Apple CarPlay Road Trip: What you can and can not ask Siri while driving

carplayoadtriptingautoconnectedcarIf you are addicted to talking to Siri on your phone and want to carry over the relationship to your car, you’re in luck because Siri is coming into cars through Apple CarPlay.

When I tested CarPlay for a review, I discovered that along with sending/reading text messages and email, CarPlay will Tweet and post to Facebook but also Siri will answer lots of practical, crazy and fun questions.

Siri is much stricter than Android Auto of what she’ll answer but I still got her to voice some details that would make any road trip a fact-finding mission.

No Apple Picking

First off, Siri won’t reveal a lot about Apple, iPhones or Apple products on the road. If you ask her questions about where you buy an iPhone, when was the first iPhone released or other iOS matters she says, “A visit to Apple.com would help you, when you are not driving of course.”

Like any good conversation starter Siri will reveal her background -“Where was Siri made?” I asked.

“I Siri was designed by Apple in California,” Siri replied through the 8 speakers in the Hyundai Elantra Limited Edition.

Siri listens too much to her own PR machine and tells us what she wants us to hear. Yes even, Siri lies in social conversation because Siri was purchased by Apple in 2010. Siri was originally an app by SRI International Artificial Intelligence Center, and was a subset of the DARPA-funded CALO project. Siri was co-founded by SRI’s Dag Kittlaus (CEO) and Adam Cheyer (VP Engineering) and by Tom Gruber (CTO).

Although Siri is not exactly honest, I have to admit Siri knows, her dates, facts, calculations, stocks, geography, sports, food and also says some of those fun answers that iPhone users have been giggling over for years.

Siri Saves the Dates

If you forget upcoming dates for holidays while driving such as —When is Memorial Day? When is Labor Day? When is Election Day? When is Thanksgiving? Just push the voice command button on the steering wheel with an iPhone connected via a lighting cable with CarPlay launched and Siri will give you the exact dates.

When was the Declaration of Independence signed? Not July 4th but August 2, 1776.

 Siri Has Age Wisdom

When did Nancy Reagan die? Sunday, March 6, 2016. When did Prince die? Thursday, April 21, 2016. How old was Prince was he died? 57 years 10 months and 14 days.

What is the average age in the United States?  37.2 years. How old is Elon Musk? (44) How old is Hillary Clinton(68) are older than the average age.  While Donald Trump is older than Hillary Clinton at 70 years and five days (today).

Geography Siri-Style

When driving some people like to know the details of geography— How long is the Great Wall of China? How high is the Great Wall of China? How long is the Mississippi River? How long is the Amazon River?

How high is Mount Everest? Siri replies, I found a Wikipedia article, would you like me to read it? Say, yes, and then Siri will read to you.

How far away is Beijing China? or How far away is London England? How far away is New Delhi India? Siri will tell distances as the crow files but won’t map and you’ll get an error screen, informing you that “Directions Not Available.”

driectionsnotavailable

What time is it in New York? What time is it in London, England? What day of the week is it in Sydney Australia? What time is it in New Delhi? She’s got times and international dateline things all figured out.

Sports Shorts

When is then next NFL game in Los Angeles? Siri already knows when the new Los Angeles RAMs will be playing this fall.

Who won the NBA championships? Who won the Superbowl? Who won the soccer finals? Siri has all the game scores for the MBL, NFL, NCAA, NCCA Basketball, WNBA, NHL or soccer. She’ll also tell you about the players.

Definitions Spelled Out for You

13 is a lucky number for Siri because she can define triskaidekaphobia as well as spell triskaidekaphobia.

Siri can define most popular words in politics nowadays when you ask  or to define and spell Philanderer or “What is collusion?”

Dog Gone it

How long does a Doberman Pinscher live? (About 10 years) How long does a German Shepard live? (About 14 years) How long a Poodle live? (About 13.5 years)

Siri Speaks Many Languages

If you are bi-lingual, or just feel like hearing a different language, Siri knows your language say, “Speak to me in French.” “Speak to me in German.” “Speak to me in Russian.” Siri responds, “I speak several languages you can set one to change the language I speak and understand you could do that in Siri settings I speak multiple forms of Chinese Dutch English French German Italian and Spanish I can also speak Arabic, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Brazilian, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish and Turkish.

Siri n’ Star Trek

Siri is big Star Trek fan because when you say, “Speak to me in Klingon,” you get the same answer as for other languages of this planet. Trekkies can ask Siri “When did Gene Roddenberry die? He died on October 24, 1991, at age 70.  Ask Siri, “How many episodes are there are there of the original Star Trek?” 80 she answers.

The most fun Trekkies will have with Siri is the phrase, “Beam me up, Scotty!” Her replies include:

  • “Sorry, Captain your tricorder is in airplane mode.”
  • “Energizing.”
  • “Can I see your badge please?”
  • “Sorry, Scotty has left the building.”
  • “Can you move a little to the left. OK. Stand by”.

It’s a long running joke for iPhone users. You won’t get an answer for “How many times a day do iPhone users, say, “Beam me up Scotty?” though.

Numbers, Calculations

Siri knows her numbers, she will calculate pi and then tell you the date of is Pi Day.

What is the price of gasoline in New York or California? She’ll tell you but be forewarned Angelenos will be jealous of other state’s gas prices. What is the population of Los Angeles? What is the population of New York City? There are more people in New York but they have cheaper gas.

Temperatures can be confusing. Tell Siri to Convert 80 degrees Fahrenheit to Celsius (26.7) she knows what to do.

How much should I tip on a bill of $25? She’ll calculate 18%.

What is the value of Google stock? She’ll quote the amount and remind you it’s now called Alphabet.

Siri Food for Thought

How many calories in a McDonald’s hamburger? About 250.

How many calories is a cup of milk? 162 calories.

What are the ingredients in macaroni and cheese? She gives you the basics, macaroni, cheese and milk but not a whole recipe. What are the ingredients in chocolate chip cookies? What are the ingredients in corn flakes?

Beer is the universal liquid, both Android Auto and CarPlay know precisely “How many cups in a keg of beer?”

Where can I find buy marijuana legally? If you are in California, she will offer several local “dealers.”

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Weather I’m Right or Not?

Siri, Should I wear sunscreen today “No, it’s not going to be sunny was one answer.” But if you ask “How far away is the Sun?” you’ll get exact details as with “When is the summer solstice?” “What is the date of the summer solstice?”

‘What is a booty call?” ”

I found a reference on Wikipedia would you like me to read it?” She doesn’t go into great detail because the entry is about the movie “Booty Call.”

Where or What?

You can ask Siri, “Where am I?” and “Are we there yet?” and she’s pretty accurate, most of the time.

Siri’s Sense of Humor

While driving through a rather smelly part of town and if you ask Siri, “Who farted?” she’ll reply “No comment.”

Siri has a different sense of humor than most humans, “Tell me a knock-knock joke,” I requested.

“Knock knock who’s there? Lynn. Lynn who? Lynn, I don’t do knock knock jokes.” I thought it was funny the first time I heard it until I saw all the mentions on the Internet, later. She’s got the same routine in for CarPlay as on iPhones.

“Siri, What is the meaning of life?”

“I can’t answer that ha,ha,ha,ha.”

She even gets the last laugh.

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What kinds of crazy questions have you asked Siri using CarPlay? If you have questions and answers that you must share, let us know in the comments below.

Read CarPlay Review, Read Android Auto Review.