Siri

New video shows off a Siri RSS feed reader called Sireader after Redditor posts $1000 bounty

Jeff Benjamin ∙ January 14, 2015

Developer Philip Tennen showed off a new in-progress jailbreak tweak called Sireader that allows Siri to read RSS feeds. The tweak, which is in the early stages of development as a result of a $1,000 bounty on Reddit, looks extremely promising for those of us that peruse RSS on a daily basis. Imagine driving in the car and having Siri read the latest stories from your favorite news feed. If Tennen's jailbreak tweak sees the light of day, this will be a future reality for jailbreakers.

Siri to soon speak Polish, Czech and Slovak

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 20, 2016

iOS 8 has added more than two dozen new languages to Siri, but Apple isn't standing still. As first noted by Czech blog LetemSvetemApplem [Google Translate], the voice activated personal assistant feature for the iPhone and iPad could soon start parsing queries in Polish, Czech and Slovak.

The publication has made the conclusion after uncovering a series of text strings within the ‘Localizable.strings’ file in iOS 8.1.2.

For those wondering, the file contains translated content for Siri responses concerning stuff like restaurants, sports information and more.

Many early HomeKit devices require Apple TV for remote Siri features

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Folks looking to take advantage of the onslaught of HomeKit products being introduced at CES this year will need to make sure they have an Apple TV. The Verge is reporting that many of the just-announced HomeKit accessories require the set-top box for select features.

More specifically, the outlet says that new smart home devices from iHome, GridConnect, Chamberlain, Elgato and others require users to have a third-gen Apple TV (running software 7.0 or later) on their network in order to take advantage of Siri remote control capabilities.

QuickSiri: invoke Siri with a specific phrase

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Do you find yourself using the same Siri commands over and over? I know I do. I always use Siri to tell me the time, and I always use Siri to set alarms. My Siri usage is very limited, so a jailbreak tweak that lets you instantly invoke Siri with a canned command seems right up my alley. Enter QuickSiri, a brand new Cydia release that makes it ridiculously easy to get a fast response from Siri via a canned inquiry.

CES 2015: HomeKit-compatible Switch controls your home with Siri

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 5, 2015

Debuting at CES 2015 as the world's first HomeKit-certified products on the market, a smart power switch from an accessory maker called iDevices makes it easy to turn on anything in your home using your voice, no hub required.

Marketed as the Switch, this smart power switch uses voice capabilities of Siri to help manage your home from wherever you are.

How to use Siri’s song recognition feature with Activator

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Siri's built-in Shazam song recognition feature is a handy way to quickly identify songs that are playing around you. What's this song, Siri? is a new Activator add-on that takes this song recognition feature, and makes it directly accessible by means of an Activator gesture.

New Microsoft ad says iPhone 6 Plus only makes Siri bigger, not smarter

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 6, 2017

Friday, Windows giant Microsoft published a new Apple-bashing ad on its YouTube channel.

The 30-second television commercial shows off the latest version of Cortana, Microsoft's Siri-like personal assistant, running on the Lumia 830 and interacting with a bunch of built-in applications.

Cortana amusingly brags to Siri about being able to perform functions Apple's personal assistant can't, like alert users to leave early for an appointment using traffic alerts, remind them of things based on who calls or texts and more.

Amazon launches futuristic connected speaker with Siri-like assistant

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 6, 2014

I'm not really sure what to think about Amazon's crazy connected speaker with built-in personal digital assistant. What I do know is that the Echo could be a close approximation of what a next-generation Apple TV with built-in Siri might be like. Taking another swing at hardware, the Echo is well designed: it sports both sexy looks and the smarts.

It's also got a few cool tricks up its sleeve to dazzle unsuspecting users. In a nutshell, the Echo will talk to you, play music, read your news headlines, check the weather, find facts online — and also sell you things — for $199.

UntetheredHeySiri: Use Hey Siri without needing a power connection

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

And the good times keep rolling. A new jailbreak tweak has popped up on the Cydia Store from well-known developer Hamza Sood. The tweak, entitled UntetheredHeySiri, lets you use Siri hands-free without needing to be connected to power.

It's an obvious want for those of us who jailbreak, and Sood quickly addressed the issue. In fact, it's the way that he implemented the tweak that impresses me most. Head inside and watch our hands-on video to see what I mean.

Video walkthroughs offer detailed look at CarPlay on Pioneer’s $700 AVH-4000NEX receiver

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Though we've seen our fair share of CarPlay demos in months past, we still can't get enough of learning about the intricacies of Apple's in-car iPhone entertainment system. You may have head that Pioneer recently released a firmware update bringing CarPlay functionality to five of its 2014 NEX in-dash multimedia receivers, so people don't have to buy a brand new car just to enjoy CarPlay.

As noted by TUAW, Josh Carr of technology repair firm Fix Denver put Pioneer's new software through its paces and created several videos showing off different aspects of CarPlay, including Phone functionality, Apple Maps and various other built-in apps including Spotify, which recently updated its iPhone and iPad app with CarPlay support .

Interested? Jump past the break for more.

How to use “Hey Siri” without being connected to power

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

"Hey Siri" is a new feature in iOS 8 that makes it possible to invoke Siri using only your voice. It's nice for those moments when your hands are full or when your iPhone is across the room.

The only downside to "Hey Siri" is that your iPhone must be connected to a power source in order to use it. This restriction was placed there to save your iPhone's battery life.

But, there is a way to use Hey Siri without being connected to a power source. It's not as handy as using it while connected to power, but it's a nice workaround for those situations where you need hands-free control.

Study finds Siri and other hands-free systems to be very distracting while driving

Cody Lee ∙ October 7, 2014

Despite its good intentions, using Siri while driving is actually quite dangerous, according to a new study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. After a series of tests involving 45 drivers completing in-car tasks with various voice control systems, researchers found Apple's digital assistant to be a "high level of mental distraction."

In fact, Siri performed the worst out of all of the various systems they tested, and even resulted in two crashes during the simulator study. The popular assistant was also rated the least intuitive and the most complex, and AAA criticized it for its lack of consistency and flexibility when it came to recognizing voice commands from its drivers.