So, what commands are you using on these other devices that makes them more useful. I’m really curious here. I’ve seen lots of claims but no proof. In fact when Siri has been compared I feel it is more useful in real use situations.
Wife clicks a photo on her iPhone X. Later walks into our family room and without touch a single button ask for fine details in photos. The TV turns itself on, input sets itself, and the photo appears in 4K on the largest screen in the house.
We also have a 4k Chromecast and wife already used Google Photos on her phone. But we can do this on the Home Max but not the HomePod.
As I and many others are saying: HomePod is an inferior product when compared to its Google or Amazon competitors -- at least from a functional standpoint.
But, that ignores one critical factor: I won't put a Google or Google like product on any of my electronic devices because I do not want them spying on me. ... So why would I put a spy from Google or Amazon in my home listening to my every sound?
So, I'll wait while Apple brings HomePod up to speed. And, I think its a safe assumption that they will do that. They've done it before. They'll do it again.
So, what commands are you using on these other devices that makes them more useful. I’m really curious here. I’ve seen lots of claims but no proof. In fact when Siri has been compared I feel it is more useful in real use situations.
A few examples that Google Home gets right and all other smart devices (including Alexa) fail:
Me: Hey Google play my Morning Tunes playlist Google Home: Plays _my_ Spotify Morning Tunes playlist
Me: (while Spotify is playing) Hey Google add this song to my library Google Home: Ok, I added that song to your Spotify music library
My Girlfriend: Hey Google play my Morning Tunes playlist Google Home: Plays _her_ Spotify Morning Tunes playlist
Me: Hey Google what's on my calendar today? Google Home: What's on _my_ personal calendar
My Girlfriend: Hey Google what's on my calendar today? Google Home: What's on _her_ personal calendar
I could keep going... but I don't need to. Apple completely forgot that many people in this world are not single people living by themselves. They also completely forgot that _Millions_ of people like Spotify...
Now that you reminded them, I'm sure they'll fix it in the next update. Unless, Apple didn't "forget" those things at all.
Remember is another of those simple yet really helpful commands. "Remember I put the spare spring in the top drawer of the old toolbox". I can ask "Where did I put the spare spring" months from now, and it will remember and tell me.
That's a cool example, but I expect that 99% of the time it wouldn't work in practice. First you have to remember to ask your device to remember every random thing (which personally I would be very unlikely to do) and then you have to phrase things the same way you will "months from now." Then when you (or someone else) actually uses that thing, you have to remember to tell your device about it again. No thanks, but if it works for you, that's cool.
People put effort into finding a s piece of string, cutting it, and then tying it around a finger to remember things, so I think that having a thought and then stating that thought outloud the exact same way you'd ask someone to remind you to do something later isn't going to need any additional brain power or training.
Hell, I've been doing this with Siri since it came out and even before then with my Notes app on my iPhone—I think of something, I write it down or dictate it into one of many Notes itms that are then sectioned off with various groupings which themselves are often categorized further. If you use a Reminders app or the Timer you're already doing that. You've never once put change into a parking meter, saw how much time it gave you and then said, "Hey Siri set timer for x-minutes"?
The closest I've come to this is taking a picture of the parking sign when I park in long-term parking at the airport. How would this work if I did it verbally? "Hey siri remind me that I parked at green 16." How would I retrieve that information? "Hey siri, where did I park?" Would that work? And next trip when I say "remind me that I parked at Blue 12" what happens to the green 16 reminder? I suppose I just don't trust AIs enough to do these flawlessly, so I don't bother trying.
The test again is not complete, you are basically handicaping the Homepod by testing the Sonos on its home field.
Why not walk around the room, put it in places with crappy acoustic like halways, man, it's basically always the same test, a living room static test, a use case people have been moving away from for more than a decade.
If people could sit in front of speakers in their living room, they'd have kept their stereo and they would not need either the Sonos or the Hopepod.
Where are you going to put your two sonos in the kitchen, bathroom, halway, room, are you going to be listening to them sitting on the island?
It's like a complete divorce from actual differentiating use case.
How is a hallway a normal listening environment and why would a Sonos in a hallway sound bad? If anything, a typical hallway where a table would typically be placed to one side (and assuming there's a power outlet in small throughway) would benefit every other speaker system more than the HomePod because you have a wall typically well within arm's reach in either direction.
AI looks to be testing these speakers in typical listening situations, save for including the plethora of traditional speakers which can have digital personal assistants easy connected, or just "dumb" wireless speakers, or for use with an HEC (despite the HomePod connected to the Apple TV). There are simply too far options for them to even begin to test the breadth of normal listening situations with standard speaker setups so they're testing in a reasonable and systematic way.
So, what commands are you using on these other devices that makes them more useful. I’m really curious here. I’ve seen lots of claims but no proof. In fact when Siri has been compared I feel it is more useful in real use situations.
Spotify Tidal All other music services All internet protocol's Phone calls NAS syncing etc...
Cool. I literally use none of those features/services.
Vadim, Thanks for the comparison. Maybe the following questions/items could generate other video reviews.
1. I would greatly appreciate it if you could do this comparison with both a Play 3 (which is still less than the HomePod) and the Play 5 (which costs more but gives you a aux 3.5 mm in port)
2. All the reviews have focused on using these products through either Apple Music or Spotify. Are they playing MP3s or LossLess music? Could you test playing FLAC files either from a PC or iPhone?
3. Also I have not seen how well the HomePod and Sonos One handle a heavy, busy network or just operating on only either the 2.4 GHz or 5.0 GHz bands.
HP seems like a revolutionary product. But the revolutionary work isn't over on it. Apple still has lots to deliver and we are yet to see how well they have been able to patent it.
I agree. Why compare HomePod with the entry-level Sonos speaker. Instead, compare it with Play:5 and see which one is better.
