The little Clock app on your iOS device is useful for setting timers, configuring your alarms, and getting information on what time it is in other parts of the world.
But did you know that most of its functionality can be accessed through Siri without you having to unlock your device? It's true, and it's awesome. To get started, invoke Siri by either holding down the Home button until you hear the characteristic beeps or by bringing your iPhone up to your ear (depending on how you've got things configured within Settings> General> Siri).
Here are the kinds of things you can say:
1. Setting alarms. Tell Siri to set an alarm for a specific time ("wake me up at 8"). You could instead use an interval if you want to nap ("wake me up in one hour"), change any existing alarms you have ("change my 9:30 alarm to 9 a.m."), or toggle it off completely ("turn off my alarm").
2. Getting time specifics. Ask Siri what time it is in any city to get that info. Impress your friends! Amaze your family! Look like a total dork at a restaurant!
3. Set a timer. Ask Siri to set a timer for any amount of time (up to 24 hours). This is especially handy for cooking, but every time I use it, I think about what an expensive egg timer my iPhone is.
Just like with the alarms, you can stop your timer through Siri, too ("stop the timer"), and then start it up again ("resume timer"). You can also see how much longer you've got to go ("view timer"). Whew!
I think Siri started getting tired of my shenanigans at this point.
Pretty much the only thing within the Clock app you can't ask Siri to do is start the Stopwatch, so otherwise, this functionality is neat! Heck, if I could get away with it, I'd make Siri do everything for me, including returning my phone calls. Do you think Apple would come out with a passable Melissa voice if I asked them nicely?