What can you say to Siri in iOS 6?
Last year, Steve Sande and I put together a "What can you say to Siri" post that proved to be hugely popular. We'd been working on "Talking to Siri: Learning the Language of Apple's Intelligent Assistant", which we initially self-pubbed as an e-book, and then later moved to QUE publishing.
We're now working on the second edition of "Talking to Siri" and thought we'd update our original post for iOS 6. A lot of people are now using Siri and Siri-related features.
Siri is available on the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 5, the new third generation iPad, and the fifth generation iPod touch. Dictation-only support also appears in OS X Mountain Lion. There's a lot of Siri going around.
As we work on our update, we thought we'd share the following Apple-supplied examples for using Siri. It's only a partial list, but it gives a great flavor of what Siri can do.
Standout new features include the sports, movies and restaurant categories recently announced by Apple. But there's a lot more too.
Siri now supports arbitrary relationships. You can say "Megan Lavey-Heaton is my favorite comics author" and Siri will add that relationship. You can launch applications by saying "Launch Angry Birds" and post to Twitter and Facebook by voice. Siri also now lets you dismiss her (or him) by voice. Say "Goodbye Siri" and Siri will close the interaction window.
The examples that follow below only scratch the surface of what you can do with Siri. We're having a ton of fun discovering all Siri's new improved capabilities. Keep your eyes peeled over the next few months as Steve and I share new favorite tricks and tips as we work on our update.
Have you found some great new Siri features? Share them in the comments!
ASKING ABOUT CONTACTS
What's Emily's address?
What is Susan Park's phone number?
When is my wife's birthday?
Show Lindsey's home email address
What's my brother's work address?
FINDING CONTACTS
Show Brian Conway
Find people named Park
Who is Jimmy Patrick?
ESTABLISHING RELATIONSHIPS
My mom is Susan Park
Jimmy Patrick is my brother
Call my brother at work
APP LAUNCHING
Open Photos
Play Infinity Blade II
ADDING EVENTS
Set up a meeting at 9
Set up a meeting with Jimmy at 9
Meet with Emily at noon
Set up a meeting about hiring tomorrow at 9am
New appointment with Susan Park Friday at 3
Schedule a planning meeting at 8:30 today in the boardroom
CHANGING EVENTS
Move my 3pm meeting to 4:30
Reschedule my appointment with Dr. Patrick to next Monday at 9am
Add Emily to my meeting with Brian
Cancel the budget review meeting
ASKING ABOUT EVENTS
What does the rest of my day look like?
What's on my calendar for Friday?
When is my next appointment?
When am I meeting with Jimmy?
Where is my next meeting?
USING ALARMS
Wake me up tomorrow at 7am
Set an alarm for 6:30am
Wake me up in 8 hours
Change my 6:30 alarm to 6:45
Turn off my 6:30 alarm
Delete my 7:30 alarm
CLOCK
What time is it in Berlin?
What is today's date?
What's the date this Saturday?
TIMER
Set the timer for ten minutes
Show the timer
Pause the timer
Resume
Reset the timer
Stop it
SENDING EMAIL
Email Emily about the trip
Email Lindsey about the change in plans
New email to Susan Park
Mail Dad about the rent check
Email Dr. Patrick and say I got the forms, thanks
Mail Emily and Brian about the party and say I had a great time
CHECKING EMAIL
Check email
Any new email from Jimmy today?
Show new mail about the lease
Show the email from Emily yesterday
RESPONDING TO EMAIL
Reply Dear Susan sorry about the late payment
Call him at work
FACETIME
FaceTime Brian
Make a FaceTime call to Susan Park
Post to Facebook headed to the new Pixar movie
Write on my wall just landed in San Jose!
FIND MY FRIENDS
Where's Brian?
Where is my sister?
Is my wife at home?
Where are all my friends?
Who is here?
Who is near me?
Let me know when Jimmy leaves home
Let Susan know when I leave work
LOCKSCREEN READING
Read my notifications
Do I have any new messages?
MAPS
Show me the Golden Gate Bridge
Show me a map of 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino California
LOCAL BUSINESSES
Find coffee near me
Where's the nearest coffee shop?
Find a gas station near work
NAVIGATION
How do I get home?
Directions to my dad's work
Get me directions from San Francisco to Santa Barbara
What's my next turn?
Are we there yet?
What's my ETA?
Find a florist along my current route
MAPS
Show me the Golden Gate Bridge
Show me a map of 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino California
LOCAL BUSINESSES
Find coffee near me
Where's the nearest coffee shop?
