No doubt Siri needs to improve, but the constant negativity here and elsewhere is (as usual) over the top - Siri can't do anything, but Google Assistant (released a couple of months ago) on limited products is great, and Alexa is the hottest thing at CES!!! Apple should abandon Siri!!!
I use Siri quite frequently (in car for messages and information, dictation, setting timers, sometimes with Maps). Sometimes she messes up, but is accurate enough most of the time. As above, definitely needs to improve, and progress has been slow. These are all legitimate criticisms.
While Alexa can do more things (programmed for far more skills), part of that is at the expense of more natural language support - hence why having to phrase things in a certain way. I have heard Alexa is also much faster. Will be interesting to see if that is maintained when enabled on a mobile phone.
Is there a technical reason why improvements to Siri are tied to hardware releases, or is this just a way to obsolete older devices and drive upgrade sales? Certainly there are some functions, such as always-on, which would depend on the hardware and OS; but general improvements to Siri's accuracy and relevance of responses I would think are more on the server side of things.
If Apple it stuck only improving Siri with hardware and major OS updates, it seems they are sort of self-limiting Siri's ability to keep up with the competition.
Improvements can be made only in s/w, in the front-end and back-end. It is also possible to make improvements (possibly significant ones) with new hardware on the front-end (iPhone, iPad, etc). New h/w can enable better mic's to capture sound, better analog to digital processing, but more importantly silicon can enable more functionality - clearly identifying the words, parsing the phrase to determine if an on-phone type of request, etc. This is where Apple & its custom silicon "could" really shine. Think of all the processing currently being applied to photos in the iPhone 7/7+, and if Apple can do something similar for voice. We can only hope.
Some pretty clear evidence that people try it, see that it is...not overly helpful, accurate, or usable...and then never go back to it. This is one of the reasons I rarely use it. .
"Apple's Siri isn't useful" -the competition in 2011
Apparently VocalIQ is capable of understanding complex phrases like "Find a nearby Chinese restaurant with open parking and Wi-Fi that’s kid-friendly".
in speech tests Alexa and Goog understood phrases %20 of the time where VocalIQ nailed it %90 of the time.
That's only one component from Apple's recent Siri-related acquisitions. Now imagine that tech combined with Siri and the others?
I've also noticed Will.i.am hanging out with Apple lately. He created an assistant named Aneeda which was more advanced than Siri and has the capability to download "skills". Let's hope Apple hires him and his tech.
"Apple's Siri isn't useful" -the competition in 2011
Apparently VocalIQ is capable of understanding complex phrases like "Find a nearby Chinese restaurant with open parking and Wi-Fi that’s kid-friendly".
in speech tests Alexa and Goog understood phrases %20 of the time where VocalIQ nailed it %90 of the time.
That's only one component from Apple's recent Siri-related acquisitions. Now imagine that tech combined with Siri and the others?
I've also noticed Will.i.am hanging out with Apple lately. He created an assistant named Aneeda which was more advanced than Siri and has the capability to download "skills". Let's hope Apple hires him and his tech.
Yeah, asking that in Google Now just returns a link to another site with a list of local restaurants that supposedly met the requirements. I don't have Google Assistant to know if there's any difference. Perhaps there is. If VocalIQ can do that and offer an actual navigable result that would be so much more useful. ( and impressive!)
Voice assistants and AI are getting better much faster than even those who should know expected.
Even simple requests fail. I can't remember the actual item, but a few days ago my query was "Hey, Siri <beep beep> Please add a reminder to buy [toothpaste]" and Siri didn't understand the request. I tried repeating it slowly and got the same response. I tried again and Siri pulled up a bunch of web search results. Same thing happened during a simple reminder request a week or so ago.
I hope there's some truth to this...Siri needs it, its been crap forever! Still I think its too late, Apple should of purchased Viv when they had the chance. They seem to be too far behind in AI when compared to their competition in the field. And Alexa seems to be becoming the Android of AI.
your article is incorrect - i just asked siri who the current president is - Trump and then asked 'what is his age' - 70 - worked fine.
