How to Use Siri on Apple Watch to Navigate Apps & More
Learn how to add or remove Siri from Apple Watch plus discover all the ways you can navigate your apps, start workouts, answer questions, and make calls.
Siri is the Apple voice-activated assistant that can help you navigate your devices. If you are wondering how do you get Hey Siri to work, I will walk you through activation, picking from the Apple voices list to personalize your assistant and other Apple Siri settings.
Related: Siri Tips & Tricks: 21 Useful Things You Can Ask Siri
What Is Siri App
Siri is the Apple voice-activated assistant that can help you open apps, send messages, and even change your settings. Does Apple Watch have Siri? Yes! Does Siri work on Wi-Fi? Yes, Siri works on Wi-Fi.
If you have a cellular Apple Watch, it will work on the cellular network whenever Wi-Fi isn’t available. I will take you through your Apple Siri settings, which you can open by saying, “Hey Siri, show me Siri settings.”
How to Activate Hey Siri on Your Apple Watch
To set up Siri on Apple Watch, you need to set Siri on your iPhone first. To learn more about using Siri with an iPhone, sign up for our free Tip of the Day newsletter.
- Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
- Tap Siri.
- Make sure that Listen for "Hey Siri," Raise to Speak, and Press Digital Crown is toggled on. You only need one of these toggled on to use Siri on your Apple Watch. If you don't have Hey Siri toggled on, you will have to activate Siri to manually use your virtual assistant hands-free.
Next, learn how to use Apple Watch Raise to Speak feature for Siri.
Older iPhone tip: Make sure that Press Side Button for Siri or Press Home for Siri is on if you have an older iPhone model. Once Siri is set up, you can use it to do different things like speak time unless you prefer to feel it tapped in Morse Code.
How to Customize Siri Using Apple Voices List
Did you know that you can change the gender and accent of your Siri assistant? There are only a few options, but it can be nice to switch things up. To personalize your Siri's voice, follow these steps:
- Open Settings on your iPhone.
- Tap Siri & Search.
- Select Siri Voice.
- Pick between American, Australian, British, Indian, Irish, and South African under VARIETY. Pick between Voice 1 and Voice 2 under VOICE.
Pro Tip: If English isn’t your preferred language or if you want to get some extra foreign language practice, you can change Siri to speak to you in a different language. You can do this by selecting Language in the Siri & Search settings.
How to Tailor Siri Settings on Your Apple Watch
- Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
- Tap Siri.
- Under Ask Siri, toggle how you want Siri to be activated.
- Scroll down to see your Language and Siri Voice settings.
- Under Voice Feedback, you can choose if you want Siri always to be on, control with silent mode, or headphones only.
- Under Voice Volume, you can control how loud Siri responds.
- Finally, if you tap Use with Siri, you can toggle which apps can be used with Siri.
- All your changes will be saved automatically.
Does Siri Work on Your Apple Watch without an iPhone?
You can use Siri on an Apple Watch with GPS without an iPhone as long as it is connected to Wi-Fi. If you have an Apple Watch with a cellular plan, you can use Siri and all other functions without your iPhone nearby.
How to Turn Off Siri on Apple Watch
Having Siri on your Apple Watch can make navigating so much easier. However, you can opt to turn it off if you want to stop using Siri on Apple Watch.
- Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
- Tap Siri.
- Toggle off Listen for “Hey Siri,” Raise to Speak, and Press Digital Crown.
If Siri is not answering, or Hey Siri voice recognition isn’t working, you can read this to learn how to troubleshoot Siri.
Bonus: Try These Siri Commands on Your Apple Watch
If you have Raise to Speak or Digital Crown activated, you don't have to say, "Hey Siri," otherwise you will need to include it when using these commands:
- Start a workout: "Start an outdoor run."
- Find out what song is playing: "What song is playing?"
- Open an app: "Open Sleep app."
- Get a question answered: "When does summer officially begin?"
- Find out the weather: "How warm is it today?"
These are just a few examples to get you started!
If you have an Apple Watch, Siri is a great way to navigate your watch. It can open apps, help you send texts and make calls, plus it can answer any questions by browsing the internet. Siri can be your personal Apple voice-activated assistant for all your needs! Next, learn how to use gestures to navigate your Apple Watch.
Olena Kagui
Olena Kagui is a Feature Writer at iPhone Life. In the last 10 years, she has been published in dozens of publications internationally and won an excellence award. Since joining iPhone Life in 2020, she has written how-to articles as well as complex guides about Apple products, software, and apps. Olena grew up using Macs and exploring all the latest tech. Her Maui home is the epitome of an Apple ecosystem, full of compatible smart gear to boot. Olena’s favorite device is the Apple Watch Ultra because it can survive all her adventures and travels, and even her furbabies.