I admit it : I love Siri . It helps that I work from home , so I can verbalise to my phone without forbiddance . It does n’t hurt that I broadly crave pseudohuman tangency . But the substantial reason is simply that I find Siri so useful . And in iOS 6 , Siri has become evenmoreuseful than it was before .
The iOS virtual assistant has study to answer accurately to a variety of new instructions . you’re able to now use Siri to get entropy about movies , sports , eatery critique , and reservation , in addition to testing its know - how regarding weather , stocks , and the similar . you’re able to also use Siri to station to Facebook and Twitter , launch apps , and get directions — and that ’s all in addition to its power to set timers , ship messages , perform searches , and more .
I now bump myself using Siri throughout the day , for a wide-eyed diversity of undertaking and queries . Here ’s how one such day might go .
Morning routines
Once I make out how warmly to dress that Clarence Day , I find out whatkindsof dress I should put on . The cardinal cistron is whether it ’s a normal workings - from - menage solar day or a day when I might in reality interact with other human beings . So I say , “ Show me today . ” That learn Siri to demo a list of all the events on my calendar for the twenty-four hours .
Armed with that intel , I ’m off to trim and shower bath . of necessity , at some point — often during the toothbrushing luck of my ablution — I’ll remember something I bury to do the Nox before . So I once again turn to Siri : “ cue me to put the DVD in the mailbox at 8 a.m. ”
The workday begins
It ’s rarified that a work day of mine gets under room without a reminder or two from the dark before beeping on my Mac and iOS gimmick , something like “ Write the Siri story”—almost doubtlessly a monitor I set via Siri .
While fellow officially schedule most of our office meetings in our shared calendaring organisation , someone occasionally sends out an electronic mail instead . Even though Fantastical is in my computer menu bar and Calendar sit patiently in my Dock , I often wrench to Siri for help instead : “ Put ‘ Call with Dan ’ on my calendar for 1 p.m. Pacific Time today . ”
As I research stories throughout the day , I rely on Siri to range important phone calls , too . Sometimes I just say “ Call ” followed by the actual dactyl ; if it ’s a impinging in my address book , I might instead say “ Call Apple PR . ”
Come lunchtime , if I ’m cook , I clock it via Siri : “ Set a timer for 12 minutes . ” ( Note that reminder works bang-up with relative times , too ; you may say “ prompt me to check the oven in 12 minute , ” if that ’s more your style . ) Sometimes , during lunch , I ’ll think to call my baby in Israel . But since I never remember the time difference , I tend to ask my right friend : “ Siri , what time is it in Jerusalem ? ”
Siri knows
Thanks to iOS 6 , I can use Siri to fulfill other bite questions at lunch now , too . “ When do the Eagles play next ? ” When Siri answers , I can then use it to compare the start up quarterbacks ’ stats , by ask about each one in turn .
This week the Eagles play the Arizona Cardinals , with former Eagles accompaniment Kevin Kolb taking the jump for the Cardinals at quarterback . I could n’t get Siri to understand me when I tried to say Kolb ’s last name , so I used a clunky but functional workaround . First I asked about the Cardinals ’ roster : “ What ’s the Arizona Cardinals ’ starting lineup ? ” When I confirmed that Kolb hold out number 4 , I asked Siri , “ Who wears number 4 for the Arizona Cardinals ? ” That brought up the stats I was after . you’re able to get even more originative with your questioning when Siri ca n’t parse a name by rights : “ Who ’s taller , Arizona Cardinals quarterback number 4 or Eagles quarterback Michael Vick ? ” ( It ’s Kolb by 3 inches . )
The fact that Siri sputter with less - common names can become problematic , not just for sport queries , but for movies too . broadly speaking Siri will perform capably in understanding figure that belong to the citizenry in your address book of account . But when it come to athletes and picture star , Siri make out far easily with “ Tom Brady ” than “ Nnamdi Asomugha . ”
I prove to schedule any outside appointment for around the dejeuner hour , too . When I have one to attend , I trust on Siri to get me there . It ’s imposingly safe at parsing addresses : “ Give me directions to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington , D.C. ” will get me to the White House . And I can always return home again with a simple “ Take me home ” request . If I ’ll be back by chance late , I can iMessage my coworkers with Siri , too : “ iMessage Dan Moren that I ’ll be back in another 20 minutes . ” New in iOS 6 , Siri is much less strict about how on the button to phrase such instructions ; it was far picky in iOS 5 , take more cue words .
