iPad For Dummies, 10th Edition

Chapter 14

Taking iPad Controls Siri-ously

IN THIS CHAPTER

Using Control Center

Calling Siri

Using dictation

How could you not love Siri? The intelligent, voice-activated virtual personal assistant living like a genie inside iPad minis and iPads since the third generation not only hears what you have to say but also attempts to figure out the intent of your words. Siri then does her darnedest to respond to your wishes. She — yes, it’s a female voice (at least until you change it) — can help you dictate and send a message, get directions, call a friend, discover who won the ballgame, tell you when a movie is playing, ID the song playing in the background, arrange a wake-up call, search the web, find a decent place to eat, help you pay money to a friend, and lots more. Siri talks back, too, sometimes with humor and other times with attitude. When Ed told Siri he was tired, she responded with, “That’s fine. I just hope you’re not doing anything dangerous.”

Siri isn’t perfect. Sometimes Siri mishears us, occasionally more often than we’d like, and other times she doesn’t quite know what we have in mind. But blemishes and all, we think she’s pretty special — and she’s become smarter ...