to Speakable Items and the Speech pane in System Preferences . This quick screencast will help you get started with barking order that your Mac will in reality listen to .
Show Notes
In the video , I remark that once you enable Speakable Items , its mike ikon must remain on - screen at all times . That ’s essentially true , but here ’s a bonus hint : you may really minimize the Speech Command mike icon by double clicking it . Then it sits patiently in your Dock , instead of on your screen . take down that the icon will seat on the right side of your Dock , where minimized text file windows and the Trash appear .
Show transcript
Siri has n’t made it to the Mac yet , but OS X already admit a way you could lecture to your computer . It ’s call Speech , and you’re able to find it in System Preferences . It lack a lot of Siri ’s business leader , but it offers plenty of functionality . Here ’s how to get started .
Go the Speech preference pane , and click to turn Speakable Items on .
When you do that , the Speech picture appears ; it ’s always on screen when Speakable Items is turned on . But before you start talking to your Mac , there are a variety of configurations you should configure .
An important one is the Listening Method you opt . The default method is Listen only while key is pressed . In that mode , your Mac only mind for your instructions when you ’re holding down the Listening Key — Escape , by default . The Speech icon point which keystone you call for to maintain down , and the microphone darken when you do . Now , I ’ll oblige down the Escape key and try it :
What time is it ?
But the substitute pick is Listen continuously with keyword . In that mode , you need n’t hold down a unique key to get your Mac to listen to you ; instead , you involve to address it by the keyword you provide . The nonremittal selection is Computer ; to be cute , I rename mine Siri .
Now , your Mac heed to everything you say , but it only tries to figure out what you want if you call it by name first :
Siri , what time is it ?
you could prefer whether the computer ’s keyword is call for before each command , optional , or only required after a curt delay from the last prison term you gave an instruction with the keyword .
When you first start using Speech , you may not have any idea what you’re able to say . The good intelligence is , you may require your Mac . Address your Mac and say , “ Show me what to say . ” Up pops a windowpane of Speech Commands . you’re able to also clack on the Microphone icon to get to those Speech Commands .
Unlike with Siri , you ca n’t get too colloquial ; Speech carry you to speak its usable options passably much watchword for word . But the mountain chain of functionality is panoptic : you could foreground text and say “ Make this into a sticky note ” ; you could speak the name of a menu , and then the name of an choice within that computer menu ; you could say “ ready an consternation for 3 hour ” if you need to be reminded about something ; you could pioneer chats or emails ; you could flip between or lay off applications ; you could schedule meetings ; and plenty more . If you adjudicate to start using Speech , it ’s a good idea to expend fourth dimension familiarizing yourself with all the thing you could say .
Again , though , let ’s stress — this ai n’t Siri . You ca n’t ask about the weather , improvise on what you say , or carry much personality . Still , if you ’ve long wished your Mac could do as you say — now you know , indeed it can .
Thanks for see .
