What is Siri: a review of Apple's interactive assistant and its analogue. Setting up and using Siri

Siri is a voice assistant in the Apple ecosystem. Previously, Siri was only available on the iPhone, but today it is used in all the company's gadgets. Unlike most other voice assistants, you can't communicate with Siri by writing messages, and you don't need to. By the time you write a task or search query, you will have time to simply say it 5 times. In this article, you'll learn what Siri is, how to use it, and how to turn it on and off.

Siri is a virtual assistant that you can interact with using voice commands. Currently, Siri is available in the operating systems iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS, which allows you to use it on almost all current Apple devices.

Siri was originally developed by Siri Inc and was available in the App Store as a standalone application. But, in 2010, Apple acquired Siri Inc and this voice assistant became part of its operating systems. For example, on iPhones this assistant is available starting from iPhone 4S.

The Siri voice assistant is constantly evolving. In particular, support for new languages ​​appears. Currently the following languages ​​are supported: English, Russian, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Dutch, Thai, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Turkish, Norwegian Bokmål, Swedish, Arabic, Malay, Hebrew, Finnish.

As for device support, Siri is now available on all current Apple devices. Below we provide a complete list of devices on which this voice assistant can work.

• iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6S/Plus, iPhone 7/Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 8/Plus, iPhone X/XS/XR;
• iPad mini, iPad mini with retina display, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 4, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad Pro;
• iPod touch;
• Apple Watch;

What Siri can do

Using voice commands, you can complete everyday tasks faster. Example for iPhone: “Create a note with the text *Dictate text*”, “Siri, play my workout album” or “Remind me to take a break from work in the evening.” These are just basic and far from the only commands that it can perform. Siri can interact with third-party applications. An excellent example is Rocketbank.

Without going into the application, you can ask Siri to perform simple transactions with money (it’s strange that Sberbank doesn’t have this). You can also send messages in Telegram, Whatsapp and other services that are compatible with Siri (but hardly anyone uses this; it’s easier to write it yourself). You can find a complete list of commands if you say: “Siri, what can you do?”

Siri can truly be a life saver or just a help when your hands are full (Siri can be accessed from the locked screen on iPhone 7 and above). When you need to call someone, even an ambulance, you call Siri and state your request: “Siri, call the police/ambulance/fire department.”

Siri can report results in sports. For example, in the summer she willingly talked about the events at the World Cup and displayed information in convenient cards. She knows how to joke, sing songs, recite poems. At least he's trying to do so. Sometimes he doesn’t want to, and comes up with excuses.

On the other hand, you're unlikely to use Siri all the time on iOS or Mac. It’s trivial because you will forget about it. If you are buying a device from Apple for the first time, you will play for the first time, then the number of requests to the assistant will be significantly reduced. However, you will still use Siri from time to time, simply because it is convenient. Asking to create a reminder or make a note are probably the most popular requests.

How to enable or disable SIRI

To activate Siri, just hold down the “Home” button, and the voice assistant will appear on the screen. Next, you can dictate a task or question. You can also call the voice assistant with the phrase “Hey Siri.” As already mentioned, calling Siri from the locked screen is possible on iPhone 7 and higher.

If for some reason Siri does not work for you, you can correct the situation in the settings. Go to settings – “Siri and search”. Here you can manage all Siri settings, including turning it on. To do this, activate the “Call Siri with the Home button” item. To disable Siri, turn the “Call Siri with the Home Button” and “Listen to Hey Siri” options to the inactive position.

In fact, there is not much point in disabling Siri, since it itself does not work, only when you call it. Therefore, we recommend not disabling Siri, because there are different situations, and it can come in handy.

Siri's competitors

Siri's competitors include Google Assistant and Yandex Alice (in the Russian segment). In terms of call convenience, Siri comes first. Next comes Google Assistant, which can be called up with a simple command, “Ok Google.” But Yandex Alice is currently only available in the Yandex application. You can call an external assistant only using a special widget on the screen.

Google Assistant has been developing rapidly recently due to the introduction of artificial intelligence. He can even communicate like a person and independently make a call to a restaurant and reserve a table for you for the evening. However, this and most other cool features are only available in English. In Russia, the main tasks will be searching for queries on the Internet and performing some basic queries.

