How to maximize using Siri in macOS Sierra

Image: Brandon Vigliarolo/TechRepublic


Siri on a Mac is one of those seemingly innocuous features that can change the way you work. Learn tricks for making the most of the macOS Sierra integration.

By Erik Eckel | October 13, 2016, 8:14 AM PST


When I first heard Apple was bringing Siri to the Mac, I didn't believe the enhancement would prove that useful. But, properly wielded, Siri proves to be a surprisingly helpful feature. The trick is to know Siri's desktop and laptop capabilities, as well as the feature's limitations.
Understand Siri's constraints

Don't ask Siri to close an application. She can't—she's not allowed. She'll offer a quick apology, and that's all you get. And, it makes sense—I'm confident Apple precluded the ability for fear of losing unsaved data or accidentally closing an application in the middle of a critical process.

You also shouldn't try using Siri in noisy environments because, odds are, she's not going to be able to understand your commands—and, you'll look a little strange talking in public to your computer. But when you're in the privacy of your office or another quiet location where the audio won't prove disruptive to others, Siri will pause background programming long enough to provide a fair shot at speaking commands.

I don't recommend leveraging Siri to perform complex tasks, such as editing photos, editing spreadsheets or documents, or composing presentations. It's all about possessing accurate expectations.

Follow these tips and tricks for using Siri

Several options exist for summoning Siri. By default, you can press and hold the Command and Space keys. Or, you can click the Siri icon macOS Sierra Places, by default, within the Dock. Or, you can click the Siri icon from the Mac's menu bar. You can also

AT&T targets IoT connectivity with LTE-M network pilot in San Francisco

By Conner Forrest | October 5, 2016, 8:16 AM PST

AT&T recently announced that it would launch its LTE-M network in San Francisco, in hopes of boosting connectivity among Internet of Things devices.

AT&T's new LTE-M network technology trial, announced Wednesday, could enhance connectivity for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. According to a press release from the company, an LTE-M pilot will begin in San Francisco, CA in November, and roll out more broadly in 2017.

In terms of what IoT devices it is targeting, AT&T mentioned many tools commonly associated with smart cities and manufacturing. According to the release, "LTE-M technology will connect a wide variety of IoT solutions such as smart utility meters, asset monitoring, vending machines, alarm systems, fleet, heavy equipment, mHealth and wearables."

AT&T claims that LTE-M will make it cheaper connect IoT devices to the network, will improve coverage inside and underground, and could even boost battery life. According to the press release, battery life could get "up to 10 years for certain enabled IoT devices."

SEE: Big data and IoT matter to 56% of organizations (Tech Pro Research)

For those unfamiliar, LTE-M is short for LTE-MTC (machine-type communications). It is optimized for handling the transfer of data between connected machines or devices, and can be

macOS 10.12 Sierra review

By the time you read this, the latest version of Mac OS X – sorry – macOS, will be available to download from the App Store. macOS 10.12 Sierra, to give it its full title, finally sees Apple move away from the OS X nomenclature given to every version of its desktop operating system since 2001.

You might be thinking, "Why macOS?" Well, the answer is simple: the new naming convention brings it in line with Apple's other operating systems: iOS,watchOS and tvOS. After previously naming versions of OS X after big cats of some description, the company turned to locations in California for recent releases.


This latest one name-checks Sierra County, which is home to the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountain range depicted in the default wallpaper. And it looks awesome on a Retina display.

How to download macOS Sierra right now

Apple tends to release new versions of macOS with a "tick, tock" cadence. Back in 2009 it followed up OS X 10.5 Leopard, which introduced hundreds of new features and improvements, with Snow Leopard – a performance-focused update. It repeated the trick with Sierra's predecessor, OS X 10.11 El Capitan, which was basically a much faster version of Yosemite with a few new multi-tasking features baked in for good measure.





Instead of using the new name as an opportunity to overhaul OS X, Apple has made Sierra another iterative release in the vein of its recent predecessors.

However, it makes a clear attempt at swinging the focus back to

5 Reasons to Install macOS Sierra Right Now & How to Upgrade

It’s been a few years since we’ve seen a release that featured any truly new features, and Sierra doesn’t do a whole lot to buck the trend. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t upgrade. You definitely should if you use iOS or have an Apple Watch (CA, UK).

So here’s why you should upgrade, how to upgrade, and how to save the installer for use on any other Macs.

At Last: Siri on the Mac

It seems odd that Apple has waited so long to bring their smart assistant to desktop users, but that’s exactly what macOS Sierra does. Apple users have long had a degree of voice control for their Macs, including dictation features, but Siri is a real step forward. The voice-powered assistant will do just about anything the iOS counterpart can, with the exception of interacting with third-party apps.

After you’ve installed Sierra you’ll get an option to enable Siri, after which you’ll be able to trigger the feature by clicking the icon in the dock, or in your Mac menu bar. By default, you can also activate Siri by holding down Command + Space, a keyboard shortcut you can reconfigure under Settings > Siri.

