Recent improvements to Siri have helped to make it more intuitive, intelligent and, above all, useful. In fact, you could find that, on iOS, the virtual personal assistant proves a surprising boon even when you’re on your travels. So, fancy a romantic trip to Paris, Siri?
“How can I get to Paris?”
With an iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, SE, 7 or 7 Plus or 9.7-inch iPad Pro, you can start your conversation with Siri simply by beginning the sentence with “Hey Siri”. (This is possible with other iOS devices, too – except that the device has to be plugged into power.)
So, start with “Hey Siri, how far away is Paris?” Provided that you have given Siri permission to use Location Services in the Settings app, Siri should immediately tell you how many miles away the French capital is. Follow up with “How can I get to Paris?”, and Siri should provide directions, which you can then follow turn-by-turn, via Apple Maps.
Researching what to do in Paris
Let’s imagine that you are now on the plane to Paris. Now is a good time to thoroughly research what you can do there – and, as you should already have a good idea of what kinds of things you’d like to see, you could fire Siri a question like: “What museums are in Paris?” Siri should then provide a long list, complete with an average visitor rating given to each museum.
Siri can prove even more useful once you’ve actually landed in the French capital. Just ask Siri to show you a good museum near you. Once Siri has suggested a particular museum that really interests you, you can ask for directions to that museum. Questions like “Where is the Eiffel Tower” and “Where is the Mona Lisa” also provoke helpful responses.
Time for a bite to eat
This kind of thing is also possible when you’re feeling peckish; just tell Siri to “show me a good restaurant near me.” Unsure whether you can get Starbucks in Paris, we asked Siri: “Where is Starbucks in Paris?” Siri then let us see the precise location of a Paris-based Starbucks outlet on a map, allowing us to go and get our latte.
And, as we gently sipped our latte and admired the view of the beautiful Paris streets, we asked Siri to play Édith Piaf’s classic song “La Vie en rose”, stored in our iTunes library, to even further encourage the romantic atmosphere. Well, Siri, you’ve been a welcome companion on our trip – even if we’ll probably bring a human date next time…
