Want More From Siri? 17 Tips for Using and Tweaking Apple's Voice Assistant (2024)

If you own an iPhone or iPad, you likely already know how to request information from Siri. However, there’s more to Siri than meets the eye…or ear. Knowing how and when to use Siri can help you get the right reactions. You can tweak Apple's voice assistant to change the language, voice, and responses. Further, you can delete your dictation history with Siri to better protect your privacy.

Apple’s voice assistant has other tricks up its sleeve. Siri can now process more types of requests offline, while Apple promises improved speech recognition the more you use Siri. You can better carry on a back-and-forth conversation with Siri through follow-up questions, and Siri can automatically announce time-sensitive notifications through your AirPods. Plus, you no longer need to say “Hey” to get Siri’s attention.

Siri can also share certain content within apps like AppleMusic, Apple Podcasts, AppleNews, and Apple Maps. And if you’re viewing a specific person in the Contacts app or in Messages, you can tell Siri to send them a message without having to identify the name.

To take advantage of the latest features, make sure iOS or iPadOS is updated. Go to Settings > General > Software Update. You’ll be told that your device is up to date or see a prompt to install the latest update. Now, let’s check out all the ways you can use and customize Siri.

1. Don’t Say Hey

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You no longer have to say “Hey Siri” when you want to get Siri’s attention. Now, you can simply say “Siri,” which is not only a tad shorter but seems more polite. To control how you call on Siri on your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Siri & Search > Listen for. You can leave the setting at “Siri or Hey Siri,” change it to just “Hey Siri,” or turn off voice activation altogether.

2. Train or Retrain Siri

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If Siri often misunderstands you, it may be time to train it to better understand your voice. To do this, go to Settings > Siri & Search > Listen for. Turn it off and then turn it back on, choosing either “Siri or Hey Siri” or “Hey Siri.” You're then prompted to set up Siri and Hey Siri. Tap Continue and then speak each phrase that appears on the screen. When you're finished, tap Done. Try talking to Siri again to see if it better understands you now.

3. Help Siri Pronounce Names

Siri sometimes has trouble pronouncing certain names. Previously, you were able to teach Siri how to pronounce a name correctly simply by saying it, but that option has since been removed. However, you can still correct the pronunciation phonetically. Select the name of the person from the Contacts app and tap Edit.

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Swipe down and tap the Add Field link, then select one of the pronunciation/phonetic options to help Siri better pronounce the person’s first or last name. Type out how the name should sound when spoken out loud, then tap Done.

4. Customize How Siri Responds

Want to customize Siri’s spoken responses? Go to Settings > Siri & Search > Siri Responses. Choose Prefer Spoken Responses to make Siri talk back to you even when Silent Mode is on, Prefer Silent Responses to prevent Siri from talking back unless you’re driving or using headphones, and Always to let Siri decide when to talk back.

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If you want to see your question and Siri’s answer displayed on your screen, turn on Always Show Siri Captions to see Siri’s responses and enable Always Show Speech to see your question or comment.

5. Correct Siri's Mistakes

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If you set your device to display your questions on the screen, you can correct it if Siri makes a mistake. The next time you ask Siri a question and the text doesn’t match what you said, tap the words and correct the mistake manually. Tap Done, and Siri will respond to the corrected question with a more accurate answer.

Siri will let you communicate with any contact who appears on the screen. For example, let’s say you’re viewing someone in the Contacts app or reading a conversation in the Messages app. You can send them a message simply by saying something like “Siri, text them to say that I’m making dinner tonight.” Siri then sends the message to the appropriate person.

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You can also share photos, web pages, news stories, podcasts, and other items through Siri. Just make sure the content you want to share is on the screen and say “Siri, share this with [name of contact].” The feature works with many of Apple’s apps, including Maps, Music, News, Podcasts, and Safari.

7. Improve Siri’s Conversations

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Siri now makes conversations flow easier to keep you from having to repeat the same person, place, or thing with each new request. For example, you could say something like “Siri, is the Cooperstown Baseball museum open today?” After Siri responds, you could then say “Siri, show me directions to get there,” and Siri will know that you’re referring to the item from the previous request.

