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- Siri's Shortcuts feature makes it easier for the virtual assistant to streamline tasks on your phone.
- Apple launched Shortcuts in the fall, and now a handful of new apps have announced support for the feature.
Siri has existed since the iPhone 4s debuted in 2011, but Apple's voice-enabled virtual assistant has become much more useful in recent years.
That's because Siri is more than just a question-and-answer machine; it learns about your iPhone usage habits and puts those observations to use proactively.
For example, Apple launched a new feature called Siri Shortcuts with its iOS 12 software this past fall, which makes it possible for Siri to make suggestions based on your usage habits and streamline tasks. A handful of companies like American Airlines, food delivery startup Caviar, and glucose monitoring system maker Dexcom recently added shortcuts to their apps, joining the thousands that Apple says already support the feature.
Shortcuts is one of several enhancements Apple has made to Siri in recent years as companies like Google and Amazon have aggressively expanded the capabilities of their own respective virtual assistants.
See below for a few useful Shortcuts and other clever ways Siri can help you save time.