Personally, I'd say that's an unfair test since the Sonos Play:5 isn't a smart speaker, just a wireless speaker, but since the most rapid Apple fanatics where the largest blinkers keep telling me the HomePod isn't really suppose to compete with smart speakers and that you're primary suppose to use your iPhone to wirelessly tether and manually access apps, then they've opened it up every wireless speaker on the market, not to mention all the expensive wired speaker systems people already have where you can already connect via a simple Echo Dot via BT to get the same result with much better. To those fanatics, be careful what you argue for.
This is what surprises me the most - why we only get comparisons with Home Max and Sonos One when people who are buying the HomePod for sound, not Siri, are really making a decision between HomePod and every powered/unpowered bookshelf speaker that could be connected to a ChromeCast or as you say, Dot. I liked the idea of the HomePod, even though I'm an Android user, but once it came out, I'm thinking my hifi+ChromeCast+Mini likely gives me better sound, better assistant, and more streaming options. I don't really understand why people flock to HomePod yet appear to have never bothered investing in a basic home stereo before.
That's the whole point. There a millions upon millions of people who haven't invested in 5.1 or 7.1 or other complex audio systems. If there is a "sounds great; just works" solution--without a lot of wires (my wife's requirement), there's a big market for that.
@genovelle ;Here's one real life example: My wife tends to turn her volume all the way down on her phone. No matter how often I ask her not to since it makes it very hard to get hold of her she says it's her phone. Well, she's correct of course.
So on the way to work last week I found that construction had (finally!) started on a railroad crossing on my route. It took 10-15 minutes of detour to get around it, time I could have saved by just taking a different way to begin with. My wife uses that same route about a half hour later in the morning and I wanted to warn her about the closure. OF COURSE her phone was turned all the way down. Again.
No problem tho: Using my cellphone I said "Hey Google Broadcast the railroad crossing is closed". What did that do? It sent the announcement "the railroad crossing is closed" in my voice to every one of my Google Home units at the house miles away. She heard it, and saved herself from aggravation and being late to work.
Did you ever try “Find my iPhone?” Apple should have called this feature “Ping my wife”. This is the only way I can speak on the cell phone with my wife. I stopped calling her years ago because she never answers. I ping her phone via “Find my iPhone” and she calls me back within a few seconds.
Her phone is registered to her rather than under my name. She can't access my private account, nor can I access hers, so without making a minor change to 2-factor authentication and adding myself to the chain, and trying to remember her password... HEY, another use for "Remember".
Aren't you part of the same family? All my family member's phones are pingable by my using the Find Your Phone app.
So, what commands are you using on these other devices that makes them more useful. I’m really curious here. I’ve seen lots of claims but no proof. In fact when Siri has been compared I feel it is more useful in real use situations.
Wife clicks a photo on her iPhone X. Later walks into our family room and without touch a single button ask for fine details in photos. The TV turns itself on, input sets itself, and the photo appears in 4K on the largest screen in the house.
We also have a 4k Chromecast and wife already used Google Photos on her phone. But we can do this on the Home Max but not the HomePod.
Interesting. Please walk us through that set up and exactly what commands she has to say to make that work. I have to pres half a dozen buttons on two remotes just to bring up Apple TV.
So, what commands are you using on these other devices that makes them more useful. I’m really curious here. I’ve seen lots of claims but no proof. In fact when Siri has been compared I feel it is more useful in real use situations.
A few examples that Google Home gets right and all other smart devices (including Alexa) fail:
Me: Hey Google play my Morning Tunes playlist Google Home: Plays _my_ Spotify Morning Tunes playlist
Me: (while Spotify is playing) Hey Google add this song to my library Google Home: Ok, I added that song to your Spotify music library
My Girlfriend: Hey Google play my Morning Tunes playlist Google Home: Plays _her_ Spotify Morning Tunes playlist
Me: Hey Google what's on my calendar today? Google Home: What's on _my_ personal calendar
My Girlfriend: Hey Google what's on my calendar today? Google Home: What's on _her_ personal calendar
I could keep going... but I don't need to. Apple completely forgot that many people in this world are not single people living by themselves. They also completely forgot that _Millions_ of people like Spotify...
Now that you reminded them, I'm sure they'll fix it in the next update. Unless, Apple didn't "forget" those things at all.
Remember is another of those simple yet really helpful commands. "Remember I put the spare spring in the top drawer of the old toolbox". I can ask "Where did I put the spare spring" months from now, and it will remember and tell me.
That's a cool example, but I expect that 99% of the time it wouldn't work in practice. First you have to remember to ask your device to remember every random thing (which personally I would be very unlikely to do) and then you have to phrase things the same way you will "months from now." Then when you (or someone else) actually uses that thing, you have to remember to tell your device about it again. No thanks, but if it works for you, that's cool.
People put effort into finding a s piece of string, cutting it, and then tying it around a finger to remember things, so I think that having a thought and then stating that thought outloud the exact same way you'd ask someone to remind you to do something later isn't going to need any additional brain power or training.
Hell, I've been doing this with Siri since it came out and even before then with my Notes app on my iPhone—I think of something, I write it down or dictate it into one of many Notes itms that are then sectioned off with various groupings which themselves are often categorized further. If you use a Reminders app or the Timer you're already doing that. You've never once put change into a parking meter, saw how much time it gave you and then said, "Hey Siri set timer for x-minutes"?
The closest I've come to this is taking a picture of the parking sign when I park in long-term parking at the airport. How would this work if I did it verbally? "Hey siri remind me that I parked at green 16." How would I retrieve that information? "Hey siri, where did I park?" Would that work? And next trip when I say "remind me that I parked at Blue 12" what happens to the green 16 reminder? I suppose I just don't trust AIs enough to do these flawlessly, so I don't bother trying.