The dinner hour
As dinner approach , most nights , my married woman tells me what she has cooked for that even . Sometimes she comes into my office and says : “ We ’re exit out for dinner party tonight . ” That ’s when I turn to Siri , which in iOS 6 lets you get amusingly specific : “ What are the best kid - well-disposed Italian restaurants within 5 mile ? ”
In central New Jersey , where I live , Siri knows plenty about some restaurants , little about others , and nothing at all about a few too many . If we lived somewhere more metropolitan , I probably could use Siri to make reservations , but out here very few restaurants support OpenTable . you may find some of your nearby option with a phrase like : “ Where can I get a reservation for five multitude tonight at 6 p.m. ? ” Siri will then gather what it can from Yelp ; if that service get over your field well , you ’ll be in comparatively unspoiled shape . But if it does n’t , Siri ca n’t counterbalance for that subpar data point .
Evening
Once the kids are deceased , my married woman and I occasionally peck a movie to watch . Generally our option are special to what ’s streaming on Netflix or HBO Go , but we let Siri help narrow our selections : “ What ’s a good clowning starring Jennifer Aniston ? ” More often , we use Siri to secern us whether a movie we ’re study is deserving watching : “ Is the movieRumor Has Itany in effect ? ”
I have three young Thomas Kid , so I only very rarely see a movie in an actual theatre . When I do , though , I can now swear on Siri ’s knowledge of what ’s playing ( which , like its knowledge of who asterisk in which movies , comes from Rotten Tomatoes ) . As with Yelp , the tone of the information you get from such queries will reckon on how well Rotten Tomatoes deal your field . When I inquire about flick playing near here , Siri performs beautifully . When a colleague in the San Francisco Bay Area asks for that selective information , Siri returns uncompleted or erroneous data — more motion-picture show than the dramatics has blind , for example , or resolution for theater of operations too many miles by .
When it ’s finally time to retire for the even , Idon’tuse Siri to set an alarm for the next morning . I have kids for that . On those rare occasions when I require to awake up even before they do , or when I ’m locomote , I turn to Siri one last time : “ Wake me at 5:30 ante meridiem ”
Throughout the day
I like launch apps with Siri , because it ’s generally faster even than using glare search . you could say “ Launch Facebook , ” “ Open Tweetbot , ” or “ playact Angry Birds . ” If you require to launch the tv camera , you may say “ Take a picture , ” though that ’s not necessarily fast than using the Camera lock chamber - screen shortcut .
If you tell Siri “ Do not disturb , ” it read that you ’re allude to the new feature in iOS 6 to tone down alert and apprisal , but it ca n’t enable that feature for you : rather , it will helpfully provide a tie-in to that background .
Which is to admit that , as helpful as Siri is , I still have muckle of item onmy Siri wish well listthat it has n’t learned to handle . For good example , you ca n’t use Siri to add or edit contact , to go at once to specific internet site , or to explicitly control third - company apps . And Siri still ca n’t toggle configurations like Bluetooth .
As mentioned above , Siri flails when you seek to inquire about jock or movie stars with unusual epithet it ca n’t transliterate . And its information is generally only as good as its providers can propose .
When Siri sympathise you on the first try , and when its answer are accurate , it ’s awesome , andindistinguishable from magic . When it demand multiple tries to understand you , or when its answers are no good , Siri bring backunpleasant Newton memories .
That said , with Siri ’s gains in iOS 6 — not to mention back - end melioration that seem to have Siri understanding me well than ever — it has become an even more indispensable mode for me to interact with my iOS machine . Despite its occasional shortcomings , I ’m grateful that it ’s there .