I just tried it. Not only did it just give me google results instead of answering my question, it did the same for the follow up question. The context was obeyed but the responses were no better than voice controlling a Google search in safari.
"Here are are search results for how old is president"
Even simple requests fail. I can't remember the actual item, but a few days ago my query was "Hey, Siri <beep beep> Please add a reminder to buy [toothpaste]" and Siri didn't understand the request. I tried repeating it slowly and got the same response. I tried again and Siri pulled up a bunch of web search results. Same thing happened during a simple reminder request a week or so ago.
This worked fine for me.
we are seeing vast inconsistency in Siri functionality. This is not good. I've seen this difference myself between my own Siri requests. When it works, it's really a great shortcut. When it doesn't, it's kind of a waste of time and effort that could've been spent on using a normal Google search or manually doing whatever I asked Siri to do for me.
Is there a technical reason why improvements to Siri are tied to hardware releases, or is this just a way to obsolete older devices and drive upgrade sales? Certainly there are some functions, such as always-on, which would depend on the hardware and OS; but general improvements to Siri's accuracy and relevance of responses I would think are more on the server side of things.
If Apple it stuck only improving Siri with hardware and major OS updates, it seems they are sort of self-limiting Siri's ability to keep up with the competition.
It depends. You might have noticed that iOS major releases are timed with the release of new iPhones as well. Most of the improvements in Siri have been part of the new version of iOS, not the iPhone itself. The two cases where improvements to Siri were dependent on hardware were the 4S (the first iPhone to support Siri), and the 6S (the first iPhone to support the "hey, Siri" command while not connected to power). The reasons that new hardware was required for those cases should be pretty obvious.
Apple should pull Siri's "virtual plug" and license a better technology. Beyond finding "taco places in my area" Siri has proven pretty useless outside of small task and very simple questions and that's if it understand what I am asking. Apple appears to be a bit scattered with its focus these days, like a child with too many toys to play with they develop a service or product make a big deal out of it then move onto the next "great" idea and let the last one collect dusts. Time for Apple to be perfect a few things rather than dabble in fields others have now mastered. iOS in a complex nightmare these days when you need to change a setting quickly. Do us all a favor and strip it down and bring some joy back to your products and services.
Oh yay a "Time for Apple do what I think they should do" rant.
Haven't had one of these in a while. So effective and on point too.
Oh and in case it's not ridiculously obvious ... /s
Instead of just calling my comment a "rant" why not explain what you disagree with? Being dismissive with comments such as yours teaches us nothing and makes you look just look bitchy. So keep playing it safe by shooting others down.
Apple should pull Siri's "virtual plug" and license a better technology. Beyond finding "taco places in my area" Siri has proven pretty useless outside of small task and very simple questions and that's if it understand what I am asking. Apple appears to be a bit scattered with its focus these days, like a child with too many toys to play with they develop a service or product make a big deal out of it then move onto the next "great" idea and let the last one collect dusts. Time for Apple to be perfect a few things rather than dabble in fields others have now mastered. iOS in a complex nightmare these days when you need to change a setting quickly. Do us all a favor and strip it down and bring some joy back to your products and services.
You have a pretty cynical point of view, one which I don't experience or really think is as normal as you do. Others criticize apple for the very opposite -- saying "No" to too many things, and lament that they aren't doing more products ala "Tesla is so much further ahead than Apple!" (but...where can i buy a Tesla laptop?? so bizarre)
Apple introduced the whole digital-assistant-on-mobile-phone-OS movement w/ the first Siri. it's completely normal to expect them to continue working on it and making it better. i dont know what people want to do w/ Siri but using it for simple tasks is its job to be done for me -- texts, reminders, music, home automation... would i like a Star Trek-style assistant that could handle requests like "Computer, summarize the War of the Roses"? sure, but I'm not expecting it to drop anytime soon.