1) Give that command a shot and then open up Reminders. I haven't tested it so you may have to tweak it a bit to include a return date and time so it pop s up. You may be able to add a geofence so that it pops up when you're in that area again. You can just add a Note and then pop into Notes to see what you dictated, or add a Calendar event which will pop as those events do.
2) While Siri is limited to a single timer at a time (which is very weak for HomePod) you can have countless Reminders, Calendar events, or add to your Notes all via Siri. There's nothing you have to "trust" in terms of "AIs" because this data is easily readable and editable your convenience. You've really never put money in a parking meter and told Siri to set a timer for x-minutes because you didn't trust it even though it shows you the time on screen and you can ask it how much time is remaining at any time?
@genovelle Here's one real life example: My wife tends to turn her volume all the way down on her phone. No matter how often I ask her not to since it makes it very hard to get hold of her she says it's her phone. Well, she's correct of course.
So on the way to work last week I found that construction had (finally!) started on a railroad crossing on my route. It took 10-15 minutes of detour to get around it, time I could have saved by just taking a different way to begin with. My wife uses that same route about a half hour later in the morning and I wanted to warn her about the closure. OF COURSE her phone was turned all the way down. Again.
No problem tho: Using my cellphone I said "Hey Google Broadcast the railroad crossing is closed". What did that do? It sent the announcement "the railroad crossing is closed" in my voice to every one of my Google Home units at the house miles away. She heard it, and saved herself from aggravation and being late to work.
Did you ever try “Find my iPhone?” Apple should have called this feature “Ping my wife”. This is the only way I can speak on the cell phone with my wife. I stopped calling her years ago because she never answers. I ping her phone via “Find my iPhone” and she calls me back within a few seconds.
Her phone is registered to her rather than under my name. She can't access my private account, nor can I access hers, so without making a minor change to 2-factor authentication and adding myself to the chain, and trying to remember her password... HEY, another use for "Remember".
Aren't you part of the same family? All my family member's phones are pingable by my using the Find Your Phone app.
Sure we are, but that doesn't mean we don't have private accounts, and it doesn't mean I have a right to access her phone without her permission nor her to access mine even for a ping.
Now in my particular case neither of us would care as we totally trust each other. But not every family is that way and I guarantee your teenagers don't want you accessing their phone. I also assume you prefer they didn't access yours. Even to ping it. Boyfriend/girlfriend or whatever mix might have other reasons to avoid cross-polluting their accounts.
But of course if I have their permission I can set up the same type of family locator account you have. It still won't tell her to avoid that crossing under construction tho, or call the kids upstairs down to dinner, or...
You can want to believe it's not a helpful feature but if/when Siri offers it you'll understand and probably even use it once in awhile.
So, what commands are you using on these other devices that makes them more useful. I’m really curious here. I’ve seen lots of claims but no proof. In fact when Siri has been compared I feel it is more useful in real use situations.
Wife clicks a photo on her iPhone X. Later walks into our family room and without touch a single button ask for fine details in photos. The TV turns itself on, input sets itself, and the photo appears in 4K on the largest screen in the house.
We also have a 4k Chromecast and wife already used Google Photos on her phone. But we can do this on the Home Max but not the HomePod.
Interesting. Please walk us through that set up and exactly what commands she has to say to make that work. I have to pres half a dozen buttons on two remotes just to bring up Apple TV.
I press the touchpad on the Siri Remote which wakes the Apple TV which sends a signal via HDMI-CEC to wake the TV (or, if it's already on, switch the HDMI input). One button and I'm ready to go… mostly.
If I have a problem it's some bug introduced with tvOS 11 that requires me to restart the Apple TV to get Home Sharing to work. Hopefully yesterday's supplemental update resolves that, but it's not really a big deal since the Apple TV 4K reboot amazingly fast.
Now, if I press and hold the connect button on the Nintendo Switch's For Controller it was wake the Switch which will turn on the TV (or, if it's already on the Apple TV's HDMI port switch to the Switch's HDMI port).
I don't think I can turn off my TV using the Nintendo Switch's Pro Controller and putting the Switch to sleep doesn't send the sleep signal via CEC to the TV, so what I do is typically never putting the Switch to sleep as it'll do it on its own after a few minutes, but instead just press the touchpad on the Apple TV's Siri Remote. Once it's switched to the Apple TV (which only takes a couple of seconds) I then hold the Siri Remote's "TV logo" button to the right of the Menu button which will bring up an option for the Apple TV to sleep. When it sleeps it tells my TV to sleep.
I hope that the HomePod will soon make physically using the Siri Remote less common, but I think we'll have to at least wait for WWDC to see what Apple has planned for that pairing.
edit: It looks like I can save a few click in the Settings menu for restarting the Apple TV until that bug is fixed, but I'm not seeing a Siri command to either restart or put it to sleep.
@genovelle Here's one real life example: My wife tends to turn her volume all the way down on her phone. No matter how often I ask her not to since it makes it very hard to get hold of her she says it's her phone. Well, she's correct of course.
So on the way to work last week I found that construction had (finally!) started on a railroad crossing on my route. It took 10-15 minutes of detour to get around it, time I could have saved by just taking a different way to begin with. My wife uses that same route about a half hour later in the morning and I wanted to warn her about the closure. OF COURSE her phone was turned all the way down. Again.
No problem tho: Using my cellphone I said "Hey Google Broadcast the railroad crossing is closed". What did that do? It sent the announcement "the railroad crossing is closed" in my voice to every one of my Google Home units at the house miles away. She heard it, and saved herself from aggravation and being late to work.
Did you ever try “Find my iPhone?” Apple should have called this feature “Ping my wife”. This is the only way I can speak on the cell phone with my wife. I stopped calling her years ago because she never answers. I ping her phone via “Find my iPhone” and she calls me back within a few seconds.
Her phone is registered to her rather than under my name. She can't access my private account, nor can I access hers, so without making a minor change to 2-factor authentication and adding myself to the chain, and trying to remember her password... HEY, another use for "Remember".
