If you are new to Mac or have never noticed that the Siri assistant is also present on this computer, now you know. In this post we will not only tell you how you can activate it, since there are several, but we will also explain what tasks you can carry out with the firm objective of doing your tasks more productively.
How to activate Siri on Mac
Apple‘s smart assistant was first released several years ago, with the iPhone 4s. Since then, it has been extended to numerous systems and products of the brand, including macOS. Generally when a Mac is started for the first time, a window appears indicating whether or not you want to use it. If on that occasion you rejected the assistant, you can reactivate it in a very simple way.
- Go to System Preferences.
- Tap on Siri.
- In the left part of the pop-up window, check the Enable “Consult Siri” box.
To the right of these settings window you will find various settings.
- Hearing “Hey Siri” through the headphones refers to the possibility of activating the voice assistant when using Apple or Beats headphones with the W1 chip or later on the Mac (AirPods 2, AirPods Pro, for example).
- Quick keyboard function . Here you can choose a key combination through which the wizard will be activated. You have the following options:
- Hold Command + Space .
- Hold Option / Alt + Space .
- Press the Function and Space keys.
- Personalized , in which you can choose a combination of keys to your liking to activate the assistant.
- In Language you can choose how you want to communicate with Siri, regardless of whether the Mac is in one or the other language, since it will only affect the assistant.
- Siri Voice allows you to choose between different female or male voices.
- Voice responses allows Siri to answer you by audio or to reflect your text responses only on screen.
- Deleting the Siri History and Dictation will prevent those searches and queries previously made from appearing.
The way in which Siri will appear on the screen will be through a pop-up window that will occupy a certain space in the upper right corner. This space will be extended as we send and receive commands from the wizard. To close it, simply press the button that includes the window at its top.
What does Siri do on the Mac?
The Apple assistant, despite having great competitors in other devices, performs very well with certain tasks. Beyond the classic jokes and other humorous aspects, Siri is able to help the user to be more productive or to carry out tasks more quickly. Here we highlight some examples with which you can start taking advantage of it and change the way you use your Mac.
Productivity
- Create reminders.
- Add events to the calendar , modify them, delete them and even ask me to tell you what your agenda is for the day.
- Send emails , although for this you must have your contacts synchronized with their respective email accounts. You must also have your email account synchronized with the native Mail application.
- Add a timer and get a view of the countdown.
- Perform quick searches on the internet or obtain interesting data such as the date of birth of a famous person.
- Check the time in a certain city.
- Find out what the weather is like in a place.
- Perform mathematical calculations .
Functions associated with iPhone
If you have an iPhone with the same Apple ID as the Mac, you can carry out a series of very useful requests to save time at certain times or if you do not want to use the mobile at that time.
- Send a message to any of your contacts, either as SMS or iMessage if the recipient also has an Apple device and has activated this option.
- Make calls to any contact using the microphone and speakers of the Mac or the headphones that you have connected at the moment.
- Make a video call through FaceTime.
Mac control and information
- Enable or disable Do Not Disturb mode .
- Find out how much free space is left on your Mac’s hard drive.
- Locate and open files and documents.
- Open certain folders just by telling them.
- Play songs , although you will have to have an active Apple Music subscription.
- Increase / decrease the brightness of the screen or keyboard.
- Controls the volume of the device.
- Enjoy your photos and videos from a certain day or a certain place.
- Check the battery that is left in your computer if it is a MacBook.
Funny answers
As we said several paragraphs ago, Siri is not only capable of helping us in our day-to-day, but it can also make us let out a few laughs thanks to programmed commands like the ones shown below.
- When will the world end?
- Believe in God?
- Will you marry me?
- Mirror Mirror.
- Where are you Scooby-Doo?
- Where are you from?
- How old are you?
- As the Fox does?
- Where do babies come from?
- Divide zero by zero.
In short, you will be able to find numerous commands to do to the assistant on your Mac, obtaining good help from it as it happens on other computers such as the iPhone or iPad. Perhaps the integration with third parties is for the moment scarce, but it is possible that future versions of macOS and other systems will include important news from Siri in this aspect.
