10 Ways to Save Time with Siri on Your iPhone

Everyone knows Siri.

Siri is the voice-based digital assistant on Apple’s iPhone.

Yet, many people don’t take advantage of the personal assistant living in their device.

Today, I want to show you 10 ways to save time with Siri.

What Can Siri Do For You?

Many iPhone owners have a love/hate relationship with Siri.

Love her… when she helps out.

Not so much… when she responds like this…

Love her… when she takes care of things on the go.

Not so much… when she accidentally beeps and starts talking during a meeting.

(BTW, with iOS 7 Siri can also be a he… you can change it in Settings.)

Still, Siri is a very useful feature and can help you in many instances to save time and effort.

Siri shines when you are on the go or in a situation when you can’t turn on your phone and tap away. (i.e. in the car)

What do you use Siri to help you do?

Here are 10 Tasks that Siri Helps Me Save Time with:

1. Make Calls – I don’t usually go into my contacts to make phone calls. I simply say, “Call Amy.” Or “Call Tom on his mobile.” 
2. Send Text Messages – Especially on the go, Siri is great for sending short text messages. I can say, “Tell my wife I am on my way home.” Of course, I always read what Siri is going to send before approving it. 
3. Add Todos to My List – Adding todos is simple with Siri. If fact, Siri adds todos right to my list in Things. (My favorite todo app.) Bonus Tip: Siri differentiates between “Remind me” and “Remember.” If you tell Siri to “remind me,” she will ask for a time/date to do so. I use “Remember,” which adds simple tasks to my list. 
4. Make Dinner Reservations – Siri’s integration with OpenTable is a real timesaver when making dinner reservations. I can say, “Make a reservation for 2 at Fleming’s Steakhouse at 7PM on Saturday” and Siri does the rest. By the way, making reservations is a great way to skip the line on Saturday nights.  
5. Check the Weather – We all have our favorite weather apps. But, when I’m walking out the door, I often ask, “Is it going to rain today?” 
6. App Launching – Siri can launch any app on your iPhone simply by saying, “Launch <app name>.” I don’t use it all the time, but it can be very useful in a pinch or when your hands are full.
7. Set Timers and Alarms – No need to hunt and peck to set an alarm or timer. Just tell Siri to “Set a timer for 30 minutes” or “Wake me up at 4:30AM tomorrow.” (Yes, that’s for the early birds…) 
8. Play Voicemail – When you are in the car, Siri can play your voicemail for you. I say, “Play my last voicemail.” After playing the message, she will even ask if you want to call the person back. 
9. Search the Web – I miss the web search option in the Spotlight Search in iOS 7. However, Siri can search the web for you. Instead of opening your browser and typing a question, just ask Siri to “Search the web for…” It’s a great quick way to find things on the web or look up topics on Wikipedia.
10. Add Appointments to Your Calendar – When you get that appointment card from the doctor, you don’t even have to put it in your wallet. Just tell Siri to add the appointment to your calendar at the appropriate date and time.

Siri, Make It So…

Siri can be a great timesaver.

Whether you need help in a pinch or when you can’t access your phone.

My favorite part is that I get to say, “Make it so…” whenever she asks me to confirm an action.

So, let Siri do the work for you. After all, that’s her job.

Question: What is your best time-saving task for Siri? You can leave a comment by clicking here.