Alisa was primarily loved for her full support of the Russian language. She calmly answers questions and can carry on a conversation based on past queries (Google Assistant can do the same, but Siri cannot). Alice integrates perfectly with other Yandex services (just like Siri gets along well with all Apple programs).

As a result, it is most convenient to use Siri on the iPhone, while Google Assistant is more suitable for Android devices. Yandex Alice continues to actively develop, and perhaps in the future it will be possible to use it instead of standard iOS and Android assistants.

She managed to become for many users not only a faithful assistant, but also a pleasant conversationalist, with whom, if you know how to find the right approach, you can exchange a few words. But not everyone knows that this technology has existed for a long time and is not Apple’s own development. In this series of articles, based on materials from the Huffington Post, we will follow the life cycle of the most charming and attractive product of artificial intelligence technology.

For the first time, a wide audience saw that same round icon with a microphone when Apple held a presentation of the iPhone 4S. That morning, the then vice president of the company picked up the phone, pressed the button and asked:

“I am your humble personal assistant,” answered a female voice to the approving laughter of the audience.

Over time, it became clear that Siri’s place in users’ lives would no longer be so modest. Meanwhile, this virtual assistant was first released in early 2010 as a third-party application for iPhone. The app was also called Siri and was developed by a 24-person startup that would later be acquired by Apple.

At the time, Siri had a bolder demeanor and a richer feature set. Like science fiction writers dreaming up a character in a novel, Siri co-founder Dag Kittlaus and design expert Harry Saddler carefully crafted the girl's personality and backstory. She had to be “out of this world,” “vaguely familiar with popular culture,” and possessed of “veiled sarcasm,” Kittlaus recalls.

For example, when asked about the gym, Siri could quip: “It wouldn’t hurt you to go there, your grip is not the same.” And if you ask “What happened to HAL?” (the brainy talking computer from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey), she would throw out a line like, "I don't want to talk about it." And at that time, the word “fuck” was present in Siri’s vocabulary.

When this brute fell into the hands of Apple, she immediately washed her mouth with soap, depriving her of several old functions and enriching them with new ones. Siri, which Apple acquired for an undisclosed sum believed to range from $150 million to $250 million, was subsequently able to learn multiple languages. She came to the service of millions of people, even though she was programmed to work all over the world. She also gained a voice, whereas previously she only answered questions through written messages. In addition, it was integrated into the iPhone, which allowed it to interact with more functions of the operating system.

However, as impressive as these abilities are, many users don't know that the Apple version of Siri is missing many of the features it was originally equipped with. After all, this was not just an iPhone application, but the result of an initiative funded by the US Department of Defense aimed at creating a virtual assistant that could think and learn.

In its original version, dating back to 2010, Siri was able to communicate with 42 different web services, from Yelp and StubHub to Rotten Tomatoes and Wolfram Alpha, providing the user with one answer that included the most important data received from those sources. She could buy tickets, make restaurant reservations and call a taxi, without any need to open a separate application, register with a special service or make a phone call. In addition, it very efficiently and intuitively adapted to the user's tastes and wishes in order to fulfill queries and produce results that would best suit him.

At a 2010 technology conference, Siri co-founder Tom Gruber demonstrated how the technology works. He said, “Find me a romantic place near my office that serves Italian food.” In response to the request, he received information that contained the most necessary data from Citysearch, Gayot, Yelp, Yahoo! Local, AllMenus.com, Google Maps, BooRah and OpenTable.

According to the creators, Siri was supposed to become an “active mechanism” that allowed people to talk with the Internet. While the search engine used selected keywords to generate a list of links, the active engine could engage in dialogue and then make a decision and act on that decision. Have you had too much alcohol and want to get home? The ability to interact with Google's search engine to find help is unlikely to help you out on its own. But if an active mechanism comes into play, it can transform your incoherent "I'm drunk, take me home" into a command that goes to a taxi service located in the nearest area.

The startup's goal was not to create a better search engine, but to become pioneers in shaping an entirely new paradigm for interacting with the Internet. This paradigm implied that an intelligent system provides a person with answers to questions that interest him, and does not simply load relevant search results, from which he must independently select the most suitable one. If search engines are recognized as the second generation of the Internet, then, as Siri's developers were sure, the active mechanism should have become its third generation.

