In addition to asking about the weather and setting alarms, do you know how to use these Siri skills?

Hey Siri, what can you do for me? Although for some people, Siri is not a frequently used function. But after years of evolution, in addition to making calls, sending text messages, asking about the weather, and setting alarms, Siri can actually do more things to facilitate our daily lives.

Send WeChat with Siri

If you don't have time to reply to WeChat messages, why not try using Siri to reply for you? Just say "Send WeChat to XXX, tell him/her XXX" to Siri, and Siri will search for friends in your address book, recognize your voice and send a text message. For other apps that support Siri, you can also use voice to issue commands directly, such as Telegram, Things, Todoist, etc.

Use Siri to remind yourself to read later

If you've added an article to read later and then forgotten to read it, you can ask Siri to remind you in just two steps.

• First, in the Safari web interface, invoke Siri;
• Then, tell Siri "Add this page to reminders and remind me at xxx time (e.g. 10pm)".

It should be noted that this method must use the keyword "this" to be effective. The "now" and "that" pages cannot be recognized. This method is also applicable to native podcast apps. Third-party browsers and podcast apps also support this method, but they cannot read the content title and can only display the application name.

Let Siri make decisions for you

Siri can roll dice, toss coins, and even draw poker suits. Although Siri can't really help you make decisions, when you really want to toss a coin to decide something, you don't have to look for it over and over again.

Use Siri to ask for help in an emergency

In case of emergency, you can ask Siri for help and Siri can help you dial the emergency number. Since there are three emergency numbers in China, you need to tell Siri again which number to dial.

Chant a poem with Siri

Siri can search online encyclopedias (in mainland China, it is Baidu Encyclopedia) and answer some amazing questions. For example, you can recite poems with Siri. If you suddenly remember a poem and can't remember the context and are stuck, you can try asking Siri, and Siri can answer the title, author, and full text of the poem.

Find your AirPods

If you are a qualified AirPods user, you must have experienced the situation where your AirPods disappeared inexplicably. In this case, you can ask Siri, and it will open "Find Your iPhone" to locate your AirPods. Of course, you can also use it to find your other devices.

Use Siri to adjust system settings

You can use Siri voice to adjust system settings, such as turning Bluetooth on and off, volume, rotation lock, etc. It also applies to auxiliary functions, such as turning on and off smart inversion, lowering the white point value, etc.

Use Siri to translate

Siri is not only your voice assistant, it can also be your personal translator. You only need to say "translate xxx (the phrase or word you want to translate) into Chinese/ French/ German..." to Siri. Siri currently supports translating English into French, German, Italian, Spanish and Chinese. In iOS 12, it will also support more than 40 languages, including Chinese to English.

Advanced gameplay: Type to Siri

When you are already proficient in summoning Siri with voice, you can try some advanced techniques, such as "Type to Siri". This is especially helpful for iPad users and Mac users who often use keyboards. You can turn on "Type to Siri" in "System Settings - Accessibility - Siri" in macOS ("Settings - General - Accessibility - Siri" in iOS). Typing to communicate with Siri is more efficient, and you don't have to worry about Siri's recognition accuracy; nor do you have to worry about the embarrassment of speaking loudly in public.

The most natural way to use Siri by typing is to add a calendar event. For example, you can add a calendar item with a start and end time by typing "fly to Shenzhen at 10 o'clock tomorrow".

Or you can use pre-set text replacement to achieve a quick start effect. For example, to set the time to make coffee, you can use the system's built-in text replacement to quickly issue a command by typing a few characters.

Advanced gameplay: Use Siri voice control furniture

Through Homekit, you can use Siri voice remote control for table lamps, air conditioners, and even curtains. In iOS 11, the device response delay is greatly reduced, and the feedback is faster and more timely. If you have strong hands-on ability, you can also consider connecting Mijia smart home to Apple Homekit. More supported devices also bring more ways to play.

New in iOS 12: Siri Shortcuts

iOS 12 introduced the "Shortcuts" feature, which supports the automation of shortcuts using Siri voice. Siri Shortcuts is different from the previous Siri's natural semantic recognition. Siri Shortcuts no longer analyzes every sentence of the user and recognizes the meaning of every word. Instead, it recognizes a phrase set by the user in advance and executes commands according to the settings. The logic is closer to Amazon Alexa. It is foreseeable that more third-party apps will adapt to Shortcuts, and Siri will have more and more interesting ways to play.

If you have your own ways to play and use Siri, you are welcome to share with us in the comments section.