Aren't you part of the same family? All my family member's phones are pingable by my using the Find Your Phone app.
Sure we are. But that doesn't mean we don't have private accounts. And it doesn't mean I have a right to access her phone without her permission. Nor her my phone. Now I my particular case neither neither of us would care. We totally trust each other. But not every family is that way and I guarantee your teenagers don't want you accessing their phone. I also assume you prefer they didn't access yours. Even to Ping it But of course if I have their permission I can set up the same, family locator account you have
What are you talking about? Apple provides the option to link accounts as part of a family, thereby allowing you to share music and most app purchases. It also means that family members' devices show up in Find My Phone. It doesn't let me "access" their devices in general, but does let me ping them. Perhaps they can turn that option off somehow, but given we use it all the time to help each other find missing devices, we haven't.
So, what commands are you using on these other devices that makes them more useful. I’m really curious here. I’ve seen lots of claims but no proof. In fact when Siri has been compared I feel it is more useful in real use situations.
A few examples that Google Home gets right and all other smart devices (including Alexa) fail:
Me: Hey Google play my Morning Tunes playlist Google Home: Plays _my_ Spotify Morning Tunes playlist
Me: (while Spotify is playing) Hey Google add this song to my library Google Home: Ok, I added that song to your Spotify music library
My Girlfriend: Hey Google play my Morning Tunes playlist Google Home: Plays _her_ Spotify Morning Tunes playlist
Me: Hey Google what's on my calendar today? Google Home: What's on _my_ personal calendar
My Girlfriend: Hey Google what's on my calendar today? Google Home: What's on _her_ personal calendar
I could keep going... but I don't need to. Apple completely forgot that many people in this world are not single people living by themselves. They also completely forgot that _Millions_ of people like Spotify...
Now that you reminded them, I'm sure they'll fix it in the next update. Unless, Apple didn't "forget" those things at all.
Remember is another of those simple yet really helpful commands. "Remember I put the spare spring in the top drawer of the old toolbox". I can ask "Where did I put the spare spring" months from now, and it will remember and tell me.
That's a cool example, but I expect that 99% of the time it wouldn't work in practice. First you have to remember to ask your device to remember every random thing (which personally I would be very unlikely to do) and then you have to phrase things the same way you will "months from now." Then when you (or someone else) actually uses that thing, you have to remember to tell your device about it again. No thanks, but if it works for you, that's cool.
People put effort into finding a s piece of string, cutting it, and then tying it around a finger to remember things, so I think that having a thought and then stating that thought outloud the exact same way you'd ask someone to remind you to do something later isn't going to need any additional brain power or training.
Hell, I've been doing this with Siri since it came out and even before then with my Notes app on my iPhone—I think of something, I write it down or dictate it into one of many Notes itms that are then sectioned off with various groupings which themselves are often categorized further. If you use a Reminders app or the Timer you're already doing that. You've never once put change into a parking meter, saw how much time it gave you and then said, "Hey Siri set timer for x-minutes"?
The closest I've come to this is taking a picture of the parking sign when I park in long-term parking at the airport. How would this work if I did it verbally? "Hey siri remind me that I parked at green 16." How would I retrieve that information? "Hey siri, where did I park?" Would that work? And next trip when I say "remind me that I parked at Blue 12" what happens to the green 16 reminder? I suppose I just don't trust AIs enough to do these flawlessly, so I don't bother trying.
1) Give that command a shot and then open up Reminders. I haven't tested it so you may have to tweak it a bit to include a return date and time so it pop s up. You may be able to add a geofence so that it pops up when you're in that area again. You can just add a Note and then pop into Notes to see what you dictated, or add a Calendar event which will pop as those events do.
2) While Siri is limited to a single timer at a time (which is very weak for HomePod) you can have countless Reminders, Calendar events, or add to your Notes all via Siri. There's nothing you have to "trust" in terms of "AIs" because this data is easily readable and editable your convenience. You've really never put money in a parking meter and told Siri to set a timer for x-minutes because you didn't trust it even though it shows you the time on screen and you can ask it how much time is remaining at any time?
I think I've used a timed parking meter once in the past 10 (30?) years, so that's not a thing I do.
My comment about not trusting the AI to work, was about committing to an all-verbal mindset. The example you started with was using your Google home device to remind you of things. ("Hey google, where did I leave my spare key"). The "not trusting" part for me was that I would expect to waste a lot of time trying to get that to work using only voice commands.
Personally, I'm so bad at organizing things, if I were to follow your strategy, I would be adding reminders 10 times a day on the off chance that I would need them 6 months from now. That's why this would be frustrating for me, "Remind me that I left the hot glue in the box in a basement." "Remind me that I left my blue jacket on the floor in the bathroom." etc. etc.
BTW, that geofence tip is cool. I expect that 99.99% of iOS users have no idea they can do that (and therefore don't).
So, what commands are you using on these other devices that makes them more useful. I’m really curious here. I’ve seen lots of claims but no proof. In fact when Siri has been compared I feel it is more useful in real use situations.
A few examples that Google Home gets right and all other smart devices (including Alexa) fail:
Me: Hey Google play my Morning Tunes playlist Google Home: Plays _my_ Spotify Morning Tunes playlist
Me: (while Spotify is playing) Hey Google add this song to my library Google Home: Ok, I added that song to your Spotify music library
My Girlfriend: Hey Google play my Morning Tunes playlist Google Home: Plays _her_ Spotify Morning Tunes playlist
Me: Hey Google what's on my calendar today? Google Home: What's on _my_ personal calendar
My Girlfriend: Hey Google what's on my calendar today? Google Home: What's on _her_ personal calendar
I could keep going... but I don't need to. Apple completely forgot that many people in this world are not single people living by themselves. They also completely forgot that _Millions_ of people like Spotify...
