34°F
weather icon Mostly Cloudy
Las Vegas, NV
Ad 320x50 | 728x90 | 1200x70
Inside Tech

150+ things Siri still can’t do for you

By / Las Vegas Review-Journal
May 27, 2018 - 12:15 pm
 

Siri

With all her shortcomings, it’s come in vogue to inveigh against Siri. But how short has she really come? I was curious why the bodiless voice that seduced us at launch no longer satisfies expectations. So I put Siri to the test and assembled a list of skills one could reasonably expect by now.

Alas, here’s a list of more than 150 tasks Siri can’t do:

APPS 

  • Close an app
  • Close all apps
  • Force quit an app
  • Say which app you use the most
  • Say which apps you haven’t used in a specific time period
  • Add an app to the dock
  • Show the app switcher
  • Open the last app used
  • Open a specific folder
  • Create a new folder
  • Delete a folder
  • Delete an app
  • Mute notifications from an app
  • Turn off notifications from an app

APP STORE

  • Tell you if any apps need to be updated
  • Update apps
  • Download an app
  • Say the highest-rated or highest-grossing game on the app store
  • Help you redeem an iTunes code
  • Rate an app
  • Show you previous app purchases

AUDIO 

  • Like the last song you played
  • Create a playlist
  • Remove a song from a playlist
  • Show you top songs/podcasts
  • Buy a song you’re listening to outside of Apple Radio
  • Delete a song
  • Display all of your songs from a specific artist 
  • Play music on multiple speakers
  • Show lyrics for a song
  • List your purchased songs

CAMERA

  • Take a photo
  • Take a photo in ten seconds
  • Record a video
  • Change the resolution of the video camera
  • Open portrait mode
  • Turn flash on/off
  • Turn live photos on/off

CLOCKS 

  • Set a sleep timer
  • Set multiple timers at once
  • Set any timer on a Mac
  • Set an alarm to music
  • Turn on/off a bedtime alarm
  • Change the time

COMMUNICATIONS

  • Broadcast messages to your HomePods
  • Make appointments for you
  • Send feedback to Apple
  • Show texts from a specific person during a specific time range
  • Show all Animojis received
  • Parrot information from messages (“What time did Marcus say he’d call?”)

CONTROL OTHER APPLE DEVICES 

  • Adjust the volume
  • Turn them on or off
  • Sending content to them
  • Adjust brightness
  • Report on available storage
  • Report on remaining battery
  • Download an app
  • Open an app
  • Change the wallpaper
  • Find your device

EMAIL

  • Show all emails from a specific person
  • Delete emails
  • Save photos

HEALTH

  • Say how many steps you’ve taken (except on an Apple Watch)
  • Say your heart rate (except on an Apple Watch)
  • Tell you your most active day last month
  • Help you change your organ donor status
  • Say how long you’ve spent on your device or all your Apple devices in a specific timeframe

HISTORY 

  • Say how old a celebrity would be if she were still alive
  • Say what happened on a certain date
  • Say when previous personal events happened (“When was my last dentist visit? What day did I call mom?”)
  • Say how much a postage stamp cost in a certain year
  • Read a chapter of the Bible
  • Say the top song in a certain year
  • Say the weather in a particular place in the recent past
  • Say the last thing Apple announced
  • Say when an Apple product was released

LOCATION & MAPS 

  • Memorize locations outside of work and home (“Find me a good Mexican restaurant near my church.”)
  • Predict what time traffic will get bad on the way home
  • Get directions with a stop along the way
  • Switch between satellite and map view
  • Track flights
  • Remind you of the name of the restaurant you were at last week
  • Show flyover views of specific places
  • Tell you the direction you’ve been walking

NEWS

  • Add a favorite story in the Apple News app
  • Like a story in the Apple News app
  • Tell you the news in a specific city
  • Tell you what the local news is

OTHER TOOLS 

  • Create a newsletter/resume in Pages
  • Start a new project in iMovie/Garageband
  • Start recording a new voice memo
  • Create a new contact
  • Update a contact or add a photo
  • Send your contact information to someone
  • Turn on/off the flashlight
  • Show/hide the keyboard
  • Take a note on the Apple Watch or Apple TV
  • Share a note, photo, or Apple News story
  • Delete a note
  • Change what a reminder says
  • Tell you the bestselling book at the moment
  • Open a document
  • Turn on captions on videos on the iPhone
  • Control HomeKit devices from a Mac
  • Remember information for you
  • Tell you if a surface is level
  • Where your package from UPS/FedEx is
  • Say when the sun will rise/set on a future date

PHONE 

  • Say how many voicemails have not been listened to yet
  • Change your voicemail greeting
  • Report a phone call as spam/telemarketer
  • Initiate calls from HomePod or Apple TV

PHOTOS

  • Show duplicates
  • Duplicate media
  • Make wallpaper
  • Enter crop mode
  • Make a photo black and white
  • Show selfies
  • Show pictures of a specific person
  • Delete media
  • Favorite media
  • Make a photo brighter
  • Take a screenshot
  • Play the last video recorded
  • Show the last photo taken
  • Enter video trim mode