I have no illusions to asking Siri to make me a cup of tea anytime soon, however outside of the task you mentioned Siri skill set has not budge after all these years. Siri was a novelty and a "killer app" when Apple released it and then it was really beta software. The ease of use Apple and the Mac were famous for is long gone, iOS devices should be simple to use and I fear feature glut and a settings panel to match will make many of us look for more refined alternatives. My first cell phone was the original iPhone, I held of buying anything because I knew Apple would give us what none of the other mobile handset makers could, an easy to use, easy to navigate phone in a beautiful package.
Apple should pull Siri's "virtual plug" and license a better technology. Beyond finding "taco places in my area" Siri has proven pretty useless outside of small task and very simple questions and that's if it understand what I am asking. Apple appears to be a bit scattered with its focus these days, like a child with too many toys to play with they develop a service or product make a big deal out of it then move onto the next "great" idea and let the last one collect dusts. Time for Apple to be perfect a few things rather than dabble in fields others have now mastered. iOS in a complex nightmare these days when you need to change a setting quickly. Do us all a favor and strip it down and bring some joy back to your products and services.
... would i like a Star Trek-style assistant that could handle requests like "Computer, summarize the War of the Roses"? sure, but I'm not expecting it to drop anytime soon.
Just for giggles I just tried that with "OK Google... " Shockeroony I actually got a spoken summary! Now I wouldn't be surprised if Siri already can do the same.
Apple should pull Siri's "virtual plug" and license a better technology. Beyond finding "taco places in my area" Siri has proven pretty useless outside of small task and very simple questions and that's if it understand what I am asking. Apple appears to be a bit scattered with its focus these days, like a child with too many toys to play with they develop a service or product make a big deal out of it then move onto the next "great" idea and let the last one collect dusts. Time for Apple to be perfect a few things rather than dabble in fields others have now mastered. iOS in a complex nightmare these days when you need to change a setting quickly. Do us all a favor and strip it down and bring some joy back to your products and services.
... would i like a Star Trek-style assistant that could handle requests like "Computer, summarize the War of the Roses"? sure, but I'm not expecting it to drop anytime soon.
Just for giggles I just tried that with "OK Google... " Shockeroony I actually got a spoken summary! Now I wouldn't be surprised if Siri already can do the same.
The big question is: did it summarise the historical events of the wars of succession between the houses of Lancaster and York, or the film with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner?
Just tried Siri on my phone. Got a list of web links. First was to a web page at Carson-Newman College about the Wars of the Roses ( http://https//web.cn.edu/wheeler/War_of_Roses.html ), the second to the IMDB page for the film.
Apple should pull Siri's "virtual plug" and license a better technology. Beyond finding "taco places in my area" Siri has proven pretty useless outside of small task and very simple questions and that's if it understand what I am asking. Apple appears to be a bit scattered with its focus these days, like a child with too many toys to play with they develop a service or product make a big deal out of it then move onto the next "great" idea and let the last one collect dusts. Time for Apple to be perfect a few things rather than dabble in fields others have now mastered. iOS in a complex nightmare these days when you need to change a setting quickly. Do us all a favor and strip it down and bring some joy back to your products and services.
... would i like a Star Trek-style assistant that could handle requests like "Computer, summarize the War of the Roses"? sure, but I'm not expecting it to drop anytime soon.
Just for giggles I just tried that with "OK Google... " Shockeroony I actually got a spoken summary! Now I wouldn't be surprised if Siri already can do the same.
The big question is: did it summarise the historical events of the wars of succession between the houses of Lancaster and York, or the film with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner?
Just tried Siri on my phone. Got a list of web links. First was to a web page at Carson-Newman College about the Wars of the Roses ( http://https//web.cn.edu/wheeler/War_of_Roses.html ), the second to the IMDB page for the film.
It was the actual war. Asking "summarize the War of the Roses movie" just offered weblinks. But asking "summarize the 100 Years War" also gives me a spoken summary. So movies not so much.
EDIT: Well surprise again! Asking instead "what was the plot of the movie War of the Roses" gives me a spoken summary!
These voice assistants are getting much more useful, doing stuff I didn't know they could. I had an instance Saturday where I was driving with the radio blaring and my son wanted to call the motorcycle shop to see if they had a part he needed. With the radio still playing I said "OK Google, call Sky Powersports". Note that they are not in my contacts, and I did not request a specific city/state. (They have numerous locations). So in yet another surprise it dialed the number for the closest branch. Totally hands-free from start to finish.
