Slowly but surely Apple is moving in. At first it was HomeKit, Apple's central nervous system for controlling various smart home devices. Then came its first smart speaker, the HomePod, a hub for everything to orbit around. And now we've got the HomePod Mini as well.
Running through all of this is Appleâs virtual assistant, Siri. It can turn on your lights, turn down the thermostat, and get your music blasting out, you just need to know the best Siri commands to ask.
You can activate Siri on pretty much all of Apple devices, from your iPhone to your Apple Watch, your Mac to your iPad, so whether you want to control your HomeKit devices or take charge of the music on your HomePod, here's a breakdown of the most useful Siri commands to know below.
This guide will help you get to grips with what Appleâs assistant can do, and help you discover the voice commands youâre going to actually use - more than once. Note: You could word a lot of these voice commands a bit differently, so try experimenting.
Remember, to activate Siri just say, "Hey Siri".
Siri commands to organise your day
âHey Siri, how's the weather looking today?â
âHey Siri, what's in the news?â
âHey Siri, set an alarm for 9am tomorrowâ
âHey Siri, set the alarm for 7am every week dayâ
âHey Siri, what alarms do I have on?â
âHey Siri, turn the alarm offâ
"Hey Siri, snooze the alarm"
âHey Siri, what's the traffic like?â
âHey Siri, is [movie name] playing nearby?â
âHey Siri, did the Warriors win last night?â
âHey Siri, where's the nearest pharmacy?â
âHey Siri, will I need an umbrella in San Francisco today?â
âHey Siri, read my messagesâ
âHey Siri, remind me to go to the florist at 2pmâ
âHey Siri, remind me to get milk todayâ
âHey Siri, read me my remindersâ
"Hey Siri, how many dollars is 50 pounds worth?"
"Hey Siri, what's in my calendar today?"
"Hey Siri, call Dad"
"Hey Siri, what time is it in London?"
Siri voice commands for getting crafty in the kitchen
âHey Siri, set my kitchen sceneâ
âHey Siri, play some cooking musicâ
âHey Siri, how many calories in a Twinkie?â
âHey Siri, turn on the coffee makerâ
âHey Siri, set a timer for 10 minutesâ
"Hey Siri, what's in a White Russian?"
"Hey Siri, how many ounces are in a cup?"
âHey Siri, start a shopping listâ
âHey Siri, add milk to my shopping listâ
âHey Siri, read me my shopping listâ
"Hey Siri, boil the kettle"
Siri commands for music and podcasts
âHey Siri, next/previous trackâ
âHey Siri, play some chill/rock/classical musicâ
âHey Siri, who sings this song?â
âHey Siri, add this song to my favouritesâ
âHey Siri, move the music to the living room"
âHey Siri, don't play this againâ
âHey Siri, increase the volume 10%â
âHey Siri, make a station from this songâ
âHey Siri, add this to my running playlistâ
âHey Siri, play my latest podcastâ
âHey Siri, play the [title] podcastâ
âHey Siri, subscribe to this podcastâ
"Hey Siri, play The Cars in here and in the bedroom"
"Hey Siri, play the top song from January 1990"
Siri voice commands for smart home control
âHey Siri, I'm homeâ
âHey Siri, turn on/off the lightsâ (Fact: HomePod knows which room it's in, so if you're in that room too you can command it without naming the specific room. Otherwise say "Turn off the lights in the kitchen" etc)
âHey Siri, dim the lightsâ
âHey Siri, set the brightness to 60%â
âHey Siri, turn off the upstairs lightâ
âHey Siri, set the temperature to 60 degreesâ
âHey Siri, set my bedroom sceneâ
âHey Siri, make the lights blue in the living roomâ
âHey Siri, is the garage door open?â
âHey Siri, did I leave the lights on downstairs?â
"Hey Siri, lock the back door"