The active mechanism was designed to be a part of your life that is always at your fingertips. Such an assistant should anticipate your desires and fulfill them before you even think about them. For example, the creators of Siri planned (it did not go further than plans) to develop a way to provide assistance to passengers whose flights were delayed or cancelled. The digital assistant could quickly search for flights from other companies, the nearest trains, as well as car rental services that currently have available cars.

Paradoxically, this Siri of the past contained hints about what Siri functions might look like in the future and how artificial intelligence technologies will actively permeate our lives. The global goal of the project was to expand a person’s capabilities by adding an assistant into his life, compensating for the limitations of our brain and eliminating the need to perform unnecessary and boring tasks.

People who were familiar with Siri before 2011 know that Apple's version only partially realized the system's potential. “The creators of Siri saw the future, defined the future, and built the first working version of the future,” said Gary Morgenthaler. This man was one of the first venture investors who believed in the success of Siri and supported the project with money.

“As members of the original team, we are extremely disappointed in how slowly this technology has moved to market since it was acquired by another company.”

But today, with multiple virtual assistants vying for space in our lives, Apple must use the technology it has to turn Siri into a powerful assistant that can bring real value to people. From the history of Siri, it is clear that a fantastic future of digital assistants is coming. And if today Siri is just a technology that flies into the market from the springboard of the iPhone, then it is possible that in the future the iPhone itself will be remembered only as the phone in which the greatest technology Siri debuted.

“There is no doubt that this kinder, more gracious version of HAL will one day become part of the mainstream,” Kittlaus states. “Today she’s just a cover story, but she’s definitely capable of more.”

Based on materials from Huffingtonpost.com

The Siri voice assistant was once introduced to the general public as a revolutionary innovation by Apple. Indeed, the artificial intelligence of Siri seemed something unusual, and was associated with a “smart computer” from science fiction films like Star Wars.

And even now, when voice assistants (such as “OK Google”) are no longer something unusual, Siri helps users save a lot of time by not wasting time searching for information on the Internet or dialing a phone number. Of course, sometimes a language or lexical barrier may appear between you and Siri, but the system adapts to the peculiarities of pronunciation and soon Siri will begin to understand you better.

It is also worth noting that in version iOS 8.3, Siri finally appeared in Russian! Now Russian-speaking users of Apple devices can fully experience the capabilities of this technology. Let us remind you that the voice assistant is available on iPad starting from the 3rd generation; iPhone 4S and above; , Mini 2 and Mini 3, as well as on the 5th generation iPod Touch and Apple Watch.

However, in this article we will not delve into the capabilities of Siri, but will try to deal with one simple but common problem - many owners of Apple products simply do not know how to enable and configure Siri on their device. Before you wonder why you can't turn on Siri, check whether your device supports this technology.

As a rule, the voice assistant is already in the activated state by default. In order to go to it, just hold down the Home button on the device. After a sound notification, Siri is ready to talk. If for some reason your settings have been reset, you can go to Settings -> Basic -> Siri and enable the function yourself. There you can also enable the “Hey Siri” option. When activated, you can enter into a conversation with the assistant by simply saying hello with the phrase “Hey, Siri” (Hey, Siri in English). However, this function is only available in charging mode. Here you can turn your assistant into an assistant and give the system a male voice.

To disable this function, simply follow the above path in the device settings and move the toggle switch to the inactive position. You will then need to agree to the disconnection notice.

As we wrote at the beginning of the article, with the latest firmware Siri acquired a Russian voice. However, some users have difficulty turning on Russian-language Siri. First, make sure your device is running OS version 8.3. Russian Siri will not work with younger versions.

Secondly, if everything is fine with the software, go to Settings-> Reset-> Reset all settings. This way you will return the device to its original appearance. All passwords, saved pages and settings will be reset, but the content you downloaded (photos, videos, documents) will remain intact. Next, you just need to turn on Siri, according to the instructions above. To select the Russian language, go to the “Language” menu item and select “Russian”.