As for why some here seem so disinterested in using a voice assistant I'll simply chalk it up to them being unaware how useful they are.
Even simple requests fail. I can't remember the actual item, but a few days ago my query was "Hey, Siri <beep beep> Please add a reminder to buy [toothpaste]" and Siri didn't understand the request. I tried repeating it slowly and got the same response. I tried again and Siri pulled up a bunch of web search results. Same thing happened during a simple reminder request a week or so ago.
Try creating a specifically named list. I have a Reminders list named Shopping, and "Hey Siri, add toothpaste to Shopping list" works perfectly via my Watch — don't even need to say Reminders.
Comments
I use Siri quite frequently (in car for messages and information, dictation, setting timers, sometimes with Maps). Sometimes she messes up, but is accurate enough most of the time. As above, definitely needs to improve, and progress has been slow. These are all legitimate criticisms.
While Alexa can do more things (programmed for far more skills), part of that is at the expense of more natural language support - hence why having to phrase things in a certain way. I have heard Alexa is also much faster. Will be interesting to see if that is maintained when enabled on a mobile phone.
Use case: exercise + Watch (as music source) + AirPods.
Yes you can use the Watch UI to control AirPods, but they should be able to respond to voice w/o iPhone.
-the competition in 2011
Apparently VocalIQ is capable of understanding complex phrases like "Find a nearby Chinese restaurant with open parking and Wi-Fi that’s kid-friendly".
in speech tests Alexa and Goog understood phrases %20 of the time where VocalIQ nailed it %90 of the time.
That's only one component from Apple's recent Siri-related acquisitions. Now imagine that tech combined with Siri and the others?
I've also noticed Will.i.am hanging out with Apple lately. He created an assistant named Aneeda which was more advanced than Siri and has the capability to download "skills". Let's hope Apple hires him and his tech.
Voice assistants and AI are getting better much faster than even those who should know expected.
"Here are are search results for how old is president"
yuck.
we are seeing vast inconsistency in Siri functionality. This is not good. I've seen this difference myself between my own Siri requests. When it works, it's really a great shortcut. When it doesn't, it's kind of a waste of time and effort that could've been spent on using a normal Google search or manually doing whatever I asked Siri to do for me.
I find saying with a northern California accent usually helps Siri understand, like "cheery" for "cherry"
I have no illusions to asking Siri to make me a cup of tea anytime soon, however outside of the task you mentioned Siri skill set has not budge after all these years. Siri was a novelty and a "killer app" when Apple released it and then it was really beta software. The ease of use Apple and the Mac were famous for is long gone, iOS devices should be simple to use and I fear feature glut and a settings panel to match will make many of us look for more refined alternatives. My first cell phone was the original iPhone, I held of buying anything because I knew Apple would give us what none of the other mobile handset makers could, an easy to use, easy to navigate phone in a beautiful package.
The big question is: did it summarise the historical events of the wars of succession between the houses of Lancaster and York, or the film with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner?
Just tried Siri on my phone. Got a list of web links. First was to a web page at Carson-Newman College about the Wars of the Roses ( http://https//web.cn.edu/wheeler/War_of_Roses.html ), the second to the IMDB page for the film.
But asking "summarize the 100 Years War" also gives me a spoken summary. So movies not so much.
EDIT: Well surprise again! Asking instead "what was the plot of the movie War of the Roses" gives me a spoken summary!
These voice assistants are getting much more useful, doing stuff I didn't know they could. I had an instance Saturday where I was driving with the radio blaring and my son wanted to call the motorcycle shop to see if they had a part he needed. With the radio still playing I said "OK Google, call Sky Powersports". Note that they are not in my contacts, and I did not request a specific city/state. (They have numerous locations). So in yet another surprise it dialed the number for the closest branch. Totally hands-free from start to finish.
As for why some here seem so disinterested in using a voice assistant I'll simply chalk it up to them being unaware how useful they are.