PURCHASES 

  • Advise you on which Mac to buy
  • Let you make purchases with your voice

SAFARI

  • Bookmark a site
  • Show bookmarks
  • Show tabs
  • Clear history
  • Enter/close private browsing mode

SETTINGS

  • Report how much storage you have left
  • Get more iCloud storage
  • Say if your system software is up-to-date
  • Download the latest system update
  • Turn True Tone on/off
  • Start screen recording
  • Change Face ID
  • Turn on vibrate mode/ turn off the ringer
  • Pair with a bluetooth device
  • Turn on/off orientation lock
  • Airplay to a certain screen
  • Show which apps/sites can send notifications
  • Help you change your passcode/password

SIRI 

  • Let you change its name
  • Differentiate between multiple users
  • Accept multiple requests in one query
  • Let you create customized responses
  • Let you choose different voices (not just accent and gender)
  • Change your default digital assistant service
  • Match your energy level
  • Match your volume
  • Tell you what its latest new feature is

SOCIAL MEDIA

  • Tell you your latest notification from a specific service
  • Tell you the latest Facebook post from a specific user
  • Open a specific user’s social media page
  • Say what is happening in the area today or this weekend

SYSTEM 

  • Say the model of the device
  • Say the serial number of the device
  • Show the dashboard
  • Empty the trash
  • Say the speed of the current internet connection
  • Say the speed of your home internet connection
  • Save a document
  • Delete a document
  • Close a window
  • Enter sleep mode
  • Restart
  • Shut down

TRANSLATIONS

  • Translate to languages other than French, German, Italian, Mandarin and Spanish
  • Translate from other languages into English
  • Translate a conversation in realtime
  • Translate a video in realtime

Where has Siri failed you? What do you expect from your digital assistant? Send your questions and feedback to hkeely@reviewjournal.com and follow me on Twitter: @HarrisonKeely.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
MORE STORIES
THE LATEST
How does a $100 smartphone compare to a $1,000 flagship?
By / RJ

If you buy a smartphone for $100, how much are you really missing out on compared to higher-end phones? I recently tested the new Alcatel 1X and pitted it against an iPhone X (pronounced “ten” – fitting because it costs ten times more). It is undoubtedly impressive how much you get for $100, nowadays. Now […]

Apple is taking longer to release hardware updates
By / RJ

Waiting on Apple to update a gadget before you make an order? It’s not your imagination – the time between Apple’s product updates is getting longer. Using data from MacRumors’ Buyer’s Guide, I tallied the average days between hardware updates for Apple TV, iMac, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro. I chose […]

How the Welcome to Las Vegas sign has changed over the years
By / RJ

The “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign you see today isn’t exactly the original. Perhaps that’s to be expected in a desert where violent winds and blistering sunlight can take a toll on any plastic, but it may surprise visitors who pose with one of the most photographed signs in the world. First, some backstory: […]

Data plans are a hot mess – here’s how to fix them
By / RJ

When I bought my cellular-connected Apple Watch, I was stunned to find that carriers charge $10 per month for data. That’s an extra $120 each year to shoot emails and texts to my wrist. Then I found out that $10 per month doesn’t allot additional data, but instead siphons my iPhone’s existing ration. To top […]

Wires marring Las Vegas sign photos need to go
By / RJ

It’s possibly the most photographed sign in the world. “There is probably no bigger Las Vegas icon than that sign,” said Clark County Commission Chair Steve Sisolak. Behind the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign lies the Strip, rows of palm trees, and – depending on your camera angle – up to 12 power lines […]

What Apple’s nav bar evolution says about the company
By / RJ

Remember iReview or iCards? Those tools once occupied coveted space atop one of the 100 most-visited websites in the world: Apple.com. Both were short-lived products. Most changes to Apple.com are gradual. Rather than a splashy periodic redesign that overhauls everything, the site tends to evolve so gently that changes are barely noticeable. A cursory review […]

In a digital age, why aren’t restaurant grades in search results?
By / RJ

Recently, my dad’s cousin (whom I haven’t seen in seven years) visited from North Carolina. He was in Las Vegas for just one night and invited me to pick a spot for dinner. I asked a friend for recommendations; I researched options online. I read reviews and scoured menus. I opened Google Street View and […]

Your digital assistant could be a better student
By / RJ

At my last newspaper, I gave tours of the press. Whenever someone asked a tough question, I’d try to find the answer for them. What I wouldn’t do is apologize and forget about it. Yet that’s exactly what our digital assistants – Alexa, Cortana, et al. – do. When our virtual assistants don’t know an […]

We don’t know what Siri’s capable of, and that’s a big problem
By / RJ

You want to find an app or create a folder. Do you do it yourself or summon Siri? If you’re like me, you probably try to accomplish your goal sans Siri. That’s a stunning fall from grace for the once-extolled digital assistant. When Siri was born eight years ago, she was smart. Now, she’s entered […]

Apps for everything? There must be a better way
By / RJ

Every Sunday the greeters at my church hand out bulletins. They typically run out. In this digital age, when nearly everyone has a screen in their pocket, why are we still using paper bulletins, guidebooks, programs, menus, et cetera? The problem isn’t putting the information online. It’s getting newcomers and short-term visitors to the right digital […]