Siri, Apple’s new voice control feature available exclusively in the iPhone 4S, is basically your personal servant when it comes to accessing data through the device. However, there are certain things it can’t do, like pulling up third-party applications and accessing system preferences — that is, until now.
Tyrannical iPhone owners can now force Siri to launch the aforementioned tasks thanks to a new hack discovered today, reports The Verge. The hack works by adding javascript to a new entry in the phone’s contact list, which Siri does have access to.
To enable shortcuts for preferences and applications, you must first create a new contact and name it accordingly. Then, you’ll need to paste the javascript for that shortcut into the contact’s URL field. Once you save the entry, the shortcut should be accessible by asking Siri to pull up that particular contact, which will allow you to tap the URL link to launch the shortcut.
The process is involved and doesn’t seem too useful since you still have to tap the link to launch the shortcut command. In most cases, it probably takes just as long for you to open up the app or system preference screen manually. I’d imagine that Apple will probably prevent iPhone users from being able to do this in future updates to iOS 5.
If anyone feels like demonstrating their arbitrary authority over Siri using the hack, please link us to a demo video in the comments below. (Or, you could just tell us about your experience.)
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