Siri

Siri trick that let you activate Night Shift while Low Power Mode is enabled no longer works

The iOS 9.3 software update includes Night Shift mode that helps users get a good night's sleep by reducing the amount of blue light emitted from a backlight of their iOS device.

Night Shift is unavailable when an iPhone is in Low Power Mode and a workaround that let you ask Siri to activate Night Shift in this mode no longer works.

As first reported on by 9to5Mac's Jeff Benjamin, asking Siri to enable Night Shift while the device is in Low Power Mode now yields a warning message.

Server-side patch fixes vulnerability that allowed access to Contacts and Photos on iPhone 6s

An iOS vulnerability that permitted nefarious people to gain access to Contacts and Photos data has been fixed swiftly without the need for a software update. A server-side fix has patched a security hole in Siri which allowed the personal digital assistant to use email links in tweets to gain access to contacts and photos on a locked iPhone 6s running iOS 9.3.1. Apple has confirmed to The Washington Post that it's fixed the flaw on its servers.

Easy to fix iOS bug bypasses Lock screen on iPhone 6s, giving access to Contacts and Photos

First spotted by Jose Rodriguez, who last September found a similar flaw in iOS, and highlighted by The Daily Dot, Apple's mobile operating system contains a vulnerability that lets others access your Contacts and Photos using Siri on the Lock screen of your iPhone 6s, bypassing your passcode.

Fortunately, there's an easy fix for this which involves revoking Siri access to Twitter and Photos and disabling Lock screen access to the personal digital assistant. Apple has not commented on the bug, which will likely be squashed in an upcoming software update.

Siri is now a baseball savant

Siri is now a baseball savant: Apple's personal digital assistant's been refreshed in the cloud with official data on thousands of Major League Baseball players and historic baseball statistics. “Siri also knows the history and stats of 27 other pro, minor and international leagues,” writes CNET.

The update is likely the result of Apple's new tie-up with the Major League Baseball which provides every team with iPad Pros while permitting sports announcers to finally call tablets “iPads”.

Siri stars in the new Apple TV ad, ‘The Kiss’

Apple's just aired a brand new television commercial to promote its fourth-generation Apple TV, and it's all about voice capabilities that are built into the new set-top box and activated by pressing a dedicated button on the Siri Remote that ships with the device.

The 60-second ad, titled 'The Kiss' and starring Alison Brie and Game of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), is really amusing and well worth watching, but I'll let you be the judge of that.

tvOS 9.2 is here: Dictation, folders, Live Photos, wireless keyboards, iCloud Photo Library & more

tvOS 9.2, a new update for the operating system which powers the fourth-generation Apple TV, is now available for public consumption. The new firmware, released alongside iOS 9.3, OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 and watchOS 2.2, is a very interesting update for the cool new features it brings to the table.

tvOS 9.2 enables several features missing from the initial tvOS release, including long-awaited support for wireless keyboards, dictation, Siri support for App Store searches, app folders on the Home screen, a revamped app switcher, Siri Remote improvements, support for Live Photos and iCloud Photo Library and more.

Hound voice assistant launches in the App Store, but how does it compare to Siri?

There are numerous companies competing to be the top dog in voice assistant software, but the makers of sound-tagging service SoundHound have made another alternative called Hound that promises an excellent voice assistant experience. Many initial reports suggest it's even more capable than the voice assistants you're used to using already, such as Siri, Google Now, and Cortana.

So just how capable is Hound? In this piece, we'll walk you through the new free-to-download Hound voice assistant for iOS and find out if it's as good as everyone says.

How to update your Apple TV Siri Remote

Apple TV and Siri Remote on a red yellow gradient background

A tvOS update may include new firmware for the Siri Remote to fix bugs, improve reliability, and add new features. Improve your Apple TV experience by learning how to effortlessly update your Siri Remote, and stay in control with the latest features and improvements.

Get a taste of Siri on your Mac right now with this neat trick

Ever since Siri was announced in 2011, Apple users have been excited about the prospect of the digital assistant coming to OS X. More recently, rumors have indicated that a Mac version of Siri will ship with OS X 10.12 this fall. September is quite a long way off, but it's possible to get a taste of Siri-like voice commands on your Mac right now, thanks to the accessibility features baked in OS X.

New Microsoft ads for Windows 10 focus on things Macs can’t do

Microsoft this weekend published four new commercials for its Windows 10 operating system that showcase things “Macs can't do”. The ads feature Kristie and Jess, AKA The Bug Chicks, the two women who are apparently trying to change the way kids think about bugs.

The two characters, one of whom is a Mac fan jealous of Windows 10 features, explore competitive advantages of Microsoft's operating system like the built-in Cortana personal assistant, support for inking and drawing on notebooks with built-in touchscreens, the ability to log in to Windows 10 with one's face and more.

As each Windows 10 feature is highlighted, the other woman responds with a variation of the “I don’t have a touchscreen on my Mac, I’m jealous of that” theme.

Report: Siri for Mac coming this fall via OS X 10.12 software update

This fall, Mac owners will at long last be able to converse with Siri as the voice-activated personal assistant makes its way into OS X 10.12, the next major release of Apple's mobile operating system that powers Mac desktops and notebooks.

According to 9to5Mac's reliable Mark Gurman, “Apple currently plans to use its next major release of the Mac operating system this fall to continue to expand Siri across its product lines.”

The news will no doubt make Mac owners happy. Siri, which debuted in 2011, is currently available across the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Apple Watch and the new Apple TV. It makes a lot of sense to bring Siri to the Mac given that processing power and battery life on desktop is much better than on mobile devices.