Now that you reminded them, I'm sure they'll fix it in the next update. Unless, Apple didn't "forget" those things at all.
Remember is another of those simple yet really helpful commands. "Remember I put the spare spring in the top drawer of the old toolbox". I can ask "Where did I put the spare spring" months from now, and it will remember and tell me.
That's a cool example, but I expect that 99% of the time it wouldn't work in practice. First you have to remember to ask your device to remember every random thing (which personally I would be very unlikely to do) and then you have to phrase things the same way you will "months from now." Then when you (or someone else) actually uses that thing, you have to remember to tell your device about it again. No thanks, but if it works for you, that's cool.
People put effort into finding a s piece of string, cutting it, and then tying it around a finger to remember things, so I think that having a thought and then stating that thought outloud the exact same way you'd ask someone to remind you to do something later isn't going to need any additional brain power or training.
Hell, I've been doing this with Siri since it came out and even before then with my Notes app on my iPhone—I think of something, I write it down or dictate it into one of many Notes itms that are then sectioned off with various groupings which themselves are often categorized further. If you use a Reminders app or the Timer you're already doing that. You've never once put change into a parking meter, saw how much time it gave you and then said, "Hey Siri set timer for x-minutes"?
The closest I've come to this is taking a picture of the parking sign when I park in long-term parking at the airport. How would this work if I did it verbally? "Hey siri remind me that I parked at green 16." How would I retrieve that information? "Hey siri, where did I park?" Would that work? And next trip when I say "remind me that I parked at Blue 12" what happens to the green 16 reminder? I suppose I just don't trust AIs enough to do these flawlessly, so I don't bother trying.
1) Give that command a shot and then open up Reminders. I haven't tested it so you may have to tweak it a bit to include a return date and time so it pop s up. You may be able to add a geofence so that it pops up when you're in that area again. You can just add a Note and then pop into Notes to see what you dictated, or add a Calendar event which will pop as those events do.
2) While Siri is limited to a single timer at a time (which is very weak for HomePod) you can have countless Reminders, Calendar events, or add to your Notes all via Siri. There's nothing you have to "trust" in terms of "AIs" because this data is easily readable and editable your convenience. You've really never put money in a parking meter and told Siri to set a timer for x-minutes because you didn't trust it even though it shows you the time on screen and you can ask it how much time is remaining at any time?
I think I've used a timed parking meter once in the past 10 (30?) years, so that's not a thing I do.
My comment about not trusting the AI to work, was about committing to an all-verbal mindset. The example you started with was using your Google home device to remind you of things. ("Hey google, where did I leave my spare key"). The "not trusting" part for me was that I would expect to waste a lot of time trying to get that to work using only voice commands.
Personally, I'm so bad at organizing things, if I were to follow your strategy, I would be adding reminders 10 times a day on the off chance that I would need them 6 months from now. That's why this would be frustrating for me, "Remind me that I left the hot glue in the box in a basement." "Remind me that I left my blue jacket on the floor in the bathroom." etc. etc.
1) I didn't make any Google Home examples. Must've been someone else.
2) I don't need to look for my spare key because I know where it is because it's a place that makes sense, nor do I lose my keys because I stay very organized with just a few verbal commands, but I can see future key fobs for modern cars being connected to home devices, smartphones, and smartwatches for easy access.
3) If you do lose stuff, like your keys, there are plenty of aftermarket options for adding a simple low-power BT device to your keychain that will find it via an iPhone app, ping it from the app, as well as have a button on the key ring device so you can ping your iPhone if that's what is lost.
4) I do use my Apple Watch to find my iPhone at times because it knocked to the floor or falls within a couch cushion. I always know the general area, but hitting that nifty button on my Watch helps narrow it down considerably faster with the touch of a button.
5) Despite Reminders have many great features (as previously mentioned), I don't use them. I use Notes. I stay organized that way. Sometimes I type it in, other times I dictate items to vary types of notes and lists. Best of all, I can all my managing via my Mac since the sync.
6) If watchOS ever support Reminders so that when I'm at, say, the grocery story everything in that geofence will appear on my Watch without me having to carry my iPhone (but that day hasn't come). As of now, I just Notes to have a shopping list note, and then in it has headings for different stores I frequent with checkable bullets for items. You do that once and then just learn to remember to check it when you're at the store. The last thing I want to do it make my life more complex or difficult with having to remember everything when the effort is considerably less than the process it takes to write in this forum.
Probably not true, but interesting and apropos, nonetheless.
A reporter interviewed Albert Einstein. At the end of the interview, the reporter asked if he could have Einstein's phone number so he could call if he had further questions. “Certainly” replied Einstein. He picked up the phone directory and looked up his phone number, then wrote it on a slip of paper and handed it to the reporter. Dumbfounded, the reporter said, "You are considered to be the smartest man in the world and you can't remember your own phone number?” Einstein replied, “Why should I memorize something when I know where to find it?”
@genovelle Here's one real life example: My wife tends to turn her volume all the way down on her phone. No matter how often I ask her not to since it makes it very hard to get hold of her she says it's her phone. Well, she's correct of course.
So on the way to work last week I found that construction had (finally!) started on a railroad crossing on my route. It took 10-15 minutes of detour to get around it, time I could have saved by just taking a different way to begin with. My wife uses that same route about a half hour later in the morning and I wanted to warn her about the closure. OF COURSE her phone was turned all the way down. Again.
No problem tho: Using my cellphone I said "Hey Google Broadcast the railroad crossing is closed". What did that do? It sent the announcement "the railroad crossing is closed" in my voice to every one of my Google Home units at the house miles away. She heard it, and saved herself from aggravation and being late to work.
Did you ever try “Find my iPhone?” Apple should have called this feature “Ping my wife”. This is the only way I can speak on the cell phone with my wife. I stopped calling her years ago because she never answers. I ping her phone via “Find my iPhone” and she calls me back within a few seconds.
