Siri

Known Siri Commands

Known Siri commands that work with a TV or Audio Receiver accessory are:

You can control the accessory by using the name:

• "Hey Siri, turn on AccessoryName": turns on the TV/Audio Receiver
• "Hey Siri, turn off AccessoryName": turns off the TV/Audio Receiver
• "Hey Siri, start AccessoryName": turns on the TV/Audio Receiver
• "Hey Siri, stop AccessoryName": turns off the TV/Audio Receiver
• "Hey Siri, pause AccessoryName": Siri says "Stopping on the AccessoryName" and shows an AirPlay Connecting dialog but doesn't do anything

As you can see, the commands are limited to power on and off. Unfortunately, this is an Apple limitation.

Hopefully Apple will improve Siri control in the future. If you find any more commands, let me know!

Workarounds for other Siri Commands

Luckily, there are ways of overcoming Apple's Siri limitations for Television channel control. For the methods shown below, you must create a shortcut or a scene for each channel. Depending on how many channels you watch, this may be a few or it may be a lot.

Siri Control via Shortcuts

1. Use the Shortcuts app and create a shortcut for the desired channel (switching the TV or Audio Receiver on and setting the channel accordingly). You can of course add anything else to the shortcut: turn down lights, turn on stereo, close the blinds, etc.
2. Name the shortcut with the desired channel name
3. Then you can say "Hey Siri channelName" and Siri will execute the shortcut with that name.

You could also create a shortcut which brings up a menu and allows you to select a channel by voice command. Then you just have one shortcut to maintain.

Siri Control via Scenes

1. Create a scene containing the configuration of the set-top box (power and channel) and any other items (stereo, lights, blinds).
2. Name the scene with the desired name
3. Then you can say "Hey Siri turn on sceneName" and Siri will turn on the respective scene.

You may find that Scenes may provide you with more natural language control than a shortcut.

Scene Examples for enhanced Siri TV Control

• Hey Siri CNN: Directly switch the TV to the analog CNN channel (assuming it is on channel 100). Create an input called CNN, and configure it to send the key sequence KEY_TV wait(200) KEY_1 KEY_0 KEY_0 KEY_ENTER, with the TV turned ON.

• Hey Siri TV Mute: Create an input called TV Mute which sends the key code KEY_MUTE. Create a Scene called TV Mute, Configure the TV in the scene to be On, and set to the input Mute.

• Hey Siri TV Volume Up/Down: Create two inputs, each called Volume Up and Volume Down, which send the key code KEY_VOLUP or KEY_VOLDOWN respectively. Create two Scenes: TV Volume Up and TV Volume Down, Configure the TV in each scene to be On, and set to the input Volume Up or Volume Down respectively.