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87% of iPhone 4S Owners Use Siri Each Month

bwillwall said:
I use siri often, I don't know why anybody criticizes it. It is right 90% of the time for me.
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I'm really sorry about this, but I can't take any requests right now.

Most voice recognition software aren't even usable they are so bad.
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Siri is included in that set. It may be really good at speech-to-text, but I'll never know because it's damn near always offline.

Why do people hate at apple so much?
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I don't. I love their products generally. But every once in a while, they hit a foul ball, and when they do, I'll not hesitate to hold their feet to the fire for it.

It's not like they claim it does everything...
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No, but they claimed it does something, which for me, it does not.

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PinkyMacGodess said:
Is there, or should there be, a training method to introduce Siri to your contacts and who is who. Like 'wife' means 'X', and 'mom' means 'Y'... It would make Siri more usable I'd think.
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Yes. You tell it "so and so is my wife."

... And then Siri says, "I'm really sorry about this, but I can't take any requests right now." :p

But seriously, that's how you're supposed to introduce relationship shortcuts.
 
RemE said:
3 - If you turn off Siri, guess what? , they dump everything that was learned about you, fail!
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Wait. :confused:

With all the huge privacy hullabaloo recently, are you suggesting that they *should* keep information about you when you aren't using the feature that requires it? :eek:
 
I use it but I really only use it for reminders "remind me" and adding to schedule "calendar"

occasionally for calls just for amusement, but it too often asks me which one and starts rattling digits of phone numbers. Takes longer than just using search.
 
PinkyMacGodess said:
I don't. I've used Siri probably no more than 8 times. Every time, it fails me.

'Call my wife' calling THE WRONG NUMBER...

'Call mom' 'Which one is 'mom''... The one called 'mom' possibly?

'Where am I' 'There is a problem communicating. please ask again later'

'Find the nearest ______ ATM' I get shown a list of ALL of the ATM's. I click on one and can't get back to the list.

I think my issues with Siri are that it is not learning my speaking voice and can't make sense of my contacts and who is who.

Is there, or should there be, a training method to introduce Siri to your contacts and who is who. Like 'wife' means 'X', and 'mom' means 'Y'... It would make Siri more usable I'd think.
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Ok, the first two are cases where it's asking you to train it, or where you've trained it with the wrong information.

The third is simply an instance where it can't connect with the servers for some reason. (No idea why, I've never had it happen to me.)

The list of ATMs for the 4th shows the distance to each one. If you're looking for the closest, pick it. If you want to 'get back to the list' why are you complaining that it provided one in the first place?

It may be that you've got a slightly unusual accent if it's having that much trouble understanding you. Or it may be that you're trying to use it in areas with too much background noise. But, those are just guesses.

If it's calling the wrong number when you ask to call your wife, it's because you've (probably inadvertently) mistrained it to associate the wrong contact with the term 'wife'. If it's asking which contact is 'mom', it's because you haven't told it which one yet. That's the mechanism it uses to train itself.
 
tbrinkma said:
Wait. :confused:

With all the huge privacy hullabaloo recently, are you suggesting that they *should* keep information about you when you aren't using the feature that requires it? :eek:
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Hmmm, well if I'm driving and fricking can't conduct buisness because Siri can't voice dial at the moment. So I go to settings, switch off Siri, use the built-in voice dialing all day. And, let me say that the built-in voice control, though limited compared to Microsoft Voice Command, does voice dial very well on the road with various bluetooth headsets and accessories. So, later when I would like to querry Siri, I switch it back on. So for doing this pretty much necessary task, Apple has to dump all learned infor for me due to privacy??

Turning Siri On and Off should be like opening and closing any other app, not dumping all learned data, anything short is just horse***t.
 
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Siri is cute at first, but when it comes to actually getting things done, nearly useless. At this point I use it to speak my texts while driving, and that's it.

Almost everything else I've done it either doesn't get a connection or it flat out doesn't work. Gimmick still at this point.
 
I use it often. For sending quick text messages, adding reminders and playing music in the car. It's fine.
 
RemE said:
Turning Siri On and Off should be like opening and closing any other app, not dumping all learned data, anything short is just horse***t.
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I agree and take it a step further: there should be an option to revert to voice control when siri is unavailable. It's crazy to be told it can't take any requests right now when the "request" is simply dialing a number in my contacts list.




Michael
 
Of those 87%, I'm sure only 2% or 3% actually use Siri for more than a laugh - if that many. Most of my friends have iPhones and none use Siri. I personally have used it a few times for laughs, but that's it - functionally, I don't have any use for it.
 
