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BIG difference between Siri and Google Now

K

kat.hayes

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 10, 2011
1,404
48
I've recently switched to a Note2 from a 4S. So far I'm liking it, however, I just found a big difference between Siri and Google Now. I use to use Siri in the car to send emails and texts. S Voice does not send emails, and Google Voice does not take you from one text field to another to make it truly hands/eyes free after activating it by long pressing the home button. It is basically unusable for sending messages while driving because after you enter a subject you have to click on the body and press the mic icon again to re-enable voice. Am I missing something? Hopefully, I am because I'm totally bummed....
 
M

mikegasol

macrumors member
Nov 29, 2012
57
0
You can just say "send text message to (name)" and then speak your message. You have to confirm it by tapping send message after it though. Try downlaoding speaktoit assistant or utter for better options.
 
M

Mikhailov

macrumors regular
May 3, 2010
199
0
This was a reason I did not keep my S3 over the summer. Siri was much better in the car. Nowadays, I find myself using Siri less and less in the car except for "call soandso." S-Voice failed in even that regard but Google Now seems like it handles basic tasks much easier. Making me think of a Note 2.
 
2

2298754

Cancelled
Jun 21, 2010
4,890
941
Ignoring this, Google Now is lightyears better than Siri, in terms of speed and understanding exactly what you say to it.
 
S

strausd

macrumors 68030
Jul 11, 2008
2,998
1
Texas
Here is a little snippet from one of my earlier posts:

strausd said:
Google Now & Siri:
I guess I was one of the few that actually used Siri. It was great. Although, I really only did 2 things with Siri and it was only ever in 1 place. I would either send a text to someone or set a reminder. And more than likely if I was using Siri, I would be in my car. So, being in my car I need to be able to keep my eyes on the road. The thing is, Google Now requires at least some input on the touch screen. This means, I have to take my eyes off the road. Google Now is not a true Siri competitor as it is not totally hands free, lets get that straight now.

To start Google now, I have to first swipe up from the capacitive home button. Next, I have to tap on a tiny mic icon. On my iPhone, I just held down a physical button, so I never had to look anywhere. To send a text message, Siri would confirm the message for me and ask if I want to send it. I could say "yes", "yeah", "sure", any so many things. The main thing is that I didn't have to take my eyes off the road. With Google Now, you cannot use your voice to confirm the message. You have to physically tap. And in this sense, it is not hands free.

The other thing I do is set reminders. I am a forgetful person and reminders is an awesome app. I would just say "Remind me to check my bank statement when I get home" or "Remind me to feed my dog in an hour" or even something like "remind me to mail my letter tomorrow at noon" and it would work every time. Whenever I try and have Google Now remind me of something, it has only ever done time. So "when I get home" hasn't worked. And if I say "tomorrow at noon", I will get an error saying that alarms can't go by dates. Google should really include a reminders app or something similar because it is very functional.
Click to expand...



And from another post in the same thread after multiple responses:

strausd said:
Let me clarify one point about Google now that multiple people have brought up.

Yes, I realize I can say "Google" and then it will listen. But getting that to work for me is not very consistent. And having to do that is a 2 step process for I can start giving it commands. Swipe up then say it.

I realize once on the home screen or in Google now I can tap the small mic icon. But I am most likely to use Google now when driving, meaning I don't want to look at the screen. Tapping the mic makes me look at the screen, thus not ideal.

I want a one step process to easily get to Google now from anywhere and start talking. A friend of mine is on a rooted GS3 on Cyanogen mod and set up the home button to bring up Google now and start listening right away after holding down the home button. That is an easy 1 step process from anywhere to go straight into saying commands to the phone. And that is precisely what is lacking from stock 4.2.
Click to expand...


https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1498227/

So yeah, I am in the same boat as you. Google Now is not a true Siri competitor as it is not truly hands free. No easy one-step process to make it start. And because of that, it requires you to take your eyes off the road to tap on the screen on a tiny microphone icon. Definitely not ideal.
 
mattopotamus

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,666
5,879
AutoUnion39 said:
Ignoring this, Google Now is lightyears better than Siri, in terms of speed and understanding exactly what you say to it.
Click to expand...

agreed about the speed and recognition. I have to talk to siri like a child. Google Now just has issues with setting reminders, alarms or events in the future...which is mostly what I use siri for. Once that is fixed, it is hands down better.
 
S

strausd

macrumors 68030
Jul 11, 2008
2,998
1
Texas
onthecouchagain said:
My understanding is if you wait it'll automatically send. Isn't there a timer that counts down?
Click to expand...

