Siri has inspired books and major motion pictures and now she’s getting a lot of attention in commercials — some good, some bad. Some phone companies are trying to prove Siri isn’t capable of much, while others are trying to remind you just how much she’s been there for you. For the uninitiated, Siri is Apple’s intelligent personal assistant that speaks to you at the push of a button on iPhones, iPads and iPods. Apple refers to Siri as “it,” not “she.” We’re going with “she” for the purposes of this list. Siri allows you to use your voice to send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls, and more. But Siri isn’t like traditional voice-recognition software that requires you to remember keywords and to speak specific commands. Siri understands your natural speech, and asks you questions if she needs more information to complete a task.

No matter what side of the argument you’re on, here are 10 things you didn’t know Siri could do for you.

Sources:  MacWorld.com, Businessinsider.com,

Create a password

Are you exhausted from coming up with yet another password to access your favorite pizza restaurant or shoe store for online ordering? Just say, “Wolfram, password” and Siri will come up with an acceptable eight-character password right away.

Interact on social media for you

If you’re driving and think of a Tweet you absolutely must send, but can’t take your hands off the wheel, no problem. Simply say to Siri, “Tweet that the clouds look like Santa Clauses today” and she’ll do it for you. If you want to check on a specific friend’s feed, you can even ask Siri, “What is Sofia Paul saying right now?” and she’ll show you that individual’s last 10 posts.

Learn how to say a name

Before getting irritated with Siri (which we know we’ve all done) because she is misunderstanding what you’re saying, just explain it to her. If Siri constantly mishears a certain name, try this: say the phone number of the person whose name she doesn’t understand, and Siri will then say their name. Next say, “That’s not how you pronounce …(insert name here)…” and Siri will offer up several other pronunciations from which you can choose and correct her.

Location-based reminder

Need to remember to pick up sugar when you’re near a grocery store? Or turn off the A.C. when you leave your office? If you enable Location Services on your phone (Go to Settings, then Privacy then Location Services) you can set Siri up to be aware of your location, and what you’re supposed to do when you’re there.

Find relevant tweets

Want to see everything people are Tweeting regarding the recent celebrity marriage/sports loss/political scandal? Siri will find those tweets for you. Just say, “Search Twitter for …(insert subject here)…” and she’ll pull up a list of relevant tweets.

Flip a coin/roll a dice

Can’t decide whether or not to buy the boots you just found? Ask Siri to “Flip a coin” and she’ll do it on the screen for you, making that tough decision for you. Nice of her, huh? Maybe you just can’t decide how many pairs of those boots to buy. Siri can also roll a dice for that.

Remember who’s who

If you’ve ever watched someone lift up Siri and say, “Call my wife,” your first response might be, “A robot doesn’t know who your wife is!” Oh yes, she does. If you say something like “Miranda Shane is my wife,” Siri will ask you if you’d like that relationship saved. Say yes and in the future you can just ask Siri to, “Call my wife.”

Recognize the planes in the sky

Want to let your imagination escape to another place for a moment? Ask Siri, “What airplanes are flying above me right now?” and she’ll give you their flight number and destination.

Be your Dj

Instead of launching your music app, you can ask Siri directly to, “Play name of album/song/playlist/artist” and she’ll play it for you immediately.