{"id":79276,"date":"2018-06-12T10:41:23","date_gmt":"2018-06-12T17:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/?p=79276"},"modified":"2018-06-12T10:41:23","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T17:41:23","slug":"get-hey-siri-on-your-mac-or-use-siri-in-total-silence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/get-hey-siri-on-your-mac-or-use-siri-in-total-silence\/","title":{"rendered":"Get ‘Hey Siri’ on Your Mac \u2013 or Use Siri in Total Silence"},"content":{"rendered":"

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You\u2019re likely familiar with Siri, an intelligent personal assistant that\u2019s baked into a range of Apple devices. On the Mac, Siri is usually activated by clicking its menu bar icon, or by holding Command+Space<\/strong>.\u00a0However, there are other ways to quickly access Siri.<\/p>\n

This feature shows how you can use macOS accessibility settings to interact with Siri like you do on an iPhone, and how to use Siri without you \u2013 or it \u2013 uttering a sound.<\/p>\n

Get Hey Siri on macOS<\/h3>\n

With your iPhone, say \u201cHey Siri\u201d and it\u2019s ready for further input. This isn\u2019t (yet) an option on the Mac, but you can use Dictation settings to create something similar.<\/p>\n

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In System Preferences, open Siri<\/strong>. Under Keyboard Shortcut<\/strong>, select Customize<\/strong>. Now define a new system-wide shortcut for Siri that won\u2019t clash with any other app you use. One of Ctrl+Space<\/strong> or Ctrl+S<\/strong> should be a good bet. (Alt+Space is also fine, but be mindful if you use Alt when typing to move between words, it\u2019s easy to accidentally trigger the shortcut.)<\/p>\n

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Open the Keyboard<\/strong> pane in System Preferences, click the Dictation<\/strong> tab, and turn Dictation<\/strong> on.<\/p>\n

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Next, head to the Accessibility<\/strong> pane, and select Dictation<\/strong> from the Interacting<\/strong> category in the scrolling pane on the left. Click Enable the dictation keyboard phrase<\/strong>, and type Hey into the text field below.<\/p>\n

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Click the\u00a0Dictation Commands<\/strong>\u00a0button,\u00a0and click +<\/strong> to add a new user command. In When I say<\/strong>, type Siri. From Perform<\/strong>, select Press Keyboard Shortcut<\/strong>. With the text field highlighted, press the keyboard shortcut you defined earlier. Click Done<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

You should now be able to trigger Siri by saying \u201cHey Siri,\u201d after which point you can interact further. However, there is a snag: Saying \u201cHey Siri\u201d may wake other Apple devices within earshot. If that becomes an annoyance, adjust your keywords \u2013\u00a0such as to \u201cWake up Siri,\u201d or \u201cHey Mac.\u201d (Probably avoid \u201cDo my bidding, computer\u201d if you don\u2019t want Siri getting mad and instigating an AI-based robot revolution.)<\/p>\n

Use Type to Siri on macOS<\/h3>\n

Using voice interaction with Siri feels natural, but isn\u2019t always desirable. In certain environments, you don\u2019t want to be chatting with your Mac \u2013 or having it bellow answers at you. Instead, try\u00a0interacting with Siri by typing.<\/p>\n

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In the Accessibility<\/strong> pane of System Preferences, select Siri<\/strong> from the Interacting<\/strong> category and turn on Enable Type to Siri<\/strong>. On triggering Siri, you\u2019ll now type in your query. (All speech-based interaction is blocked when Type to Siri is active, note, bar triggering Siri in the first place using your keyword phrase.)<\/p>\n

If you also want to silence Siri when it responds to your query, do so in the Siri<\/strong> pane of System Preferences \u2013\u00a0set Voice Feedback<\/strong> to Off<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Discover Siri hints and tricks<\/h3>\n

However you trigger Siri, a great first question to ask it is \u201cWhat can you do?\u201d This brings up a categorized list of capabilities Siri has; click any of them to explore example questions.<\/p>\n

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Some of the best Siri uses are:<\/p>\n