6 surprising Siri tricks

Bet you don't know all of these!

Author

Lewis Wallace
April 03, 2025

Complaining about Siri is practically a hobby for me.

I find it incredibly frustrating when Apple’s AI assistant fails to execute some basic task, like playing a requested song that I absolutely know is in the Apple Music catalog.

And don’t get me started on the crazy Siri jump ball that happens when I dare to utter the mystical incantation “Hey Siri” within earshot of my HomePod, Apple Watch, Mac and iPhone all at once. It feels like I’m being punished for owning multiple Apple devices.

We’ve come a long way — in the wrong direction — from the magical early days after Siri’s launch on the iPhone 4s shook the world.

Back then, talking to your computer seemed like stepping into the shiny, sci-fi future. Nowadays, using Siri often feels more dystopian than some sort of high-tech paradise.

The good news is that Apple is apparently prioritizing making Siri better. After delaying the promised rollout of an AI-powered Siri upgrade, the company is pulling out all the stops to finish the project.

In the meantime, take solace in the fact that Siri can reliably do some things — including performing some useful tasks you probably don’t know about. Today’s roundup of six cool Siri tricks includes some real winners.

Try them out while we wait for Apple to make Siri great again.

Also in today’s newsletter:

  • President Donald Trump’s tariffs look likely to hit Apple hard. Apple’s been scrambling to diversify its supply chain, moving manufacturing from China to India and Vietnam, but every country it operates in faces steep tariffs.

  • Why tariffs? Because Trump wants U.S. companies to build products in America. The Apple Manufacturing Academy, set to open this summer in Detroit, could help with that. It will “train businesses across America to implement smart manufacturing techniques,” according to Apple.

  • Severance became a gigantic hit, but Apple TV+ still struggles to grow its subscriber base. Streaming is a tough game!

  • Add this inexpensive 8-in-1 gadget to your keychain and you’ll never be without a charging cable (or a bottle opener).

— Lewis Wallace, managing editor

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One more thing ...

❝

A disturbing fact is that even though most of the computers are assembled here in the United States, a significantly large number of the dollars that one pays for the components of those computers, to build those computers, flows overseas.

— Steve Jobs, 1991.

Today’s poll

Do you use Siri?

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Results from yesterday’s poll: Would you wear Apple smart glasses?

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