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7 Siri Voice Commands You Probably Didn’t Know About on Your iPhone

Siri does a lot more than just tell you the weather.

Siri makes it easy to get more done on your iPhone, using only your voice. A simple command allows you to do something like quickly send a text message while you’re driving or convert liters to cups as you cook in the kitchen — all without your hands. But Siri is capable of so much more.

Apple doesn’t flaunt all the things Siri can do for you, and every year Apple adds more voice commands that sometimes fly under the radar. For example, did you know that with iOS 16, you can now restart your iPhone with just your voice? And that’s just the start.

If you want to learn more about what you can do with your voice, check out these seven hidden Siri voice commands you should be using.

Want to know more about the hidden features on your iPhone? Read about these iOS 16 hidden features that make your iPhone better and how to find all those saved Wi-Fi passwords on your iPhone.

Quickly find saved passwords for websites and apps

You can save your usernames and passwords across all your Apple devices, including your iPhone, through the iCloud Keychain. On iOS, you can go to Settings > Passwords to view your saved passwords for your Apple ID, websites and applications — but you can access them quicker with Siri.

All you need to do is ask Siri «Show me the password for (app/website)» and you’ll be automatically redirected to that specific password page in your settings. Before you can view the password, you’ll need to use Face ID or Touch ID to gain access. From there, you can copy the username or password to your clipboard.

Restart your iPhone

If you’re experiencing a software issue, like an application continuously force-closing or a laggy operating system, you can often fix the problem with a quick restart of your iPhone. All you need to do is press down the home button plus either volume button for about a second and then slide to power off your device — but there’s an easier way to reboot.

Don’t miss: Your iPhone Has a New Siri Voice Command You’ll Want to Know About

As long as you’re running iOS 16, you can tell Siri «Restart my phone» and then say «Yes» when prompted to restart your device, without using your hands.

Turn off an annoying alarm

Your alarm is going off, but you’re either not near your iPhone or maybe you just can’t find it because it’s underneath your sheets or lost in your couch cushions. An iPhone alarm will persist for 15 minutes if you don’t cancel or snooze it, but there is a way to stop it with just your voice.

Even if your alarm is blaring loudly, you can tell Siri «Turn off my alarm» to silence it. In fact, you can even just say «Hey Siri» and that will also stop your alarm from ringing. Unlike the snooze feature, using either Siri command will permanently turn off the alarm.

Find family or friend using Find My

The Find My feature allows you track not only your Apple devices but also your friends, family and loved ones. If you’re tracking someone’s location via Find My, like your significant other or your sibling, you can use Siri to quickly check where they are at.

Ask Siri «Where is (contact name)?» and a small Find My window will appear at the top of the screen, showing you exactly where the person is. Siri will also announce how far they are and the approximate address of their location. If you tap the Find My window, you’ll be redirected to the Find My app, where you can contact the person, get directions to their location and more.

Translate a word or sentence

Besides the stand-alone app, Apple’s Translate feature is built into your iPhone, allowing you to quickly translate languages from pretty much anywhere on your device, including within your text messages, in your web browser and with Siri.

You can ask Siri to translate a single word or entire sentences with just your voice. For example, you can say «Translate ‘My head hurts. I think I’m going to sleep’ in Spanish» and Siri will then read out your sentence in the original language and then in the translated language. If you want to hear the translation again, you can hit the play button in the Translate window.

Currently, 17 languages, including Spanish and Chinese, are supported with Translate, but not all of them can be used with Siri.

Set a reminder based on your location

The Reminders app on your iPhone is a powerful productivity tool to help you remember what you need to do throughout the day, like make a phone call, send an email or make a purchase online. But you don’t need to be reminded of everything on your to-do list at all times, which is why you can use Siri to create a reminder notification based on your location.

For example, if you want to be reminded that you need to pay your internet bill when you get home, tell Siri «Remind me to pay my internet bill when I get home» and a reminder will be created. The next time you arrive home (which you can set in Contacts or Maps), the reminder should pop up on your phone. Besides work and home, you can set your location to somewhere like Target or a local park, but Siri will need you to verify the exact address.

