IOS 6, released last week, has made some improvements to Siri. Siri is the virtual assistant who was unveiled in IOS 5 about a year ago.
I never found Siri to be very useful, but now with the enhancements, I think I will use my virtual assistant a little bit more.
To begin with, Siri will post Tweets for you in your Twitter account. I hate typing on my iPhone because the keyboard is so danged small, and I am always correcting the mistakes I make. Now with Siri able to post to Twitter, life is better.
One of the enhancements that Siri received is the ability to launch an app. It really saves time when you have a gazillion apps like I do. I have them all stored in 16 folders, and it is very organized, but having Siri do the work for me is wonderful.
For instance, I hold down the home button and Siri pops up ready to follow my command. I tell her to “Open Gas Cubby” and there the app is, all ready for me to make an entry. I think Apple needs to take this a step further and give Siri the ability to close all open apps. Closing all open apps is such a time waster, but it has to be done periodically, or else the phone will seize up.
Siri will now also talk sports with you. Need the latest scores? Ask Siri and she will get the info for you. Siri will also get you all the latest information about movies, such as showtimes, and even play trailers for you. And for that pre-movie meal, Siri will find you a good restaurant, and even make a reservation for you with Open Table.
I thought I would put Siri to the test, so told her to go upstairs and do the laundry. She came back and told me she found 15 laundromats for me to choose from. Apparently, Apple has a bit of work left to do in order to make my personal assistant “just right”.