Look up next time you’re outside and guess where the airplane above you is headed. Los Angeles? New York? Paris? Ask Siri this phrase, “What flights are overhead?” You’ll see the carrier, flight number and altitude in seconds. I love sharing simple digital life tips that make things easier.
Your phone’s smart assistant is high on the usefulness scale — if you know the correct commands. Here are five I use all the time.
1. Turn on the flashlight
When it’s dark, and you’re trying to read a menu or make your way down a dark hallway, you don’t want to fumble with your phone to find the flashlight. Say, “Turn on the flashlight.” It works for Siri and Google Assistant. Just say the wake name first to make sure they’re listening.
Don’t lose your precious memories. Here are the best ways to save your phone’s photos before it’s too late.
2. Add to my calendar
It’s easy to make spur-of-the-moment plans when you’re talking to someone. Then, when the time for the appointment strikes, you forget about it.
Instead of wasting a minute or two entering details manually, tell Siri or Google Assistant what your plan is, along with a date and time. For example, say, “Hey Siri, set up a lunch meeting with Bob tomorrow at 1 p.m.” You could also be more specific, like, “Hey, Google, add an event called Birthday Dinner on Sunday at 4 p.m.”
If you have multiple calendars, specify which one or it will fall into your default calendar.
Siri automatically connects to Apple’s Calendar app. If you use the Google Calendar, though, you’ll have to add it to Apple’s default app. Here’s how to get the two apps to play nicely together.
3. Set a timer
You’re just about to set a timer for tonight’s dinner. Then, you hear a loud thud from the other room, and one of the kids starts yelling for you. With a single sentence to your smart assistant, you can put a pin in your current task before running off to put out a fire elsewhere.
To set a timer, tell Siri or Google Assistant, “Set a timer for 10 minutes” or however long you need. If you say, “Set a timer for 20 minutes called chicken,” this starts a new timer with the label chicken.
Amazon Alexa-enabled devices can also help out around the house with timers, quick math and other things you’d typically whip out your phone for. Tap or click here to make Alexa set up reminders, timers, and alarms.
4. Silence my phone
Imagine you’re at church. The pastor is sharing an emotional story. It’s so impactful there’s not a dry eye in the house. Situations like this can be flat-out humiliating. Silence your phone before you go into a church, start a meeting or sit down for a job interview.
An easy way to do it is with your voice. Say, “Siri, silence my phone” or “Google Assistant, silence my phone.”
Speaking of distractions, how many buzzes and beeps emit from your phone every single day? Tap or click here for a quick and easy way to stop phone notifications.
5. That wasn’t for you
Big Tech companies will tell you their devices are not always listening — they’re just listening for the wake word. I don’t see the difference.
You can accidentally trigger your assistant with a similar word. If you say something that sounds similar to “Siri” or “Hey, Google,” it may perk its metaphorical ears. This can be an issue if your assistant is set up to record everything you say to it.
I recently went through my Amazon Alexa recordings. I found a few voice clips that didn’t involve Alexa, including private discussions about buying real estate. Tap or click here to find out everything Amazon knows about you.
Luckily, Siri and Google Assistant both make distinctive noises when they’ve been activated. If you want to stop Google Assistant from recording the rest of your conversation, say, “That wasn’t for you.” This also deletes whatever it just recorded from your history.
You can also tell Siri, “That wasn’t for you,” when it turns on accidentally. However, Apple hasn’t officially said whether this phrase wipes your previous recording from its memory. Tap or click here to stop all your smart devices from listening to you and recording what you say.