And unlike Siri, Dictation Commands “know” about your documents, files, windows, calendars, and the items you have selected, and can control the applications you use to assist you with the tasks you want to perform. However, Siri’s awareness and control of your actual computer environment is limited to rudimentary things like performing searches and opening folders.ĭictation Commands are “local,” meaning that no internet connection or communication is required, everything you need for them to work is on your computer.

You press a little microphone button, start talking, and it transcribes your speech into text.

Siri is very good at those type of tasks. What are all the dictation commands in iOS (iOS 10) Ask Question Asked 5 years, 9 months ago Modified 3 years, 9 months ago Viewed 8k times 2 iOS (10) has a speech-recognition-based dictation feature. Generally, Siri functions as a virtual assistant performing secretarial duties, such as setting reminders, making appointments, looking up places, and gathering information from outside of your computer. That is why your computer must be connected to the internet in order for Siri to work. Your interactions with Siri in macOS are actually communications with Apple’s computers over the internet. Siri in macOS is based upon an entirely different set of technologies than Dictation Commands, and offers very different functionality and abilities.

You might be asking yourself “Are Dictation Commands the same as Siri in macOS?” and “Doesn’t Siri in macOS do the same kind of things?”

Apple dictation commands