Her phone is registered to her rather than under my name. She can't access my private account, nor can I access hers, so without making a minor change to 2-factor authentication and adding myself to the chain, and trying to remember her password... HEY, another use for "Remember".
Aren't you part of the same family? All my family member's phones are pingable by my using the Find Your Phone app.
Sure we are. But that doesn't mean we don't have private accounts. And it doesn't mean I have a right to access her phone without her permission. Nor her my phone. Now I my particular case neither neither of us would care. We totally trust each other. But not every family is that way and I guarantee your teenagers don't want you accessing their phone. I also assume you prefer they didn't access yours. Even to Ping it But of course if I have their permission I can set up the same, family locator account you have
What are you talking about? Apple provides the option to link accounts as part of a family, thereby allowing you to share music and most app purchases. It also means that family members' devices show up in Find My Phone. It doesn't let me "access" their devices in general, but does let me ping them. Perhaps they can turn that option off somehow, but given we use it all the time to help each other find missing devices, we haven't.
I share my Google Music account with my wife and son and son-in-law. That's doesn't mean we don't still have private accounts and so I can't access their private phones to even ping/locate them unless they grant me express permission to do so. As it should be. Sharing Google Music isn't specific permission for any other sharing. TBH I doubt my son-in-law thinks it's any of my business where he is.
So on Android any sharing of personal devices, account details, etc requires specific permission to do so. Example: My wife could not even use our Google Home(s) to turn on/off the TV via Logitech Harmony like I could using voice commands. It's my account and my device as far as Google is concerned and it's up to me to choose to share access to it or not, which of course I did as soon as I realized she couldn't control the TV. Google Home recognizes her voice as completely separate from mine and any account sharing between us is only with express permission to do so.
So, what commands are you using on these other devices that makes them more useful. I’m really curious here. I’ve seen lots of claims but no proof. In fact when Siri has been compared I feel it is more useful in real use situations.
A few examples that Google Home gets right and all other smart devices (including Alexa) fail:
Me: Hey Google play my Morning Tunes playlist Google Home: Plays _my_ Spotify Morning Tunes playlist
Me: (while Spotify is playing) Hey Google add this song to my library Google Home: Ok, I added that song to your Spotify music library
My Girlfriend: Hey Google play my Morning Tunes playlist Google Home: Plays _her_ Spotify Morning Tunes playlist
Me: Hey Google what's on my calendar today? Google Home: What's on _my_ personal calendar
My Girlfriend: Hey Google what's on my calendar today? Google Home: What's on _her_ personal calendar
I could keep going... but I don't need to. Apple completely forgot that many people in this world are not single people living by themselves. They also completely forgot that _Millions_ of people like Spotify...
Now that you reminded them, I'm sure they'll fix it in the next update. Unless, Apple didn't "forget" those things at all.
Remember is another of those simple yet really helpful commands. "Remember I put the spare spring in the top drawer of the old toolbox". I can ask "Where did I put the spare spring" months from now, and it will remember and tell me.
That's a cool example, but I expect that 99% of the time it wouldn't work in practice. First you have to remember to ask your device to remember every random thing (which personally I would be very unlikely to do) and then you have to phrase things the same way you will "months from now." Then when you (or someone else) actually uses that thing, you have to remember to tell your device about it again. No thanks, but if it works for you, that's cool.
People put effort into finding a s piece of string, cutting it, and then tying it around a finger to remember things, so I think that having a thought and then stating that thought outloud the exact same way you'd ask someone to remind you to do something later isn't going to need any additional brain power or training.
Hell, I've been doing this with Siri since it came out and even before then with my Notes app on my iPhone—I think of something, I write it down or dictate it into one of many Notes itms that are then sectioned off with various groupings which themselves are often categorized further. If you use a Reminders app or the Timer you're already doing that. You've never once put change into a parking meter, saw how much time it gave you and then said, "Hey Siri set timer for x-minutes"?
The closest I've come to this is taking a picture of the parking sign when I park in long-term parking at the airport. How would this work if I did it verbally? "Hey siri remind me that I parked at green 16." How would I retrieve that information? "Hey siri, where did I park?" Would that work? And next trip when I say "remind me that I parked at Blue 12" what happens to the green 16 reminder? I suppose I just don't trust AIs enough to do these flawlessly, so I don't bother trying.
1) Give that command a shot and then open up Reminders. I haven't tested it so you may have to tweak it a bit to include a return date and time so it pop s up. You may be able to add a geofence so that it pops up when you're in that area again. You can just add a Note and then pop into Notes to see what you dictated, or add a Calendar event which will pop as those events do.
2) While Siri is limited to a single timer at a time (which is very weak for HomePod) you can have countless Reminders, Calendar events, or add to your Notes all via Siri. There's nothing you have to "trust" in terms of "AIs" because this data is easily readable and editable your convenience. You've really never put money in a parking meter and told Siri to set a timer for x-minutes because you didn't trust it even though it shows you the time on screen and you can ask it how much time is remaining at any time?
I think I've used a timed parking meter once in the past 10 (30?) years, so that's not a thing I do.
My comment about not trusting the AI to work, was about committing to an all-verbal mindset. The example you started with was using your Google home device to remind you of things. ("Hey google, where did I leave my spare key"). The "not trusting" part for me was that I would expect to waste a lot of time trying to get that to work using only voice commands.
Personally, I'm so bad at organizing things, if I were to follow your strategy, I would be adding reminders 10 times a day on the off chance that I would need them 6 months from now. That's why this would be frustrating for me, "Remind me that I left the hot glue in the box in a basement." "Remind me that I left my blue jacket on the floor in the bathroom." etc. etc.
BTW, that geofence tip is cool. I expect that 99.99% of iOS users have no idea they can do that (and therefore don't).
