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 new hub for everything to orbit.
Running through all of this is Apple’s personal assistant Siri; it can turn on your lights, turn down the thermostat and get the best Zeppelin album blasting out, all under the command of just a few words (Physical Graffiti, if you’re asking).
Whether it’s for controlling your HomeKit devices or taking charge of a shiny new HomePod, below we’ve broken down the most useful Siri commands to know. This guide should get you to grips with what Apple’s assistant can do, and help you discover the commands you’re going to actually use more than once. Note that there will be different variations on many of these commands, so try experimenting.
HomePod commands to organise your day
“Hey Siri, what’s the weather going to be like today?”
“Hey Siri, read me the news”
“Hey Siri, set an alarm for 7am”
“Hey Siri, set the alarm for 6am every week day”
“Hey Siri, what alarms do I have on?”
“Hey Siri, turn the alarm off”
“Hey Siri, what's the traffic like?”
“Hey Siri, Is [movie name] playing nearby?”
“Hey Siri, did the Warriors win last night?”
“Hey Siri, where is the nearest supermarket?”
“Hey Siri, will I need an umbrella in San Francisco today?”
“Hey Siri, read my messages”
“Hey Siri, remind me to go to the dentist at 2pm”
“Hey Siri, remind me to get milk today”
“Hey Siri, read me my reminders”
For getting crafty in the kitchen
“Hey Siri, set my kitchen scene”
“Hey Siri, play some cooking music”
“Hey Siri, how many calories in a slice of bread?”
“Hey Siri, turn on the coffee maker”
“Hey Siri, set a timer for 10 minutes”
“Hey Siri, start a shopping list”
“Hey Siri, add milk to my shopping list”
“Hey Siri, read me my shopping list”
Commands for music and podcasts
“Hey Siri, next/previous track”
“Hey Siri, play some chill/rock/classical music”
“Hey Siri, who sings this song?”
“Hey Siri, add this song to my favourites”
“Hey Siri, move the music to the bedroom"
“Hey Siri, don't play this again”
“Hey Siri, increase the volume 10%”
“Hey Siri, make a station from this song”
“Hey Siri, add this to my running playlist”
“Hey Siri, play my latest podcast”
“Hey Siri, play the [title] podcast”
“Hey Siri, subscribe to this podcast”
"Hey Siri, play The Cars in here and in the bedroom"
"Hey Siri, play the top song from January 1990"
Smart home controls
“Hey Siri, I'm home”
“Hey Siri, turn on/off the lights” (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)
“Hey Siri, dim the lights”
“Hey Siri, set the brightness to 50%”
“Hey Siri, turn off the upstairs light”
“Hey Siri, set the temperature to 55 degrees”
“Hey Siri, set my bedroom scene”
“Hey Siri, make the lights blue in the living room”
“Hey Siri, is the garage door open?”
“Hey Siri, did I leave the lights on downstairs?”
What do you think?