8. Make Back-to-Back Requests

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With iOS 17 or higher and the right model iPhone, you can also conduct a back-and-forth conversation with Siri without having to repeat the full question. For example, you could say “Siri, what is the weather like in London?” After Siri responds, you can then say “And what about Paris.” Siri will understand that you’re piggy backing on the same question and deliver the correct results.

9. Announce Calls

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Siri can announce an incoming call so you know whether or not to answer it. To enable this option, go to Settings > Siri & Search > Announce Calls and choose when Siri should announce a call. You can tell it to always announce calls, only announce when using headphones or in the car, or just when using headphones. The next time you receive a call, Siri will announce the name of the caller and ask if you want to answer.

10. Announce Notifications

If you’re using the second- or third-generation AirPods, any generation AirPods Pro, or certain Beats headsets, you can tell Siri to announce each new notification. To set this up, go to Settings > Siri & Search > Announce Notifications. Turn on the switch for Announce Notifications.

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You can then opt to have Siri announce notifications when you’re using headphones or connected to CarPlay. You can also set up Siri to send a reply without reading back the message.

11. Ask Siri to Read an Article in Safari

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With iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 or higher installed, Siri is able to read aloud an article displayed in Safari. To try this, navigate to any website and open an article. Say “Siri, read this.” Siri will start reading the article from the beginning. You can pause, skip ahead or go back a few seconds. You can also pipe the narration to another device via AirPlay. To cancel the reading, just say “Siri, stop reading.”

12. Change Siri's Language or Voice

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To change Siri’s language and the sound of its voice, go to Settings > Siri & Search > Language. Choose among Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and several others. (You may then be prompted to retrain the Hey Siri or Siri option for the new language.) Select Siri Voice and choose a specific accent for the language and to switch between a male and female voice.

13. Tap Into Suggestions

Siri can offer shortcuts and other suggestions based on your past use and history when you use the iOS/iPadOS Search screen. To control where and when these suggestions appear, go to Settings > Siri & Search. In the Before Searching section, turn on Show Suggestions and Show Recents to see suggestions based on recent items.

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Under the Content from Apple section, turn on Show in Look Up and Show in Spotlight to see Apple content when searching. Next, turn on Allow Notifications to show notifications. Turn on Show in App Library to tell Siri to suggest certain apps to you. Enabling Show When Sharing or Show When Listening determines when Siri should show you these suggestions.

14. Use Siri With Your Apps

Siri works with apps made by Apple and other third-party companies. Such support means you can see suggestions from an app, view the app among the results when you run a search through Siri, and even search for content within the app through Siri.

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To check a specific app’s compatibility, go to Settings > Siri & Search and select the app from the list. You can then enable various settings for Siri so you can search the app using Apple’s voice assistant. For example, say "Siri, find ‘Doctor Who on Disney+" or "Siri, find Boston, Massachusetts in Google Maps."

15. Add and Access Health Data

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With iOS/iPadOS 17.2 or higher, you can log and retrieve certain types of data from the Health app. To log data, say something like: “Siri, log my blood pressure as 110/70.” The information is then added to the Health app. To retrieve data, say something like “Siri, what was my last blood pressure.” Siri then displays the information from the app.

16. Turn on Accessibility Options

If you’re running into a lack of responsiveness on Siri’s part, there are some accessibility options you can enable. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Siri and turn on Type to Siri. You can then press the Side button on your iPhone and type a question or comment for Siri.

Under Siri Pause Time, set how long Siri should wait for you to stop speaking: Default, Longer, or Longest. For Speaking Rate, adjust the slider to determine how fast or slow Siri speaks. Turn on the switch for Always Listen for “Hey Siri” to make sure Siri is listening even if your phone is face down or covered.

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Enable Show Apps Behind Siri to keep your current app visible even when you call on Siri. Turn on Announce Notifications on Speaker to hear Siri speak notifications over the speaker on your iPhone or iPad. Finally, turning on Call Hang Up allows you to say “Siri, hang up” to end a phone or FaceTime call.

17. Delete Siri’s History

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Apple records and analyzes your conversations with Siri. Though the company promises that your requests are associated with a random identifier and not your user ID, you may still not want your dictation to be stored by Apple.To erase your history with Siri, go to Settings > Siri & Search > Siri & Dictation History. Tap the Delete Siri & Dictation History link, then confirm your request to delete your history from Apple’s servers.