Tinmania said:
I agree and take it a step further: there should be an option to revert to voice control when siri is unavailable. It's crazy to be told it can't take any requests right now when the "request" is simply dialing a number in my contacts list.




Michael
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Exactly, it should use "local" voice control, and invoke network Siri only when you say "Siri....do this or that". This way 95% of the time life would be good. Siri really shines for that 5% of the time when complex question or task is needed.

And for God's sake, please allow me full hands free functionality with a BT connected headset and a locked phone, since we are securely "paired" I should not have to unlock the freaking phone to get messages read to me.
 
My use is different. 87% of the time I am told:

"I'm really sorry about this, but I can't take any requests right now."
 
My friends try to trick it into saying stupid stuff like every week. So yes, technically I use it every month. I guess to set reminders that my laundry is done too. Seriously, Siri is pretty useless. I love my iPhone 4S, but Siri is not one of it's finer points.
 
REMINDERS its what Siri is best at TRY IT.

I love using Siri to remind me to do things.
"Remind me to bring in thaty DVD for tom tomorrow morning at 10 am." stuff like that.

"Remind me to reserve a table at Clyde's tonight at 6 pm"


"Remind me to file my taxes tonight."

etc, etc.

it's awesome.

best,
SvK
 
RemE said:
Exactly, it should use "local" voice control, and invoke network Siri only when you say "Siri....do this or that". This way 95% of the time life would be good. Siri really shines for that 5% of the time when complex question or task is needed.

And for God's sake, please allow me full hands free functionality with a BT connected headset and a locked phone, since we are securely "paired" I should not have to unlock the freaking phone to get messages read to me.
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I thought that was what it did, ie if the command involves something 'local' to the iPhone, the command stays local. If it has to 'phone home' every stinking time, then it really is a rather pointless feature (And 'Voice Command' on the 4 was a whole lot more usable). Heck, the examples that I gave in an earlier post happened in SOBE Miami South Beach. The cell service SUCKS there! I'd have a better chance talking to someone if I used a dead cat! Calling was impossible in most of the areas along the beach and it surprised me. I expected that area to be a whole lot better.

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tbrinkma said:
The list of ATMs for the 4th shows the distance to each one. If you're looking for the closest, pick it. If you want to 'get back to the list' why are you complaining that it provided one in the first place?
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I was walking on South Beach and some of the locations were south of where we were and appeared to be farther west off the beach. Going between the number of locations on the list was helping us figure out if it was worth the trek back south and west. PLUS!!! If I asked for 'the closest', why the list? ;-P

tbrinkma said:
It may be that you've got a slightly unusual accent if it's having that much trouble understanding you. Or it may be that you're trying to use it in areas with too much background noise. But, those are just guesses.

If it's calling the wrong number when you ask to call your wife, it's because you've (probably inadvertently) mistrained it to associate the wrong contact with the term 'wife'. If it's asking which contact is 'mom', it's because you haven't told it which one yet. That's the mechanism it uses to train itself.
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I do not have an accent. I sound perfectly fine, to me...

It never asked 'Who is your wife'. I told it to 'call my wife' and it called a contact at IBM's Toronto sales office. Not my wife, for the record. It never asked 'Who the hell is your wife, dip ****!' I could have 'trained' her to select the proper choice. (Trying to be funny: Siri is a lot like one of my ex's: Every time anything went wrong, it was always MY fault.)
 
I'm stunned. I use Siri every day and rarely have a problem. I have her set my alarm each night before I got to bed and every morning when I want to know the weather.

I also have her read incoming text messages while I'm driving. The only time she stumbles, and only about 15% at that, is when I'm dictating a text message in response. *shrug*

I think it's a pretty cool feature and frankly, the only thing keeping me from going back to my Droid Incredible.
 
It's a shame that 99% of these 87% of customers will only be using Siri accidentally, due to their home buttons not working correctly, or accidentally activating it.

It's definitely not that 'hot feature' everyone was talking about months ago!
 
Wirelessly posted

You shouldn't need instructions. I thought one of apple selling points was it just works and a child and old people can use there products.
 
Tinmania said:
I agree and take it a step further: there should be an option to revert to voice control when siri is unavailable. It's crazy to be told it can't take any requests right now when the "request" is simply dialing a number in my contacts list.

Michael
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Oh, I definitely agree with that.

Siri *should* seamlessly fall back on the 'old-fashioned' Voice Control. However, given the uproar over 'location-gate', where, due to a bug, the phone kept information on itself, when the feature was turned off, I can't really blame them for *not* keeping the data on their servers when you turn the feature off. It may be an annoyance, but it does show that they take data privacy seriously enough to not keep unnecessary data around in the first place.
 
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