Siri is Apple’s personal assistant on iPhones. It can help you call contacts, dictate messages and search the web.
Unlike some other voice recognition apps, Siri is built to protect your privacy. It won’t share your information with advertisers or other third parties and it offers end-to-end encryption to keep your data synced between your devices safe.
Turn on Siri
Activating Siri on an iPhone X is a bit different than it was on previous models. The lack of a Home button means there aren’t any shortcuts like “Screenshot” and “Hey Siri.” But Apple’s smart personal assistant is still available on the new iPhone X, and she’s actually easier to use than ever before!
When you’re ready to use Siri, it’s important to know the steps. First, you’ll need to set it up on your device. This can be done by going to Settings and choosing “Siri & Search.”
Second, you’ll need to turn on “Hey Siri” on your iPhone X. To do this, tap “Siri & Search.” Next, you’ll need to tap the switch for Listen for “Hey Siri.”
Once you’ve turned on “Hey Siri,” you can activate Siri by either pressing and holding the Side button or using your voice. In either case, you’ll hear Siri say “What can I help you with?” before asking a question or making a request.
To activate Siri with your voice, hold the Side button on the right-hand side of the phone for about a second. When it pops up, Siri will appear on the screen with the question, “What can I help you with?”
If you don’t feel comfortable saying your commands to Siri using your voice, you can also type them out. This is called Type to Siri and you’ll need to enable it by going to Settings > Accessibility and turning on it.
You’ll want to make sure that your phone is unlocked before you try to activate Siri this way, though. Otherwise, the assistant may not be able to wake up from a sleeping state.
Press and hold the Side button
When you press and hold the Side button on an iPhone X, it invokes Siri. This is a useful feature for turning on your voice assistant without needing to access the iPhone’s Lock screen or a specific command from Siri.
The Side button is also used to wake up your iPhone when it’s sleeping, take screenshots, and pay with Apple Pay. You can even use the Side button to shut down your iPhone.
There are lots of other things the Side button can do, too! Here are a few of the most important ones:
1. Turn on Low Power Mode ()
In Low Power mode, your iPhone stops doing a lot of background work–like fetching new mail or updating apps. This cuts down on battery life and slows down the processor, too.
2. Check the Battery Usage of Your Apps Using Settings -& General -& Background App Refresh ()
This is a great way to find out how much time each app has spent working in the background. You can also turn off any app whose background work isn’t necessary, too.
3. Turn on AssistiveTouch – Virtual Button and Home Button Combination
The AssistiveTouch feature on your iPhone x lets you add a virtual button that can do things like turn off the device or access the Control Center. This is a handy feature for people with disabilities or limited finger strength.
4. Make Your Phone Brighter Using Touch & Volume Buttons
In the top left-hand corner of your screen, you’ll see three buttons: brightness, volume, and ring/silent mode. Slide the brightness slider right to brighten the screen, and slide it down to dim it. Then, slide the ring/silent switch up to muffle sounds and alerts–especially for calls from your Favorite contacts, who might otherwise disturb you in the middle of a long call.
5. Talk to Siri Using the Side Button ().
You can use your Side button to talk to Siri by holding it down for about three seconds. If you want to talk to the voice assistant more quickly, you can double-press or triple-click the Side button for even faster response times.
Turn on Type to Siri
Siri is one of the most useful features on an iPhone, and it’s also a great feature for people who are hard of hearing. However, speaking to Siri can be a little tricky at times. That’s where the “Type to Siri” feature comes in handy, as it allows users to type queries instead of speaking them out loud.
Turn on Access on Lock Screen
Siri is the personal assistant that Apple built into iOS devices, and it can help you do everything from set meetings to place calls. You can access Siri by pressing and holding the Side button on your iPhone x for about one second. You can also activate Siri by speaking “Hey Siri” when your device is locked, or you can say “Hey Siri” on your home screen.
If you have an iPhone X and want to stop Siri from being accessible when your device is locked, you can disable it using an easy method that doesn’t require Touch ID or a passcode. All you need to do is toggle off Siri’s access in the Allow Access When Locked setting in Settings if you’re running iOS 11, or tap Siri & Search if you’re on iOS 12.
While the ability to access a wide range of personal data via the Lock Screen can be useful, many people choose to ignore these options. You can hide or delete important information from your Lock Screen, and you can even make it impossible for anyone to scroll or view messages or calendar events without using Touch ID or a passcode.
But that can make your device less secure, and it can be difficult to manage if you have to remember a password for each of your devices. Here are some tips for how to protect your sensitive information from the Lock Screen, and to keep it easy to use.
First, check the Auto-Lock setting on your iPhone X to determine how long you want the screen to remain locked. You can change this to any time from one minute to a day, but you must use a passcode to unlock your device again after changing it.