Cool Siri Tricks That Are Both Useful and Fun

Siri is probably the most underutilized feature of smartphones and tablets. There are a number of ways Siri can help you be more productive, such as setting reminders or adding a meeting to your calendar, but there are also a ton of cool tricks tha range from useful to outright funny.

Hey, Siri

You can always hold down the home button to get Siri's attention, but on most newer devices, you can also say "Hey Siri" to get her attention.

Voice Dictation

Another great feature that's easy to overlook is voice dictation. You can go the entire hands-free way by saying something like, "Hey Siri, email Tom subject I'm not going to make it tonight body something came up." This is great because you can tell her the subject and the body of the email. But you can also use Siri's voice dictation anytime the keyboard is on the screen by tapping the microphone button. This means she can take voice dictation in almost any app.

Use Siri With Apps

Siri is no longer restricted to just Apple's apps. She works with a number of third-party apps as well, and the list is growing. For example, you can say, "Tell Amy I'm running late with WhatsApp" or "Show me puppy pins in Pinterest."

She Can Also Be a He

Tired of the same old Siri? As of the 14.5 iOS and iPadOS update, you can pick from one of four different voices and change its accent to Australian, British, Indian, Irish, or South African. To do this, go to Settings>Siri & Search>Siri Voice.

Convert Measurements or Currency

Want to know how many miles are in five kilometers? Or what 300 British pounds are in American dollars? Just ask Siri.

Teach Siri to Pronounce Your Name

If you have a name like Mike, Sam, Ashley, or Susan, Siri probably won't have much of an issue pronouncing it. But if Siri is mangling your name, you can correct her by saying, "That's not how you say that."

Give Someone a Nickname

Nicknames aren't just a fun addition to Siri, they can also be rather useful. For example, if you nickname your manager "Boss" in your contacts, Siri will understand commands like "Call Boss" or "Text Boss." To assign someone a nickname, go to Contacts>[Contact Name]> Edit>Add Field>Nickname.

Siri Is a Comedian

If you're bored, you can ask Siri all kinds of questions. Just think up something bizarre to ask her and see how she responds. Some especially funny commands include "Sing a song," "What's your favorite color?" and "Show me the money."

Get Calorie Information

Can Siri help with your diet? Yes, she can. One great aspect of Siri is the connection to WolframAlpha, which has all kinds of useful information in it. And while asking her how many calories are in a pizza won't give you the exact amount for that slice you are contemplating, she will give you a good ballpark figure.

Get the Time ... Anywhere

If you regularly contact people in different parts of the country or different areas of the world, this trick is very handy. Just ask Siri what the time is in that location and she'll tell you the local time. No more waking someone up at 3 AM because you didn't know how early it was in London!

What Song Is playing?

Thanks to Shazam, Siri now recognizes music just by listening to it. This is great if you hear a song while out and about and are thinking about buying it. She even gives you the option to buy right then via iTunes.

Open App Settings

By now, most of us are aware that Siri can launch apps for us when we say, "Open [app name]." She can even open the iPhone and iPad's settings. But did you know she can open an individual app's settings? Just say, "Open [app name] settings" to find out what sort of tweaks you can make to that particular app. For example, "Open Music Settings" lets you change the EQ and turn off Shake to Shuffle.

Turn Off Bluetooth

If you have Bluetooth speakers, a Bluetooth headphone, or other accessories, you may want to occasionally turn off Bluetooth when you want to save some battery life. Apple made it easier to do this via the iOS control panel, but an even faster way is to simply ask Siri to do it for you.

Change the Day, Time, and Content of a Reminder

Did Siri garble your reminder? If she got the day or time wrong, or even the content of the reminder, you don't need to start from scratch. Simply say, "Change the time to..." or "Change the reminder to..." in order to change parts of the reminder.

Take a Picture

The fastest way to get ready to snap that shot? Just say, "Take a picture" and Siri opens the Camera app.

Flip a Coin or Roll Dice

Head or tails? No problem. You can tell Siri to roll dice and she gives you the results of two six-sided dice being rolled.

Find Airplanes Flying Overhead

I'm not sure exactly how useful this one is, but Siri can tell you what airplanes are in your area. So, if you see a DC-10 and want to figure out where it's going or where it departed from, ask Siri about airplanes flying overhead.