It's up to the user how "Remember" is used. It shouldn't be confused with or used like "Remind me" as in "Remind me to pick up marmalade when I go to Publix". In my case it's only for pretty important stuff, things I absolutely do not want to forget. (Where I hide my stash might be on the top of some lists)
A few months back I was convinced my wife had lost the extra truck keys I entrusted her with. Could not find them anywhere. I eventually had another made which was NOT cheap. Then one day recently while cleaning the dining room she came across them, and right where I put them in the back corner of the lower display cabinet when we left for a weeks' vacation. I wanted to have a key there for my son in case of a family emergency without outright giving it out to him for joyriding so I hid it. Too well evidently. If I had used "Remember" I could have asked where they were and saved that expense on top of not irritating my wife by saying it was she that lost them. /
So, what commands are you using on these other devices that makes them more useful. I’m really curious here. I’ve seen lots of claims but no proof. In fact when Siri has been compared I feel it is more useful in real use situations.
A few examples that Google Home gets right and all other smart devices (including Alexa) fail:
Me: Hey Google play my Morning Tunes playlist Google Home: Plays _my_ Spotify Morning Tunes playlist
Me: (while Spotify is playing) Hey Google add this song to my library Google Home: Ok, I added that song to your Spotify music library
My Girlfriend: Hey Google play my Morning Tunes playlist Google Home: Plays _her_ Spotify Morning Tunes playlist
Me: Hey Google what's on my calendar today? Google Home: What's on _my_ personal calendar
My Girlfriend: Hey Google what's on my calendar today? Google Home: What's on _her_ personal calendar
I could keep going... but I don't need to. Apple completely forgot that many people in this world are not single people living by themselves. They also completely forgot that _Millions_ of people like Spotify...
Now that you reminded them, I'm sure they'll fix it in the next update. Unless, Apple didn't "forget" those things at all.
Remember is another of those simple yet really helpful commands. "Remember I put the spare spring in the top drawer of the old toolbox". I can ask "Where did I put the spare spring" months from now, and it will remember and tell me.
That's a cool example, but I expect that 99% of the time it wouldn't work in practice. First you have to remember to ask your device to remember every random thing (which personally I would be very unlikely to do) and then you have to phrase things the same way you will "months from now." Then when you (or someone else) actually uses that thing, you have to remember to tell your device about it again. No thanks, but if it works for you, that's cool.
People put effort into finding a s piece of string, cutting it, and then tying it around a finger to remember things, so I think that having a thought and then stating that thought outloud the exact same way you'd ask someone to remind you to do something later isn't going to need any additional brain power or training.
Hell, I've been doing this with Siri since it came out and even before then with my Notes app on my iPhone—I think of something, I write it down or dictate it into one of many Notes itms that are then sectioned off with various groupings which themselves are often categorized further. If you use a Reminders app or the Timer you're already doing that. You've never once put change into a parking meter, saw how much time it gave you and then said, "Hey Siri set timer for x-minutes"?
The closest I've come to this is taking a picture of the parking sign when I park in long-term parking at the airport. How would this work if I did it verbally? "Hey siri remind me that I parked at green 16." How would I retrieve that information? "Hey siri, where did I park?" Would that work? And next trip when I say "remind me that I parked at Blue 12" what happens to the green 16 reminder? I suppose I just don't trust AIs enough to do these flawlessly, so I don't bother trying.
1) Give that command a shot and then open up Reminders. I haven't tested it so you may have to tweak it a bit to include a return date and time so it pop s up. You may be able to add a geofence so that it pops up when you're in that area again. You can just add a Note and then pop into Notes to see what you dictated, or add a Calendar event which will pop as those events do.
2) While Siri is limited to a single timer at a time (which is very weak for HomePod) you can have countless Reminders, Calendar events, or add to your Notes all via Siri. There's nothing you have to "trust" in terms of "AIs" because this data is easily readable and editable your convenience. You've really never put money in a parking meter and told Siri to set a timer for x-minutes because you didn't trust it even though it shows you the time on screen and you can ask it how much time is remaining at any time?
BTW, that geofence tip is cool. I expect that 99.99% of iOS users have no idea they can do that (and therefore don't).
If you use Find My Friends you can use a it for when they either leave or enter a geofence. If I’m expecting someone to come over I don’t necessarily want them to give me minute-to-minutes, and I don’t want to, say, take the food out of the oven after they arrive or get my shoes on to leave the house and wait at the road to be picked up, I can set up a geofence (which admittedly takes a little experimentation since I think it updates every 5 minutes or so) I can be notified so that I save my time and their time. The applications are endless.
@Soli, sorry for the confusion, I attributed the Google Home comment/suggestion when of course it was Gatorguy. To be clear, I find it quite useful to use my iPhone as a way to remember stuff, I just haven't adopted the all-in-on-voice mindset that Gatorguy says Google Home supports very well.
I stream audio mostly to hear news, interviews and such, and with my aging ears, the HomePod offers the best listening experience by far over any Sonos (Play 1 and 5) and any Echo... exceptthe HomePod often produces annoying, low-frequency buffeting sounds. These sounds appear in outdoor audio clips (re: wind) and even in the studio when someone speaks too close to the microphone (which happens a lot!). Music played on the HomePod also often creates an uneasy feeling due to low-frequency buffeting or bass that is just too strong--even classical music at a very modest volume level often does this. HomePod voice recognition is top notch, though--no comparison to the others. My other major complaint is that Siri can't play important internet radio stations--even ones located in Apple's backyard. Apple does seem to have programmed many NPR stations, but NPR isn't my only source. There's no reason Siri on the HomePod shouldn't be able to find and stream any internet radio station that's available in iTunes and especially ones in iTunes that I've added to a playlist.
Comments
HomePod is an inferior product when compared to its Google or Amazon competitors -- at least from a functional standpoint.