I have only noticed a timer for some things. For example, asking for directions, there will be a timer. After like 5 seconds or so, it will then pull up directions in the navigation app. However, with something like sending a text message, there was no timer. It requires touch input and there is absolutely no way to use voice input to send a text. Haven't tried an email though, but I am guessing it works the same way as sending a text.

----------
mattopotamus said:
agreed about the speed and recognition. I have to talk to siri like a child. Google Now just has issues with setting reminders, alarms or events in the future...which is mostly what I use siri for. Once that is fixed, it is hands down better.
Click to expand...

Oh man yes! This is so annoying. I just want my phone to simply remind me about something tomorrow at noon, is that so difficult?!?
 
onthecouchagain

onthecouchagain

macrumors 604
Mar 29, 2011
7,382
2
strausd said:
I have only noticed a timer for some things. For example, asking for directions, there will be a timer. After like 5 seconds or so, it will then pull up directions in the navigation app. However, with something like sending a text message, there was no timer. It requires touch input and there is absolutely no way to use voice input to send a text. Haven't tried an email though, but I am guessing it works the same way as sending a text.
Click to expand...


Really? I don't use Google Now that often, as you can see. That's bizarre why Google would exclude the count down timer on certain commands. Definitely something they should add to everything that's applicable.
 
K

kat.hayes

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 10, 2011
1,404
48
There is an app that allows you to map any app to the home button so googl3 now could be opened
By pressing the home button. No rooting required. Ill find it and post back here. However, that does not taken care of the other issues.


QUOTE=strausd;16423544]Here is a little snippet from one of my earlier posts:





And from another post in the same thread after multiple responses:




https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1498227/

So yeah, I am in the same boat as you. Google Now is not a true Siri competitor as it is not truly hands free. No easy one-step process to make it start. And because of that, it requires you to take your eyes off the road to tap on the screen on a tiny microphone icon. Definitely not ideal.[/QUOTE]
 
A

aced411

macrumors 6502
Jun 2, 2007
380
92
The biggest difference is Siri can carry a conversation (sort of) and Google Now can actually understand what the hell you're saying
 
C

cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,154
I actually prefer Siri in nearly every aspect. Both understand me about the same. Only thing I can fault Siri on is it uses data for everything. Plenty of times it would write what I've saying because of a week data connection.
 
K

kat.hayes

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 10, 2011
1,404
48
Thanks everyone for the great info!

One other thing about Google Now that I really dislike, how do I get rid of the ads that pop up when I'm using google now? I'm referring to the advertisement that shows up in the lower section of the screen. Can this be done?
 
H

hyteckit

Guest
Jul 29, 2007
889
1
kat.hayes said:
Thanks everyone for the great info!

One other thing about Google Now that I really dislike, how do I get rid of the ads that pop up when I'm using google now? I'm referring to the advertisement that shows up in the lower section of the screen. Can this be done?
Click to expand...

I'm started to notice ads in Google maps too on my Note 2.

Note sure if there is a way to turn it off.
 
Z

Zwhaler

macrumors 604
Jun 10, 2006
7,091
1,565
aced411 said:
The biggest difference is Siri can carry a conversation (sort of) and Google Now can actually understand what the hell you're saying
Click to expand...

This is why I prefer Google Now... using Siri is like having to have a conversation with a person that isn't real. Google Now is all about straight commands and is more practical in my opinion. I don't like how Siri tries to find info on what I tell it and if it can't generate a custom report it says would you like me to search the web... Google Now does this by default. I don't know if you can tell Siri to google something? Or maybe just search the web for...? Even if it does, I still prefer just saying what it is I'm looking for like .. Jamba Juice . and have it open google with a Places tab (Maps) at the bottom of the screen.
 
Beeplance

Beeplance

macrumors 68000
Jul 29, 2012
1,564
500
I've always hear people saying Google Now is supposedly better than Siri in many ways, the most major of it being the response time taken. Maybe there'll be future updates for it, but we'l see.
 
J

jeffe

macrumors 6502a
Feb 17, 2008
601
50
kat.hayes said:
Thanks everyone for the great info!

One other thing about Google Now that I really dislike, how do I get rid of the ads that pop up when I'm using google now? I'm referring to the advertisement that shows up in the lower section of the screen. Can this be done?
Click to expand...

You're probably talking about the 'Places' feature. You can turn that card off in the settings.
 
R

RMXO

macrumors 6502a
Sep 1, 2009
875
41
MadeTheSwitch said:
I suggest watching the video for a new app (mentioned earlier) called Utter and see if you think it would meet your needs. It looks pretty darn slick for something still in Beta.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brandall.nutter&hl=en
Click to expand...

I use Utter & Google Now together. During long road trips with my girl, I would use Utter to send text message to my girl sitting right next to me to keep myself occupied while annoying her in the process. LOL.
 
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