After these simple operations, your virtual assistant should speak to you in the “great and mighty.” Finally, let’s look at what Russian Siri can do at the moment:

• Control your media player and find music by genre
• Provide information about contacts from your phone book
• Call the named name, call back the specified persons and check for missed calls
• Open a program or photo
• Find and read messages (in Russian)
• Plan, reschedule, change events
• Plot routes in navigators and open the necessary maps
• Search the Internet for information (using Bing for searching)
• Talk with the owner on various topics (and sometimes Siri gives quite interesting answers, this can be seen in the screenshot)

In general, the range of functions of the electronic assistant is still limited, but Apple does not stand still and is constantly developing, and it seems that Siri will soon turn into a genuine artificial intelligence with wide capabilities.

Read also:

Siri, which has won millions of users around the world, is part of Apple software. This app uses user speech processing to answer questions and make recommendations.

Why do you need Siri on iPhone?

Siri on Apple devices is an analogue of the younger Cortana in Windows 10. This “assistant” was created to make it easier to manage Apple gadgets.

Siri was created to make it easier to control Apple gadgets

Connoisseurs of modern gadgets can upgrade the Siri function in their own way. For example, after the user’s phrase “Hey Siri, I feel bad, call an ambulance,” the iPhone or iPad will dial 112, 911 or 030 (003), and for the request “Call a taxi,” the local number of the nearest taxi service.

How Siri differs from standard iPhone voice control

Unlike conventional voice control on the iPhone (or any third-party gadget), where voice recognition and assistant vocabulary are stored in a limited memory area, Siri is a full-fledged “cloud” technology. It transmits everything said by the user to the Apple Siri developer server, where there is a script for recognizing words, phrases and intonations, which is constantly growing and developing (Siri “gets smarter” as it learns). A sentence once spoken by the user and recognized only the fifth time will, after some time, be recognized the first time.

Siri is a full-fledged cloud technology

In addition, Siri herself can talk - this is the software and hardware embodiment of a virtual character who will soon be able to support any conversation.

Despite the fact that it is difficult to endow a robot program with many of the internal qualities inherent in a living person (self-irony, humor, wild imagination, etc.), Apple year after year makes the Siri assistant more and more similar in communication to a real person.

Video: how to make fun of Siri by typing unusual queries

Siri functionality

Siri understands any search query sent to the network that the user speaks into the microphone. For example, the owner of the phone will say: “Order Yandex.Taxi, Moscow, Avtozavodskaya, 4.” If the Uber app is installed, it will launch automatically and the user's geolocation data will be attached to the order. In response, Siri will voice the time of delivery of the car and the cost of the service.

It is important to pronounce commands given by Siri clearly and distinctly

Siri can be used to make calls. For example, the owner of the phone will give the command: “Call Ivan Petrovich on Skype.” In response, Siri will contact the Skype client installed on the gadget and call the specified person. If the user asks to write a message, Siri will enter the necessary words in a chat with the specified contact and send them.

Siri commands work in any application from Viber to the Opera browser. It is only important to pronounce them clearly, and not mumble or talk through strong extraneous noise (at a disco, in a production workshop, etc.).

Siri also supports commands for home appliances and electronics using HomeKit technology. The user just needs to say “I’m waiting for Tatyana to visit, create an intimate atmosphere in my bedroom” for the devices connected to his iPhone or iPad to perform a number of actions:

• the lighting in the room will be dimmed by 70%;
• romantic music will turn on through the Apple Music application on the Apple gadget itself;
• audio transmission via Bluetooth will turn on to previously enabled wireless speakers;
• a curtain or curtain will be lowered, powered by a special drive (like the curtain in a cinema is lowered after the end of a film show).

Everything that is connected to the Smart Home system, configured to the user’s taste, and controlled from an iPhone or iPad will work.

You can ask Siri to tell you about the nearest flights, cafes, or movie shows for tomorrow. This is also within the scope of this application. And if the user asks to read something, the program will read everything that was requested in its own voice.

Despite official (and not so official) promises, Apple has never implemented Siri without the Internet. This is dictated by the “advancement” of the Siri function. Without the cloud service, Siri could not have developed so rapidly, and this, in turn, would have ceased to fuel the interest of the multi-million army of iPhone, iPad, iPod and Apple Watch owners. It would also require an iPhone or iPad with many terabytes of memory, most of which would store numerous voice recordings in different languages.

