Siri Messages Commands

Learning Siri commands is crucial to getting the most out of your iPhone and other Apple devices. But discovering what all Siri can do is challenging. That’s where this series comes in.

In this post, I tackle using Siri for messages. For instance, did you know there’s Siri commands to send, read, and search your text messages? Siri can even send group messages to multiple contacts all at once. And the best part is you can use these Siri commands for messages on more than just the iPhone, as the iPad and Apple Watch support these features too.

See the most common questions answered in the FAQ section, or view the complete list of Siri messages commands under Keeping Up With Siri in the table of contents below.

What’s new in iOS 16
- Emojis
- Automatic Message Sending
FAQs
Keeping Up With Siri

What’s new in iOS 16

Emojis

Now Siri can send emoji for you. Here’s an example:

“Hey Siri, tell Susan I’ll be right there happy emoji”

With this command, Siri will add the emoji to the text message.

Automatic Message Sending

Now you can remove the “Are you sure” question Siri gives before sending a message. To enable this feature, head over to Settings->Siri and Search. You’ll see the option there in iOS 16.

FAQs

Can Siri send text messages when my phone is locked?

No. You can tigger Siri while your phone is locked, but Siri will require you to login in order to send a text message.

When thinking about this action, you likely don’t want just anyone to be able to pick up your phone and start sending text messages. Authentication is important when considering text messaging.

Can Siri delete text messages?

Unfortunately, no. Siri does not have the ability to delete text messages. If you ask Siri “Hey Siri, delete my text message,” Siri will let you know it’s not possible.

Can siri read messages to me?

Yes. You can also ask Siri to read new messages or messages from a specific contact. Check out the Reading Commands.

Can Siri read messages on AirPods?

Yes. Try asking Siri the commands below on your AirPods. This ability is a cool feature with AirPods.

Can Siri read messages on Apple Watch?

Yes. Try asking Siri the commands below on your Apple Watch. Siri will read it aloud via the tiny speaker on your watch.

That said, I don’t recommend you use Siri to read messages on your Apple Watch. The volume is low and the sound quality overall is subpar, as the speaker on your watch isn’t great.

Can Siri read text messages?

Yes. You can find the Siri command to read text messages below.

Can Siri read text messages at a certain time?

Siri does not have the ability to schedule text message commands.

Can Siri read WhatsApp messages?

Yes. Siri has integration with WhatsApp using SiriKit. Try this command: “Hey Siri, read me my latest WhatsApp messages.”

Can Siri reply to a text message?

Yes. Siri can respond to text messages for you. Check out the commands to send messages. Siri can also understand who you mean when you use the word “her” or “him” as long as you’re looking at the text message in the Messages App.

Can Siri send a message without confirmation?

No. While you may be confident Siri heard you correctly, Siri isn’t so sure and needs to confirm the text message is correct before sending it. The plus side is this habit of Siri will always give you a chance to correct mistakes.

Can Siri read custom text out loud?

Yes! Learn how to make Siri speak text.

Keeping Up With Siri

Now that your burning questions are answered above, do you want to learn all of the messages commands Siri supports? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Welcome to Keeping Up With Siri. In this series, I outline Apple’s Siri Guide of the complete list of commands and capabilities Apple’s Voice Assistant can do. This post focuses on using Siri to send and receive text messages by using the Messages App on your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

With the majority of us using messaging on the daily, I find it surprising that messages isn’t ranked second—right behind phone commands–out of 28 total categories in Apple’s Siri Guide. Instead, it’s listed fourth. In my mind, messaging would be just as popular, if not more, than using Siri for Phone calls. Regardless, let’s see what Siri can do, and in the process, send my wife a ton of messages to show you how it’s done.

Sending Messages

“Hey Siri, tell Susan I’ll be right there”

This command shows you how to send a text message to any of your contacts with a single Siri command. Just replace “Susan” with someone from your contacts list.

For instance, when I give this command, Siri shows me this screen and asks me to confirm the message is correct before sending it.

I can say “yes” or click the send button myself. After verbally saying yes, Siri then says “OK, it’s sent.”

This command is quick, simple, and easy to do. Apple aims to save you time with sending text messages via Siri, so if you haven’t already, give this a try.

“Hey Siri, send a message to Brian Park”

When using Siri to send text messages, you also don’t need to provide the actual message itself within the command (like above).

