Siri integrates with iOS phonetic name records to speak contacts correctly
If the new Siri voice assistant feature in iOS 5 isn't recognizing or pronouncing the names of contacts correctly, entering a phonetic name field in the contact may solve the problem.
Previous versions of iOS have supported entering optional Phonetic First and Last Name fields, but for the iPhone 4S user, phonetic names are also a useful feature to optimize Siri's accuracy in name recognition and pronunciation.
For example, Siri initially failed to recognize a contact named Elias, instead recognizing the name as "Alliance." After entering "Eli Us" as a Phonetic First Name field however, Siri was able to recognize commands referencing the contact.
To set a phonetic name, simply edit the contact, select "add field," and then pick either a "Phonetic First Name" or "Phonetic Last Name." It makes sense to use voice dictation when entering in this field to let the iPhone invent the phonetic transcription.
After entering a phonetic version of the contact name, Siri correctly recognized the name when referenced in a voice request.
Siri voice assistant is one of the primary distinguishing features of the new iPhone 4S released last week, and its development team is reportedly one of the largest groups at Apple.
Previous versions of iOS have supported entering optional Phonetic First and Last Name fields, but for the iPhone 4S user, phonetic names are also a useful feature to optimize Siri's accuracy in name recognition and pronunciation.
For example, Siri initially failed to recognize a contact named Elias, instead recognizing the name as "Alliance." After entering "Eli Us" as a Phonetic First Name field however, Siri was able to recognize commands referencing the contact.
To set a phonetic name, simply edit the contact, select "add field," and then pick either a "Phonetic First Name" or "Phonetic Last Name." It makes sense to use voice dictation when entering in this field to let the iPhone invent the phonetic transcription.
After entering a phonetic version of the contact name, Siri correctly recognized the name when referenced in a voice request.
Siri voice assistant is one of the primary distinguishing features of the new iPhone 4S released last week, and its development team is reportedly one of the largest groups at Apple.
Comments
It still pronounces my wife's name wrong.
You just need to come up with a better phonetic approximation. Try different spellings and hyphenated syllable breaks to see what works.
For instance, I have a (female) friend named "Joell", but Siri pronounced it like "Joel." After setting the phonetic pronunciation as "Joe-el" Siri says it just like that, which is correct.
It still pronounces my wife's name wrong.
mine too.
It doesn't change the pronunciation of her name, no matter what I put in the first name phonetic field.
It does work for recognition. The voice recognition changed "Mariuccia" to "Muddy wood chuck", which then works when I say "Tell Mariuccia Hello". (I've since changed it to Muddy Ood Cha")
But when it reads back it pronounces "mary-ucksa".
Anyone know how to get it pronouncing right?
ps. Set to Australian English. I wonder if there's a bug there...
Can you write something like "My Wife" in the phonetic field? Or "My mom", etc.
Just say to siri "Mariuccia is my wife" and it'll note the relationship. Same with mum.
Then say "tell my mother I'm running late" and it sends the sms to her.
But for me, "tell my mum I'm running late" finds 4 different entries in the address book - "Jason's Mum" etc.
Just say to siri "Mariuccia is my wife" and it'll note the relationship. Same with mum.
if Siri hears the name correctly.
Otherwise make a call for yourself and use 'add field' to put in relationship tags to the appropriate cards and then tell Siri who you are.
if Siri hears the name correctly.
Otherwise make a call for yourself and use 'add field' to put in relationship tags to the appropriate cards and then tell Siri who you are.
I thought it should automatically have a card for you. Mine asked me to specify one when I first got it.
For example, my mom's name is Chonita. When I type it in phonetically as Shoneeta., Siri recognizes it, but it's sorted under S instead of C.
Hope we get this figured out.
My wife is convinced that the world will begin to pronounce our name wrong if we can't get this to work. Last name is Radin pronounced Ray-din. Siri keeps calling it Ra den.
Hope we get this figured out.
Are you posting because assigning a phonetic pronunciation didn't work?
You could have hundreds of contacts, and for each one you would need to remember if you had changed it to a phonetic spelling so you'd know where to look? Does that make ANY sense? I know Apple doesn't do focus groups, but every once in a while you have to wonder if they don't miss out on some valuable input from the real world.
Yes, if you add the "phonetic spelling" field for either first or last name and populate it, Address Book sorts by that spelling rather than the correct first or last name spelling! This is nuts. It could leave a card a long way from where you would expect to find it. I could see having an alias so it shows up in BOTH places - that would actually be a benefit.
You could have hundreds of contacts, and for each one you would need to remember if you had changed it to a phonetic spelling so you'd know where to look? Does that make ANY sense? I know Apple doesn't do focus groups, but every once in a while you have to wonder if they don't miss out on some valuable input from the real world.
My isn't sorting by phonetic first name ("Ky" phonetic for "Cai"). But I have it set to show first, last, but to sort by last name, so maybe that's the difference.
Regardless, it's dumb for the phonetic spelling to appear on the contact summary (as opposed to the edit window, I mean). Look at all these examples above - why should any of these haphazard quasi-phonetic spellings be visible - let alone on the 2nd line of the contact entry?!
If you haven't already, submit feedback to Apple: www.apple.com/feedback