Siri doesn't work on MacBook. How to enable and use Siri on Mac, assistant capabilities running macOS Sierra

Since the release of Siri in 2011, Apple device users have been waiting for the appearance of a voice assistant on Mac computers. According to rumors, the personal assistant will become available after the release of the OS X 10.12 update this fall. However, try some voice commands With the help of “universal access” features you can already now.

The method described below will not provide full capabilities Apple's voice assistant. For example, you won’t be able to check the weather forecast or display the results of a football match, but you can easily use commands like: “Launch iTunes,” “Close Messages,” “New Tab,” and so on. Each command is preceded by a passphrase, which serves the same role as “Hey Siri” in iOS.

How to activate voice commands:

1. To begin, open " System Settings", then - the "Accessibility" panel. Scroll the contents of the left side of the window all the way down and select the “Dictation” section.
2. Check the box next to “Enable dictation by key phrase.”

How to add your commands

It is not necessary to use only the commands pre-installed in OS X. You can add your own phrases to expand your dictation capabilities.

1. Open Dictation Commands under Dictation.
2. A form will appear in which you can select a phrase that is used to trigger a particular action.
3. Check the "Enable advanced commands" checkbox.
4. Now you need to decide whether you want to use the command in a specific application or from anywhere on the system.
5. After this, you need to select the action that will be performed after the voice command. The possibilities are almost endless: from launching the desired URL in the browser to inserting a specific piece of text.

Examples of useful commands

Below are some examples of actions for which you should configure commands:

• Insert the most frequently used piece of text or address information.
• Shortcut Ctrl+Shift+3 to take a screenshot.
• Launching the Automator application, which is responsible for executing custom work scenarios.
• Insert any predefined data (images or other files).
• Opening required folders via Finder.

Options for action can be thought up endlessly. The main thing is that thanks to dictation, you can forget about many complex keyboard shortcuts and control them easily and simply using your voice.

IN macOS Sierra a feature has arrived that many users have been waiting for for many years. Voice is now available on Mac Siri assistant. By default, Siri's voice calling feature is turned off, but this is easy to fix. How exactly, read on.

So, to activate Siri using your voice, you will need to perform a number of simple steps.

1. System settings – Dictation and speech – turn on the Dictation function (note that the Use enhanced dictation option is also active; thanks to this, the OS will process commands without connecting to the Internet).

2. Main menu – Universal access – Dictation (in the sidebar) – activation Enable dictation key phrases (thanks to this you can configure the command for voice activation). Enter the first part of the phrase. You can also activate an alert for successful phrase recognition, as is implemented on iOS, or turn off audio output during dictation.

4. Next, press “+” and find the Siri option in the window above the plus sign. On the right side of the window, select the “When I speak” field and enter “Siri” in Russian. Next, select When using any program. Next to the Run field, select Siri using the Open Finder Items option.

It includes the one we already love on iOS voice assistant Siri, but you can ask for help from the smart assistant only after pressing a key combination. And sometimes you really want to know what the weather is like or play a song without leaving the couch.

After rummaging through the settings and browsing foreign forums, I finally found a way to launch Siri without resorting to the keyboard.

Step-by-step instructions for setting up Siri voice calling on Mac

1. Opening Mac settings OS, then “keyboard” and select the “dictation” tab. Turn on dictation and check the box “use enhanced dictation” (this is important).
2. Now we return to the initial settings menu, go to “universal access” and select “dictation”. Here we need to enter a key phrase, let it be the word “Hello”.
   
3. In the same window, click “dictation commands”, check the “enable advanced commands” checkbox and click +
   
4. Here in the top field we enter the word by which our voice assistant will be launched, it is logical that this word will be Siri. We leave the second field unchanged, and in the third you need to enter the key combination that currently launches the assistant.
   

Note: You can find out this combination by clicking "Siri" in settingsMac.

Important: By default, you can call Siri holding keys option And space. But if you want to launch the assistant by voice, you will have to change the standard combination to any other. The main condition is that there is no action " hold" That is, you can simply change to pressing option space.

This completes the setup process, now you can say “Hey Siri” and command from a distance.