But, that ignores one critical factor: I won't put a Google or Google like product on any of my electronic devices because I do not want them spying on me.
... So why would I put a spy from Google or Amazon in my home listening to my every sound?
So, I'll wait while Apple brings HomePod up to speed. And, I think its a safe assumption that they will do that. They've done it before. They'll do it again.
AI looks to be testing these speakers in typical listening situations, save for including the plethora of traditional speakers which can have digital personal assistants easy connected, or just "dumb" wireless speakers, or for use with an HEC (despite the HomePod connected to the Apple TV). There are simply too far options for them to even begin to test the breadth of normal listening situations with standard speaker setups so they're testing in a reasonable and systematic way.
2) While Siri is limited to a single timer at a time (which is very weak for HomePod) you can have countless Reminders, Calendar events, or add to your Notes all via Siri. There's nothing you have to "trust" in terms of "AIs" because this data is easily readable and editable your convenience. You've really never put money in a parking meter and told Siri to set a timer for x-minutes because you didn't trust it even though it shows you the time on screen and you can ask it how much time is remaining at any time?
edit: Easy peezy.
Now in my particular case neither of us would care as we totally trust each other. But not every family is that way and I guarantee your teenagers don't want you accessing their phone. I also assume you prefer they didn't access yours. Even to ping it. Boyfriend/girlfriend or whatever mix might have other reasons to avoid cross-polluting their accounts.
But of course if I have their permission I can set up the same type of family locator account you have. It still won't tell her to avoid that crossing under construction tho, or call the kids upstairs down to dinner, or...
You can want to believe it's not a helpful feature but if/when Siri offers it you'll understand and probably even use it once in awhile.
If I have a problem it's some bug introduced with tvOS 11 that requires me to restart the Apple TV to get Home Sharing to work. Hopefully yesterday's supplemental update resolves that, but it's not really a big deal since the Apple TV 4K reboot amazingly fast.
Now, if I press and hold the connect button on the Nintendo Switch's For Controller it was wake the Switch which will turn on the TV (or, if it's already on the Apple TV's HDMI port switch to the Switch's HDMI port).
I don't think I can turn off my TV using the Nintendo Switch's Pro Controller and putting the Switch to sleep doesn't send the sleep signal via CEC to the TV, so what I do is typically never putting the Switch to sleep as it'll do it on its own after a few minutes, but instead just press the touchpad on the Apple TV's Siri Remote. Once it's switched to the Apple TV (which only takes a couple of seconds) I then hold the Siri Remote's "TV logo" button to the right of the Menu button which will bring up an option for the Apple TV to sleep. When it sleeps it tells my TV to sleep.
I hope that the HomePod will soon make physically using the Siri Remote less common, but I think we'll have to at least wait for WWDC to see what Apple has planned for that pairing.
edit: It looks like I can save a few click in the Settings menu for restarting the Apple TV until that bug is fixed, but I'm not seeing a Siri command to either restart or put it to sleep.
My comment about not trusting the AI to work, was about committing to an all-verbal mindset. The example you started with was using your Google home device to remind you of things. ("Hey google, where did I leave my spare key"). The "not trusting" part for me was that I would expect to waste a lot of time trying to get that to work using only voice commands.
Personally, I'm so bad at organizing things, if I were to follow your strategy, I would be adding reminders 10 times a day on the off chance that I would need them 6 months from now. That's why this would be frustrating for me, "Remind me that I left the hot glue in the box in a basement." "Remind me that I left my blue jacket on the floor in the bathroom." etc. etc.
BTW, that geofence tip is cool. I expect that 99.99% of iOS users have no idea they can do that (and therefore don't).
2) I don't need to look for my spare key because I know where it is because it's a place that makes sense, nor do I lose my keys because I stay very organized with just a few verbal commands, but I can see future key fobs for modern cars being connected to home devices, smartphones, and smartwatches for easy access.
3) If you do lose stuff, like your keys, there are plenty of aftermarket options for adding a simple low-power BT device to your keychain that will find it via an iPhone app, ping it from the app, as well as have a button on the key ring device so you can ping your iPhone if that's what is lost.
4) I do use my Apple Watch to find my iPhone at times because it knocked to the floor or falls within a couch cushion. I always know the general area, but hitting that nifty button on my Watch helps narrow it down considerably faster with the touch of a button.
5) Despite Reminders have many great features (as previously mentioned), I don't use them. I use Notes. I stay organized that way. Sometimes I type it in, other times I dictate items to vary types of notes and lists. Best of all, I can all my managing via my Mac since the sync.
6) If watchOS ever support Reminders so that when I'm at, say, the grocery story everything in that geofence will appear on my Watch without me having to carry my iPhone (but that day hasn't come). As of now, I just Notes to have a shopping list note, and then in it has headings for different stores I frequent with checkable bullets for items. You do that once and then just learn to remember to check it when you're at the store. The last thing I want to do it make my life more complex or difficult with having to remember everything when the effort is considerably less than the process it takes to write in this forum.
So on Android any sharing of personal devices, account details, etc requires specific permission to do so. Example: My wife could not even use our Google Home(s) to turn on/off the TV via Logitech Harmony like I could using voice commands. It's my account and my device as far as Google is concerned and it's up to me to choose to share access to it or not, which of course I did as soon as I realized she couldn't control the TV. Google Home recognizes her voice as completely separate from mine and any account sharing between us is only with express permission to do so.
A few months back I was convinced my wife had lost the extra truck keys I entrusted her with. Could not find them anywhere. I eventually had another made which was NOT cheap. Then one day recently while cleaning the dining room she came across them, and right where I put them in the back corner of the lower display cabinet when we left for a weeks' vacation. I wanted to have a key there for my son in case of a family emergency without outright giving it out to him for joyriding so I hid it. Too well evidently. If I had used "Remember" I could have asked where they were and saved that expense on top of not irritating my wife by saying it was she that lost them.