Find a gas station near work
NAVIGATION
How do I get home?
Directions to my dad's work
Get me directions from San Francisco to Santa Barbara
SENDING MESSAGES
Tell Susan I'll be right there
Send a message to Brian Conway
Send a message to Emily saying how about tomorrow
Tell Lindsey the show was great
Send a message to Susan on her mobile saying I'll be late
Send a message to 408 555 1212
Text Brian and Emily where are you?
READING MESSAGE ALERTS
Read my new messages
Read it again
RESPONDING TO MESSAGES
Reply that's great news
Tell him I'll be there in 10 minutes
Call her
SEARCHING FOR MOVIE INFORMATION
Find Disney movies
What comedies are playing?
Who starred in Tron Legacy?
Who directed Finding Nemo?
What is Toy Story 3 rated?
FINDING MOVIE SHOWTIMES
I want to see the new Pixar movie
What's playing at the movies tomorrow?
What's playing at Main Street Cinema
FINDING MOVIE THEATERS
Find some movie theaters near my office
READING MOVIE REVIEWS
Show me the reviews for Toy Story 3
MAJOR MOVIE AWARDS
Which movie won Best Picture in 1983?
MUSIC
Play Walk by Foo Fighters
Play Little Broken Hearts shuffled
Play Norah Jones
Play some blues
Play my party mix
Shuffle my roadtrip playlist
Play
Pause
Skip
NOTES
Note that I spent $12 on lunch
Note to self: check out that new Norah Jones album
Find my meeting notes
Show me my notes from June 25
PHONE
Call Brian
Call Emily's mobile
Call Susan on her work phone
Call 408 555 1212
Call home
FaceTime Emily
REMINDERS
Add artichokes to my grocery list
Add skydiving to my bucket list
Remind me to call mom
Remind me to call my mom when I get home
Remember to take an umbrella
Remind me take my medicine at 6am tomorrow
Remind me to pick up flowers when I leave here
Remind me when I leave to call Brian
Remind me to finish the report by 6
Victor Agreda is my hairdresser
Kelly Guimont is my colleague
SEARCHING FOR RESTAURANTS
Find some burger joints in Baltimore
Good Mexican restaurants around here
RESERVATIONS
Table for four in Palo Alto tonight
Make a reservation at a romantic Italian restaurant tonight at 7pm
RESTAURANT REVIEWS
Show me the reviews for Seven Hills in San Francisco
SCORES
Did the Giants win?
How did Kansas City do?
What was the score the last time the Tigers played the Red Sox?
Show me the football scores from last night
GAME SCHEDULES
When do the Giants play next?
When is the Boston Red Sox's first game of the season?
Show me the schedule for baseball
PLAYER INFORMATION
Who has the highest slugging percentage?
Who has the most home runs on the Giants?
Who has the most goals in soccer?
Which quarterback has the most passing yards
TEAM INFORMATION
Show me the roster for the Dodgers
Who is pitching for the Miami Marlins this season?
Is anyone on the Red Sox injured?
STOCKS
What's Apple's stock price?
What is Apple's PE ratio?
What did Yahoo close at today?
How is the Nikkei doing?
How are the markets doing?
What is the Dow at?
TWITTER
Post to Twitter another beautiful day in Cupertino
Tweet with my location great concert
Tweet meeting up with Brian Conway for lunch today
Tweet the new iPad looks insanely great! hashtag Apple Keynote
WEATHER
What's the weather for today?
What's the weather for tomorrow?
Will it rain in Cupertino this week?
Check next week's forecast for Burlington
What's the forecast for this evening?
How's the weather in Tampa right now?
How hot will it be in Palm Springs this weekend?
What's the high for Anchorage on Thursday?
What's the temperature outside?
How windy is it out there?
When is sunrise in Paris?
WEB SEARCH
Search the web for polar bears
Search for vegetarian pasta recipes
Search the web for best cable plans
Search Wikipedia for Abraham Lincoln
Bing Foo Fighters (We know, we know. Sorry.)
WOLFRAM ALPHA
What does repartee mean?
How many calories in a bagel?
What is an 18% tip on $86.74 for four people?
Who's buried in Grant's tomb?
How long do dogs live?
What is the Gossamer Condor?
What's the square root of 128?
How many dollars is €45?
How many days until Christmas?
How far away is the Sun?
When is the next solar eclipse?
Show me the Orion constellation
What's the population of Jamaica?
How high is Mt. Everest?
How deep is the Atlantic ocean?
What's the price of gasoline in Chicago?