It’s not difficult to guess that in addition to how to call Siri on a Mac by voice, in a similar way you can configure the launch of other programs, as well as perform many other actions.

This is another way to contact your Apple device without using your hands. Of course not everyone this setting will be useful, but users who live by the principle “Laziness is the engine of progress” will undoubtedly be interested in trying it!)

Good news for those who have always dreamed of controlling their computer using voice commands, just like in science fiction movies. Thanks to the dictation capabilities in OS X El Capitan, your cherished dream becomes a little closer.

In the new OS X, dictation has become more functional and allows the system to perform voice commands. But the most important thing is the recognition of key phrases (almost “Hey, Siri!”), With which you can interact with the computer without touching the trackpad and keyboard at all.

Turn on dictation

Set a key phrase

Without a passphrase, to execute the command you need to activate dictation by pressing the Fn key (default), but it is much more convenient to do this using your voice, so we will set up a passphrase.

Adding your own commands

By default, the system already has a ready-made list of commands for interacting with basic functions and standard applications, but if necessary, it can be easily expanded by making dictation work with third party applications. To do this, simply add the appropriate commands.

How it works in practice

After all the settings, you can use dictation as a voice assistant. I set “Mac” as a key phrase and now activate commands by saying: “Mac, take a photo of me” or “Mac, new document" and so on. The accuracy of operation is far from ideal, but usually, if a command is not recognized the first time, then it will definitely work the second (well, at most the third).

Yes, it's not Siri yet, but it's already something. And if regular users If you would rather operate a computer in a traditional way, then for people with disabilities, smarter dictation will be a great help, allowing you to switch between applications, manipulate text, search for content and do many other things. Until Apple has built Siri into OS X, you can use this trick with dictation.

On iOS devices work " Hey Siri" provides an M9 motion coprocessor that receives data from the microphone without putting additional strain on the battery. Since battery consumption is not a big problem on Macs (especially on iMac, Mac Pro and Mac mini), the Cupertino team's decision to abandon support for the feature is surprising, to put it mildly. However, it turns out that users can easily recreate the “Hey Siri” experience in macOS Sierra.

macOS Sierra in-depth review

How it works?

Simulate work " Hey Siri" on Mac, the " " function will help, using the Siri engine to convert spoken speech into text. Using the settings, you need to create a “hot” word so that “Dictation” is always configured to receive data entered using voice. First, you should configure Dictation so that the feature is activated when the user says “Hello.” Secondly, you need to create a command to activate the keyboard shortcut that “wake up” Siri. Once done, users will be able to use their voice to activate Siri. So, in order:

1 . Go to " System Settings" and select Siri.

In the drop-down menu " Keyboard shortcuts" Press " Tune" to assign a specific keyboard shortcut to activate Siri.

2 . Press the keys you selected on your keyboard. For example, this could be a combination Control (⌃)+Command (⌘)+7 . Now it needs to be bound to " Dictation».

3 . Open " System Settings" and click on " Universal access».

From the menu on the left, select the option " Dictation" In the section on the right, check the box next to “ Include keywords" and type on the keyboard " Hello».

ATTENTION! If the item " Include keywords» inactive, open System Settings -> Keyboard, go to the tab Dictation and press Use Enhanced Dictation.

You need to download the package " Improved dictation“, and then restart your computer.

4 . Click on the button Dictation commands" A menu will appear with various commands.

Now you need to check the box next to “ Enable extended commands"(located in the section at the bottom left) and click on the sign " + «.

5 . In the section on the right in the field " When I speak» enter the word in Russian « Siri».

6 . Open the menu " Execute", select the option " Press keyboard shortcut» and press the keys selected in steps 1 and 2.

7 . Click on the button Ready" and close " System Settings».

8 . Restart your computer (sometimes it starts working without rebooting).

Having done all of the above, you will create the command " Dictations» to activate Siri. A microphone icon will appear in your Mac's menu bar, indicating that the " Dictation"is on all the time and ready to receive commands.

What's really going on?

It may seem like a bit of black magic to wake up Siri using your voice on a Mac, but that's not the case at all. In fact, after you have said the word " Hello", the function " Dictation", which is after the word " Siri» activates your chosen keyboard shortcuts, which in turn activate Siri.