For many users of Apple devices, Siri is a helpful tool for making calls or quickly performing tasks like opening apps or acquiring information on request. For those who have not mastered its full capabilities, the program can bring on moments of frustration that lead to rash actions and iPhone repair.
Fortunately for those who do not want to commit acts of violence against an innocent iPhone and send their device in for iPad screen repair, Rob LeFebvre of Cult of Mac recently issued a series of helpful tips for becoming better acquainted with Siri.
Getting in touch with people can be made easier by defining your relationships with people in your list of contacts. This enables Siri to match commands like “call my roommate” to the correct contact information and put the call through. The feature can be activated by tapping the home button and issuing a command that associates a particular person with a role, such as boss or uncle.
Siri can also be used to generate random passwords by tapping into the web site Wolfram Alpha. To activate the feature, hold the home button and speak the voice command “Wolfram Alpha Password.” Siri will return a list of seven password options to use, along with statistics on how tough they will be for hackers to break.
Overcoming communication hang-ups
Misunderstood commands are a common frustration for Siri users. These errors can be easily corrected by using the keypad, rather than hitting the home button. Tapping the incorrect text to bring up an editable text field and then typing in a correct version can net the desired result.
“Talking to Siri can be either an exercise in frustration, or a miracle of modern technology, depending on your mood and how successful the Apple digital assistant is at interpreting what it is you're asking,” LeFebvre wrote.
One way to make it easier for Siri to correctly interpret commands is to use a Bluetooth device with the iPhone or iPad. The program can listen to voice instructions through these devices and can even provide feedback in some instances. To activate the feature, users can tap the blue speaker icon and then select the Bluetooth device as Siri's voice input.
Still, problems can arise. One Brooklyn man recently took his frustrations with Siri to court, suing Apple for false advertising, according to CNET. The plaintiff in the 2011 case alleged that advertisements touting the voice-operated assistant's capabilities are misleading and deceptive based on Siri's inability to understand his commands.
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