Using Siri
Starting Siri
Siri comes to life with the press of a button.
Start Siri: Press the Home button until Siri appears.
You’ll hear two quick beeps and see “What can I help you with?” on the screen.
Just begin speaking. The microphone icon lights up to let you know that Siri hears you talking.
Once you’ve started a dialogue with Siri, tap the microphone icon to talk to it again.
Siri waits for you to stop talking, but you can also tap the microphone icon to tell Siri you’re done.
This is useful when there’s a lot of background noise. It can also speed up your conversation with
Siri, since Siri won’t have to wait for your pause.
When you finish speaking, Siri displays what it heard and provides a response. Siri often includes
additional, related info that might be useful. If the info is related to an app—for example, a text
message you’ve composed, or a location you asked for—just tap the display to open the app for
details and further action.
What Siri heard you say
Tap to speak to Siri.
Siri’s response
Related info—tap to
open the app.
Siri may ask you if it needs more information to complete a request. For example, tell Siri to
“Remind me to call mom,” and Siri may ask “What time would you like me to remind you?” Don’t
worry about telling Siri everything at once. Siri prompts you for the details it needs.
You can start talking to Siri just by bringing iPhone to your ear, like making a phone call. If the
screen isn’t on—first press the On/Off or Home button. You’ll hear two quick beeps to indicate Siri
is listening. Then start talking.
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If Siri doesn’t respond when you bring iPhone to your ear, start with the screen facing you, so your
hand rotates on the way up.
Cancel a request
Say “cancel,” tap , or press the Home button .
Stop a phone call you started
with Siri
Before Phone opens, press the Home button . If Phone is already open,
tap End.
Telling Siri about yourself
The more Siri knows you, the more it can use your information to help you. Siri gets your
information from your personal info card (“My Info”) in Contacts.
Tell Siri who you are: Go to Settings > Siri > My Info, then tap your name.
Put your home and work addresses on your card, so you can say things like “How do I get home?”
and “Remind me to call Bob when I get to work.”
Siri also wants to know about the important people in your life, so specify those relationships on
your personal info card. Siri can set those up for you. For example, the first time you tell Siri to call
your sister, Siri asks you who your sister is (if you don’t already have that info on your card). Siri
adds that relationship to your personal info card so it doesn’t have to ask next time.
Create cards in Contacts for all your important relationships, and include information such as
phone numbers, email addresses, home and work addresses, and nicknames you like to use.
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Onscreen guide
Siri gives you examples of things you can say, right on screen. Ask Siri “what can you do” or tap
when Siri first appears.
Handsfree Siri
You can use Siri with the Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic that came with your iPhone, or
with other supported headphones and Bluetooth headsets.
Talk to Siri using earphones: Press and hold the center button.
Talk to Siri using a Bluetooth headset: Press and hold the call button.
To continue a conversation with Siri, press and hold the button each time you want to talk.
When you use earphones or a headset, Siri speaks its responses to you. Siri reads back text messages
and email messages that you’ve dictated before sending them. This gives you a chance to change
the message if you want. Siri also reads back the subjects of reminders before creating them.
Context
Siri pays attention to where you’re at and what you’re doing, so it understands context. If you just
received a text message from Bob, just say “Reply” and Siri knows to send a text message to Bob.
Say “Call him” and Siri knows to call Bob instead. Siri always lets you know what it is about to do.
Setting options for Siri
Turn Siri on or off: Go to Settings > General > Siri.
Note: Turning Siri off resets Siri, and Siri forgets what it’s learned about your voice.
Set options for Siri: Go to Settings > General > Siri.
Language: Select the language you want to use with Siri.
Voice Feedback: By default, Siri speaks its responses only when you hold iPhone to your ear or
use Siri with earphones or a headset. If you want Siri to always speak its responses, set this option
to Always.
My Info: Let Siri know which card in Contacts contains your personal info. See “Telling Siri about
yourself” on page 41.
Raise to Speak: Talk to Siri by bringing iPhone to your ear when the screen is on.
Allow or prevent access to Siri when iPhone is locked with a passcode: Go to Settings >
General > Passcode Lock.
You can also disable Siri by turning on restrictions. See “Restrictions” on page 166.
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Location Services
Because Siri knows locations like “current,” “home,” and “work,” it can remind you to do a certain
task when you leave a location or arrive at a location. Tell Siri “Remind me to call my wife when I
leave the office,” and Siri does just that.
Location information isn’t tracked or stored outside the phone. You can still use Siri if you turn
Location Services off, but Siri won’t do anything that requires location information.
Turn off Location Services for Siri: Go to Settings > Location Services.
Accessibility
Siri is accessible to blind and visually impaired users through VoiceOver, the screen reader built
into iOS. VoiceOver describes aloud what’s onscreen—including any text in Siri’s responses—so
you can use iPhone without seeing it.
Turn on VoiceOver: Go to Settings > Accessibility.
Turning on VoiceOver causes even your notifications to be read aloud for you. For more
information, see “VoiceOver” on page 143.