Use Siri as you would Spotlight — for finding files, for converting currency or performing simple sums, for checking the weather, and more. Siri can find you images on the web, or find images you have taken yourself. You can even pin certain results to Notification Center by clicking the plus + logo that appears in the result window.

Share Your iOS & macOS Clipboard

One of the best features for iPhone and iPad users running iOS 10 is the new Universal Clipboard feature. Make sure you’re logged in to the same iCloud account on any iOS devices and your Mac, and have Handoff enabled on both devices. It uses Continuity so relies on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to do the heavy lifting, and nothing is sent to Apple’s servers (transfers take place locally).

Text works instantly: copy something on your iPad and paste it on your Mac. Images take a little more work, as you can’t simply “paste” an image into Finder. Instead you’ll need to paste into an app like Preview via the File > New from Clipboard menu bar option.

To disable the feature, you’ll need to disable Handoff entirely, which allows you to quickly fetch active tabs, unfinished email, third party features like notes in Evernote on other devices. Head to Settings > General > Handoff on iOS, or System Preferences > General > Allow Handoff to disable the feature entirely.

Better Search & Photo Organization

Just like iOS 10, macOS Sierra’s Photos app is smarter and can identify objects, faces, scenes, and sort images by location. When you first launch Photos after upgrading to Sierra, it will begin to scan your library to identify and sort your images. This process can take some time (it took over 12 hours on my iPhone 6).

Once Photos has completed its initial scan, your photos are far more searchable than they had been before. A new album for People will appear, and you can assign each face to a contact for better organization. You can search for places like “beach,” objects like “coffee,” animals like “cat” and anything else you’re looking for.

More Storage Management Options

If you’ve got a MacBook with a small SSD, you’ll be delighted with the new Storage Managementinterface which provides a few options for making the most of the space you’ve got. There’s an option to put all your files and photos in iCloud, and only keep your recently opened files and optimized photos locally on your Mac.

Another option called Optimize Storage allows you to automatically remove iTunes films and TV shows from your Mac after watching them. You can also automatically empty the trash every 30-days, and an option to Reduce Clutter helps you find large files that you rarely access and clean them up.

The Storage Management app also tells you how much space applications like GarageBand and Mail are using. Anecdotally, I noticed that macOS Sierra left me with around an additional 30 GB of free disk space after the install, which doesn’t include the 5 GB occupied by the installer.

Unlock With Apple Watch

Head to System Preferences > Security and Privacy and click on the padlock, then input your password. You can now check the option to allow your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac automatically. Whenever you’re within range and you wake your Mac up, it will unlock automatically from now on.

Just like Universal Clipboard, Apple Watch relies on Continuity so you’ll have to have Handoff enabled under Settings > General > Handoff for it to work.

And the Rest

There are of course a bunch of other improvements, including:

• A better Apple Music experience, though technically this is part of the latest iTunes update (but it’s out now, so knock yourselves out).
• Messages can now display all of the new iOS 10 iMessage tricks, like full screen decorations and bubble effects. You can’t send these effects, but you’ll get new emoji that’s three times bigger than it was previously.
• You can now pay for purchases on support websites with Apple Pay. Simply flash your phone when prompted, as you would any other purchase.
• New wallpapers — and who doesn’t love Apple’s wallpapers?
• Sierra also includes the usual security updates and under-the-hood tweaks, which is good news for everyone.

Installing macOS Sierra

I can’t stress this enough: back up your Mac before you install! Operating system upgrades can fail, putting you in a position where you need to reinstall the operating system entirely. Connect a spare USB drive and run Time Machine or use a third-party backup solution if you want.5 Local Mac Backup Solutions That Aren't Time Machine 5 Local Mac Backup Solutions That Aren't Time MachineThere are lots of Mac backup options out there, and many of them have features that Apple's default backup app just can't compete with.READ MORE

You’ll also want to make sure you have enough free space to install the upgrade. Apple recommends 8 GB of free space, but you could push this a little further for peace of mind. If you have any essential third-party apps then you might want to check they work with Sierra before you upgrade by visiting the developer’s website. Last of all, consider making a bootable USB installation just in case things go very wrong.

Next download macOS Sierra using the Mac App Store. It’s currently found on the Featured tab, or you can simply search for it. The download size is around 4.7 GB, and the install procedure will take around 30 minutes to an hour.

Note: If you have multiple Mac computers, you can save the installer so that you don’t have to download it more than once. Simply copy the “Install macOS Sierra” application from your Applications folder to a removable drive. You can’t save the file after you’ve upgraded, as the installer deletes this file on completion.

To begin the installation procedure, launch the Install macOS Sierra application and follow the instructions. When you restart into Sierra you’ll have to enter your iCloud password, and complete the setup. Your computer may be a bit slow until it has been optimized for use with the new software, and you may encounter a few problems with existing apps until they are updated.