Get directions back to your car

Parked at an airport and lost track of your car? It can be difficult to find your way back to your parked car, especially if you didn’t make a mental note and you’re in a large parking lot or garage with hundreds of other cars. Fortunately, your iPhone usually knows where you parked your car — all you need to do is ask Siri.

Say «Get my directions to my car» and Siri will open the Maps application and get you walking directions to where it thinks your car is parked. Your iPhone tracks which other devices your iPhone is connected to, like your car stereo, as well as your traveling speed, to estimate where your car is parked.

While you’re here, check out how to blur your home on Google Maps and how to find all those hidden Wi-Fi passwords on your Mac or Windows.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Oct. 14

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 14.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.


Today’s Mini Crossword has an odd vertical shape, with an extra Across clue, and only four Down clues. The clues are not terribly difficult, but one or two could be tricky. Read on if you need the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Smokes, informally
Answer: CIGS

5A clue: «Don’t have ___, man!» (Bart Simpson catchphrase)
Answer: ACOW

6A clue: What the vehicle in «lane one» of this crossword is winning?
Answer: RACE

7A clue: Pitt of Hollywood
Answer: BRAD

8A clue: «Yeah, whatever»
Answer: SURE

9A clue: Rd. crossers
Answer: STS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Things to «load» before a marathon
Answer: CARBS

2D clue: Mythical figure who inspired the idiom «fly too close to the sun»
Answer: ICARUS

3D clue: Zoomer around a small track
Answer: GOCART

4D clue: Neighbors of Norwegians
Answer: SWEDES

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New California Law Wants Companion Chatbots to Tell Kids to Take Breaks

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the new requirements on AI companions into law on Monday.

AI companion chatbots will have to remind users in California that they’re not human under a new law signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The law, SB 243, also requires companion chatbot companies to maintain protocols for identifying and addressing cases in which users express suicidal ideation or self-harm. For users under 18, chatbots will have to provide a notification at least every three hours that reminds users to take a break and that the bot is not human.

It’s one of several bills Newsom has signed in recent weeks dealing with social media, artificial intelligence and other consumer technology issues. Another bill signed Monday, AB 56, requires warning labels on social media platforms, similar to those required for tobacco products. Last week, Newsom signed measures requiring internet browsers to make it easy for people to tell websites they don’t want them to sell their data and banning loud advertisements on streaming platforms. 

AI companion chatbots have drawn particular scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators in recent months. The Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into several companies in response to complaints by consumer groups and parents that the bots were harming children’s mental health. OpenAI introduced new parental controls and other guardrails in its popular ChatGPT platform after the company was sued by parents who allege ChatGPT contributed to their teen son’s suicide. 

«We’ve seen some truly horrific and tragic examples of young people harmed by unregulated tech, and we won’t stand by while companies continue without necessary limits and accountability,» Newsom said in a statement.


Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.


One AI companion developer, Replika, told CNET that it already has protocols to detect self-harm as required by the new law, and that it is working with regulators and others to comply with requirements and protect consumers. 

«As one of the pioneers in AI companionship, we recognize our profound responsibility to lead on safety,» Replika’s Minju Song said in an emailed statement. Song said Replika uses content-filtering systems, community guidelines and safety systems that refer users to crisis resources when needed.

Read more: Using AI as a Therapist? Why Professionals Say You Should Think Again

A Character.ai spokesperson said the company «welcomes working with regulators and lawmakers as they develop regulations and legislation for this emerging space, and will comply with laws, including SB 243.» OpenAI spokesperson Jamie Radice called the bill a «meaningful move forward» for AI safety. «By setting clear guardrails, California is helping shape a more responsible approach to AI development and deployment across the country,» Radice said in an email.

One bill Newsom has yet to sign, AB 1064, would go further by prohibiting developers from making companion chatbots available to children unless the AI companion is «not foreseeably capable of» encouraging harmful activities or engaging in sexually explicit interactions, among other things. 

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