How to enable and call Siri

Using iPad Pro and US settings as an example. Modern versions of iOS have long had support for the Russian language, so the phrase “Hey Siri” is replaced with “Hello, Siri”. The Siri setup scheme is the same for all iPhones, iPads and iPods with the latest version of iOS, which Apple has not yet stopped supporting:

You can now check if Siri is activated by saying “Hey Siri” into the microphone.

Video: how to turn on Siri and how to use it

How to turn off Siri

To disable Siri functionality, give the command “Settings” - “General” - “Siri” and disable the Siri function. The application, including all its notifications and additional settings, will turn off.

How to remove Siri suggestions

Siri's suggestions can be annoying if you're used to operating your smartphone without any voice prompts or commands.

Do the following:

1. Give the command “Settings” - “General” - “Spotlight Search”.

   You can manage messages from Siri using Spotlight Search on iPhone

2. Turn off Siri Suggestions.

   Turn off Siri Messages to stop showing suggestions

Siri suggestions will no longer pop up on your device.

How to change your voice in Siri

Do the following:

Siri will now speak in the voice you want.

Video: how to change Siri voice

How to turn off voice control on iPhone

On all iPhones and iPads, including those running iOS 9.x (iPhone 4s runs 9.3.5), transferring control to Siri or completely turning off any voice control is done as follows:

Solving problems using Siri

Despite the fact that today the Siri function is part of the Apple iOS/watchOS operating system, problems have not escaped it.

Siri does not hear the gadget owner's commands

The reasons are as follows:

• Siri feature is disabled. Go to the main settings submenu and turn on the Siri function;
• The Siri function is inactive; instead, pressing the Home button triggers the standard voice control of the iOS system. Go to the submenu for setting up access to the Home button and switch its use to the “Siri” position;
• the gadget is discharged. Find a power outlet, a free USB port on your computer, an external or solar battery and charge the device;

  A dead gadget can cause problems with Siri.

• the microphone is faulty. This can be easily checked by calling any friend or relative. If you do not have access to a cellular network (no SIM card), use the Internet via Wi-Fi. Make a test call on Skype or call on another messenger (WhatsApp, Viber, Mail.Ru Agent, etc.). You can also send a voice message on a social network (personal correspondence on VKontakte, call on Odnoklassniki, etc.). If there is no Internet, turn on the Voice Recorder application to record. If the microphone is actually damaged, contact an Apple Store service center;
• freezing, iOS slowdowns. This is a very rare reason why a microphone may fail programmatically. Use the tests from the previous paragraph. In case of a real freeze, you need to flash or reset (including completely clearing) the gadget’s settings;
• connecting headphones that do not have a microphone to the gadget. Disable them;

  Disable headphones that don't have a microphone to hear Siri's voice

• a non-standard case and/or film covering the device’s microphone. Take them off;
• the microphone is covered by a finger, folds of clothing, etc. Change the location of the device;
• microphones are dirty, covered with dirt. Clean them;
• Siri cannot work during calls. The application is deactivated during telephone conversations, video calls over the 3G network or via instant messengers. End all current calls;
• The speakers on the gadget do not work. There is a response from Siri, but of course you won’t hear it. Contact an Apple Service Center.

No response from Siri

The reasons are as follows:

How to reset iPhone

On iPhone, iPad and iPod these steps are the same:

You can erase content if the user believes that malicious content from unverified sites may have entered the iPhone. Once you confirm the reset request, your iPhone will restart and clear its data.

Video: how to reset iPhone settings

Siri doesn't work at all

In addition to the above reasons for Siri not working, there may be others:

• old iPhone/iPad or iOS version. Remember how long ago you updated iOS or changed your device, and take appropriate measures;
• you bought a gadget that was not “untied” according to all the rules from the previous owner, and he controls the device settings through the iCloud service. Contact the previous owner of this gadget and resolve this issue.

Siri is a function useful in everyday life. It is not only a tribute to fashion, but also a multifunctional application that can save the life of the owner in extreme situations. In the future, it will find its application in Apple cars, where traffic safety will reach a new level.

