Siri used by 87% of iPhone 4S owners, study claims

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014


Research from an unreleased study found that some 87 percent of iPhone 4S owners use at least one of the features offered by Apple's Siri each month, lending evidence that the virtual assistant is a notable differentiator from competing devices.



Consulting firm Parks Associates surveyed 482 owners of Apple's iPhone 4S, the only device to support Siri functionality, and plans to release the full study later this week, reports The Wall Street Journal.



Despite the relatively high number of active users, the survey found that most users don't leverage Siri's full set of features and only ask the voice-recognizing service to complete routine phone tasks. Some of these functions, like placing phone calls and listening to music, were available in previous non-Siri iterations of the iPhone.



According to the study, about one third of users place phone calls, send texts or look up information daily with Siri while other services like playing music and scheduling meetings saw minimal adoption numbers with 32 percent and 35 percent, respectively.



Users were split on Siri's email creation feature, as 30 percent of owners said they never used the service while 26 percent claimed to dictate mail almost daily.



The divide in usage is indicative of the study's finding that Siri is a polarizer, with some users saying it is “best thing since the invention of toast” and others seeing it as "very disappointing.” Overall, around 55 percent of users were satisfied with Siri, 9 percent were unsatisfied and the remaining respondents were in the middle.



Introduced alongside the iPhone 4S in October 2011, Siri set itself apart from competing voice-recognition services with its ability to understand normal speech patterns. Still technically a beta product, Siri allows somewhat natural interaction without requiring users to memorize a list of commands.





Apple's newest iPhone 4S ad featuring Siri.







Siri is not without its faults, however, and some users complain that background noise and accents sometimes flummox the service. For example, when it was first launched, Siri had three versions of English available: American, British and Australian. Apple recently rolled out support for Japanese, though performance was hit-and-miss.



Though many regions don't yet offer the full functionality enjoyed by U.S. users, Apple is constantly updating Siri to include a wider swath of its user base. A report on Monday noted that Apple's Siri development team may be working with ESPN to add sports scores to the service.



[ View article on AppleInsider ]

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    My dad absolutly loves it and couldn't live with out it plus it's just going to get better. I would really like to see this technology on my Macbook though as I no longer have a iPhone. Kind of like an updated clippy if you will. While programming to meet a dead line Siri good read me my emails and messages and I can also respond all while Netbeans is in the foreground. Start programs more naturely, set crontabs for programs to go off at a certain time, open websites. I know you can do a lot of tbat now but no where near as well as Siri could. A virtual assistant would be invaluable.



    I was really upset to find out that the my new iPad didn't have Siri. Well thank goodness for Jail Break right guys.
  • Reply 2 of 26
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    And we heard so much bullshit (most of it anecdotal, mind you) about how barely anyone used Siri.



    lending evidence that the virtual assistant is a notable differentiator from competing devices.



    No kidding. Who in their right mind didn't think it was?
  • Reply 3 of 26
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Relic View Post


    I was really upset to find out that the my new iPad didn't have Siri. Well thank goodness for Jail Break right guys.



    While jailbreaking is decidedly legal, your theft of server uptime falls into a much greyer area.
  • Reply 4 of 26
    monstrositymonstrosity Posts: 2,234member
    My favourite is "siri, what is £100 with compounded interest of 17% over 5 years" to which an extensive answer is given.
  • Reply 5 of 26
    myapplelovemyapplelove Posts: 1,515member
    I d like to read a study estimating the amount of time Siri is being told to eff herself, since in my circle of friends what with siri's current state of development it's very frequent.
  • Reply 6 of 26
    macbook promacbook pro Posts: 1,605member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    And we heard so much bullshit (most of it anecdotal, mind you) about how barely anyone used Siri.



    lending evidence that the virtual assistant is a notable differentiator from competing devices.



    No kidding. Who in their right mind didn't think it was?



    Ever talk to a Android proponent? I have been informed dozens if not hundreds of times that "Android can do that too!"
  • Reply 7 of 26
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    Count me as one who turns it off. Let me know when it has better dependability than me opening up safari and clicking the "google" box.
  • Reply 8 of 26
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member
    I wonder if Apple keeps tabs on certain key words that are used in SIRI? Such as Bomb. Or maybe a phrase like how do I build a nuclear bomb? And if so does it fall under the homeland security's right to sensor such things and then track you down?
  • Reply 9 of 26
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member
    When will SIRI not be a beta.. Has any one said? When it is not a beta then will it be available on iPad Via app store update or IOS update?
  • Reply 10 of 26
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tylerk36 View Post


    When will SIRI not be a beta.. Has any one said? When it is not a beta then will it be available on iPad Via app store update or IOS update?