Instead, after you give this command, Siri asks what message you would like to send to your contact. Once you provide the message, you get the same experience as before: Siri shows you the message and then asks if you want to send it.

When Siri asks you what you want to say, it highlights one of the big differences between Apple’s Voice Assistant and competitors. Siri strives to accept all commands from you. If Siri needs additional info, she’ll ask you. This means you don’t have to memorize a specific command. With Siri, you simply say what you want, and Siri will figure out the rest.

Overall, this command is great to use when you have a more complicated message to send.

“Hey Siri, send a message to Emily saying how about tomorrow”

This command yields exactly the same results as the first command in this section. The only difference here is you tell Siri to “send a message” instead of “Let <contact> know.”

Either way you phrase it, both commands highlight that Siri understands you want to send a text message and has the ability to do so.

“Hey Siri, tell Lindsey the show was great”

This command is another variation of the first command in this section. With this command, you’re able to substitute another phrase—this time “the show was great”—for your message.

With this command in mind, here are the two phrases Siri understands for sending text messages:

Send a message to <context> <message>
Tell <contact> <message>

“Hey Siri, send a message to Susan on her mobile saying I’ll be late”

When given this command, Siri knows the various ways you can contact Susan—one of them being the phone number labeled “mobile.”

This command highlights Siri’s ability to understand the deeper details from your contacts, just like you can with phone commands.

“Hey Siri, send a message to 408 555 1212”

You don’t need to specify a contact as the only way to send a message. You can also send a text to a number that you say aloud. Pay close attention to the confirmation message, though. Siri could get any of the digits wrong, causing you to send a message to someone you don’t intend.

“Hey Siri, text Brian and Emily where are you”

You can send group messages with Siri by supplying multiple contacts at once. And just like with the above commands, you’ll see a similar flow where after you give this command Siri will confirm the message and the contacts you’re sending it to before actually sending it.

Reading Message Alerts

“Hey Siri, read my new messages”

When you use this command, Siri will read unread messages, one at a time. After each message, Siri asks you if you’d like to reply before moving on to the next unread message.

Using Siri to read your unread messages is handy, but could be troublesome. Just make sure there isn’t anyone around who you may not want to hear your messages.

“Hey Siri, read it again”

This command only works in combination with the above command, “Hey Siri, read my new messages.” You can use this follow-up command to have Siri reread the last message she read aloud to you.

Responding to Messages

“Hey Siri, reply that’s great news”

This command is dependent on who your last message was to or what message you are currently looking at when you summon Siri.

If Siri can find a message and contact to reply to, then Siri will create a message and ask you to confirm it’s correct before sending. But if Siri can’t find a message to reply to, then Siri will ask you for a contact.

“Hey Siri, tell him I’ll be there in 10 minutes”

This command is similar to the above command, only this time, you don’t have to use the word “reply” for Siri to understand you want to send a follow-up message. Siri understands both verbs “reply” and “tell” when you’re replying to the last read message.

“Hey Siri, call her”

If you want to stop text messaging and start a voice chat instead, you can do just that with this Siri command. And just like with the previous two commands, Siri will find out who you want to call by looking at your previous commands and what message you are currently looking at. Once Siri figures out the right contact, a phone call will start.

“Hey Siri, FaceTime her”

In addition to using Siri to make phone calls, you can also use Siri to FaceTime.

Searching for Messages

“Hey Siri, read my last message from Emily”

Someone at Apple really likes the name Emily! Use this command to have Siri read the last message from Emily—or whatever contact you specify—aloud to you. Siri will read the last message and then ask if you want to reply, just like with the other messages in the Reading Message Alerts Section.

Siri has deep integration with the Messages App, letting you compose, send, read, and search text messages quickly and easily. Check out what else you can do with Apple’s Voice Assistant in Keeping Up With Siri Commands. In this series, I take the guesswork out of what Siri can do on your iPhone.

1 thought on “Siri Messages Commands”

Susan 10/09/2022 at 7:55 pm
I had a mishap with a text Siri sent. I was answering a friend in a text, and wanted Siri to read it back. I often say “Review” and then she reads it back. This time she kept saying “send it?” each time I said review. Finally, I said to my husband, I hate when she does this. He asked me what I was talking about. I said when Siri keeps asking, “Send it, send it.” Next thing I knew, she sent “I hate when she does this” to my friend. Thank goodness my friend believed me because it was a response to a question and easily could have been misinterpreted.