Would you like to have a personal assistant on your iPhone? For example, so that you can plan your day, week and even month, and someone in a pleasant manner reminds you of important matters, schedules your meetings, directs your actions, calls or sends mail directly from your smartphone. Such an intelligent program for the Siri voice interface on the iPhone was developed in Russia by the SiriPort project group.

The individual characteristics of the Siri voice assistant meet modern innovative requirements for the creation of artificial intelligence. The application is super smart and can fully carry out voice commands from all possible actions on a smartphone: call subscribers from the contact list, send messages, find the necessary information, create bookmarks and task texts, without using the smartphone keyboard, but only the voice interface. This article will tell you how to install Siri on an iPhone 4 or iPhone 5 or 6 generations.

The new licensed personal assistant application is a voice recognition program, and all Apple devices have it installed. It should be added that the voice assistant works based on iOS 7 on iPhone 4S devices using Siri, Siri on iPhone 5, on iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, iPhone 6S, iPhone 7 generation. In addition, the assistant can service the iPad Mini, Mini 2 and Mini 3, is also present on the 5th generation iPod Touch, on Apple Watch devices, and also works on the 3rd generation iPad and higher.

After the release of iOS 8.3, Siri iPhone can be configured in Russian. iOS 10 on new generation devices takes into account even greater capabilities of the voice assistant. This makes it much easier to find and remember personal information, saving, as they say, time and money.

Want to know how to enable Siri on iPhone?

For example, if you don’t know how to turn on Siri on iPhone 4 - 7 or don’t understand how to turn off Siri, then we’ll proceed step by step. Consider voice assistant on iPhone 4S or iPhone 6S using voice assistant. First, you should find out whether the application is installed on the iPhone 4 or iPhone 6S and why Siri does not work on the iPhone. If it turns out that the assistant program cannot be run on the iPhone, do not despair, you can install other quite similar alternative programs, for example, the “Dragon Go!” program developed by the Nuance Company, which will be able to access other programs installed on the iPhone, such as Google, Netflix, Yelp and others.

If the voice assistant was installed on the iPhone when it was sold, it will most likely be in the active state by default. To check this, hold down the Home button on your iPhone. Siri will beep when it is ready to use. You can give a command by voice: for example, say clearly out loud: “Check your mail!”

If Siri is not activated as required, you can do it yourself as follows. Open the main screen of your phone and click “Settings”, find the “Basic” folder and, knowing how to use it, launch the “Siri” application. However, when working with a smart program, you can give a dozen tasks to an assistant, communicating out loud. Try saying a greeting such as “Hey!” or “Hey Siri!”, or, say, “What’s the weather, Siri?” In addition, you can determine the gender of your assistant by selecting it in the settings section.

How to change Siri voice or language

If the voice assistant communicates with you in a language you don't understand, you can change its language. To do this, find Siri in the iPhone’s “settings” menu, select the “Siri Language” command. A list of language options will open in front of you and, after scrolling through, select the one you need, with the help of which the assistant will communicate with you in the future.

If you want to program the communication style of an individual assistant, customize not only her voice, but also the established style of address, various phrases that you will be pleased to hear. To this end, go to the “Settings” section again, launch the “Siri” program, find the command line “ Audio feedback” and accordingly activate the communication option that suits you.

By the way, the developers of this software product prudently introduced into the consciousness of the voice assistant the ability to recognize voices, intonation, accent and even dialect; it understands any languages.

Siri mode in the car

Turning on the Siri app can greatly facilitate your tasks by selecting the desired direction on the map when you are driving a car. To do this, the car must support the CarPlay software or use the “without looking” function available in this program. To use the services of the assistant, you need to call him by pressing the voice command button located directly on the steering wheel of the car and give Siri the appropriate command.

If your car has a CarPlay-enabled touchscreen, activate Siri by accessing the Home button from the screen menu. If you voice a command, the assistant waits for a pause in speech before starting to execute. But, if the car is very noisy, it is better to respond with a button located on the screen that transmits a sound wave, and then Siri will guess that you have finished and will begin to carry out the assigned task. If necessary, by going into your iPhone settings, you can also read how to disable Siri.

You can also connect the assistant to the source via a Bluetooth headset, as well as via a USB cable. In this case, perform all actions in the same order.