    I think it's safe to say that no past iPad will ever be getting Siri officially.



    And the iPhone 4 likely won't, either.
  • Reply 11 of 26
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    I think it's safe to say that no past iPad will ever be getting Siri officially.



    And the iPhone 4 likely won't, either.



    There goes my theory about Siri needing retina-display to run, then...
  • Reply 12 of 26
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    While jailbreaking is decidedly legal, your theft of server uptime falls into a much greyer area.



    Um I think you just unwillingly told me that Apple has an investment on this site and that your bound by contract to scold me. So is that why Siri wasn't introduced with the new iPad, their servers weren't ready for the massive amount of traffic the new iPad would have brought. Makes sense but then again I don't care, they are a multi billion dollar company that over charges for their products especially in Europe. Did you know that even though the Swiss Franc is higher then the US dollar we still have to pay more. We have to tack on like 150 bucks on top of every Apple product bought here, so server theft be damned, they can afford it.



    I figure I earned the right to steal Siri then, the right to read and write to a SD card as I choose fit, the right to do what I want with my files via the terminal, customize my desktop and icons as I feel fit, install a AMP server for custom HTML5 apps, add save to PSD in safari and iWork apps, install a Java 7.0 SDK, FTP server, the right to finally mount my iPad as a normal drive when plugged into any computer. The benefits of Jail Break, thank you hacker community for righting the wrongs making my iPad a true computer replacement.
  • Reply 13 of 26
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Andysol View Post


    Count me as one who turns it off. Let me know when it has better dependability than me opening up safari and clicking the "google" box.



    Hopefully Apple is working on a version of Siri that understands Texan.
  • Reply 14 of 26
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Doctor David View Post


    Hopefully Apple is working on a version of Siri that understands Texan.



    If it can understand my horrible accent when speaking english then I'm sure Texan is a breeze.
  • Reply 15 of 26
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Relic View Post


    So is that why Siri wasn't introduced with the new iPad, their servers weren't ready for the massive amount of traffic the new iPad would have brought.



    No, it's because half the models wouldn't be guaranteed its use at all, and the other half wouldn't be guaranteed its use at all times.



    The iPhone, with its forced data plan, is a known known when it comes to network connections.



    Quote:

    Did you know that even though the Swiss Franc is higher then the US dollar we still have to pay more.



    That's VAT and international infrastructure.



    Quote:

    We have to tack on like 150 bucks on top of every Apple product bought here, so server theft be damned, they can afford it.



    That's not a justification.



    Quote:

    I figure I earned the right to steal…



    It can't be justified, regardless of how you look at it. But again, the entire idea is a little nebulous.
  • Reply 16 of 26
    monstrositymonstrosity Posts: 2,234member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Relic View Post


    ... they are a multi billion dollar company that over charges for their products especially in Europe.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Relic View Post


    ... they can afford it.



    Like a modern day Robin Hood...

    You can't justify theft (except perhaps with yourself) with as weak a justification as above.

    You realise there is a higher cost of doing business in Europe right? You realise there are higher taxes?

    Perhaps you should blame your government for bureaucracy and red tape, and for carving your socialist mindset which has lead you to steal.
  • Reply 17 of 26
    I find that SIRI is absolutely rubbish. It doesn't understand what is said and most of the functionality is US only.



    I have switched it off as have most people I know who have the 4s.



    I don't believe that 80%+ of users actually have this rubbish switched on!
  • Reply 18 of 26
    ...primarily for quick access to timers, alarms, and for adding items to my shopping list while rooting around in my pantry.



    My secondary usage is as a front end to Yelp and Wolfram Alpha.



    It works fine for me except when I speak in long sentences or if I pause to think.



    At other times I do not wish to speak aloud or can use two hands more quickly to get at the answer.
  • Reply 19 of 26
    vandilvandil Posts: 187member
    Lots of those who use Siri simply use her for amusement, especially as an amusing demo for non-iPhone4s-having friends/family. I bet "where can I hide a dead body" and "open the pod bay doors" are the two most used queries.
  • Reply 20 of 26
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by monstrosity View Post


    Like a modern day Robin Hood...

    You can't justify theft (except perhaps with yourself) with as weak a justification as above.

    You realise there is a higher cost of doing business in Europe right? You realise there are higher taxes?

    Perhaps you should blame your government for bureaucracy and red tape, and for carving your socialist mindset which has lead you to steal.





    Uum, I installed Siri onto my iPad not taking money from a Homeless Childrens Fund. Calm down, did all that make you feel better reverend.



    The main reason for the higher costs is to protect Apple against currency fluctuations, which could expose the company to reduced (or even potentially eliminated) margins. However since the US Dollar is so low, Apple is making a further killing off of us. The price needs to be adjusted.
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