Any way to TURN OFF Siri's STUPID comments?

[phineasboggs]

No matter what it says, I understand your preferences. Many people passionately love the comments. Some don't care. Still others don't like comments and get annoyed.
Everybody is different. We have different political parties and cars <g> because it's a human condition to like things to work in the most comfortable way for us.
Makes sense to me to allow choices on the iPhone too!
A toggle would be a great idea. Even a selection for frequent, occasional (surprise me) or no comments from Siri.
One of the great things about apps on the iphone, is that we can customize them, select what works for us, and adjust the settings on the features we use.
Seems like a good thing and a reasonable request!

So now my Iphone is Jewish?
I asked it "Siri, what time is it?"

it's response was,
"It's 4:47 PM. Happy Hanukkah! Wishing you lots of latkes!"

I happen to not be religious, and I really didn't appreciate my phone blurting out anyones celebration, for any reason. I didn't ask what obscure religious holiday it is, I just asked for the time.

I am also frustrated with the smart remarks that my phone gives me when setting a timer or creating a calendar event.

I vote for a toggle to shut off all of the smart-ass-ed-ness.

Once in a while a professional buys one of these phones, and tries to use it as a tool... It is disruptive "behaviour" when the tool starts back talking.

 

[ABC5S]

You don't want stupid comments ? Don't ask stupid questions

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

You don't want stupid comments ? Don't ask stupid questions

How can "What time is it?" be a stupid question?

Don't post stupid replies is more like it.

 

[HEK]

I wonder how sensitive I'd have to be to actually be bothered by Siri telling me to have a happy InsertReligiousHolidayHere? It's all in good spirit.

Coming from an Android, I'm noticing that a lot of the "problems" I see people bring up don't really seem to be problems at all. It almost feels like people look for things to complain about.

One example would be, I saw somebody post about his songs not showing the "E" for explicit symbol after you click to play the song, and the album art is showing.

He posted 4 screenshots. One screenshot of the song in Control Center, and the "E" was showing. One shot of the song in the lock screen, and the "E" was showing. One screenshot of the song listed in the Music app's library, and the "E" was showing. Then, the screenshot of the song opened up in the Music app, and the "E" was not showing. I checked one of my explicit songs for him, and confirmed it was the same for me. I would have never even noticed something like that, much less seen it as an issue.

I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a whole lot of agenda behind many of these over the top complaints. Since you mentioned coming from android, you may have frequented those forums over time. Had you noticed similar super sensitive complaints there? I was unclear if the "E" issue was referencing android phone or iPhone.

Human nature can be quite interesting at times. Especially how serious some people take their own opinion when others have the opinion that the issue is rather ludicrous. May need a whole new religious section, to really get into it. We have a political section.

 

[HEK]

How can "What time is it?" be a stupid question?

Don't post stupid replies is more like it.

One person's stupid comment is another person's golden nugget. Recently the upwelling of political correctness and super sensitivity to free speech has become annoying. It's gotten to the point that universities, once a bastion for radical ideas and discussion have turned into places where guest lectures are banned because they are controversial. What ever happened to the free speech movements of the 60s and 70s?

 

[cmichaelb]

How can "What time is it?" be a stupid question?

Don't post stupid replies is more like it.

I'm curious as why anyone would ask Siri the time. The clock is on screen, it's on the lock screen. I;ve never had to so it's a bit curious to me.

 

[CNeufeld]

I'm curious as why anyone would ask Siri the time. The clock is on screen, it's on the lock screen. I;ve never had to so it's a bit curious to me.

Maybe because you can do it hands-free now?

C

 

[HEK]

I'm curious as why anyone would ask Siri the time. The clock is on screen, it's on the lock screen. I;ve never had to so it's a bit curious to me.

I can tell you why I ask Siri the time. I don't usually wear a watch, my phone is sitting across the room, and I am not in view of any clock. So I treat the phone as I would any person that has a watch and simply ask, "Hey Siri, what time is it?" And I get a verbal response telling me the time. Didn't get up, didn't have to have phone on me at all times, yet still got functional use from my phone.

Oh and I do this with timers as well. I am cooking, hands are messy, phone is on table and I am at kitchen counter and I say "Hey Siri, set timer to 20 minutes" it does so and verbally acknowledges me. That amazes the hell out of me and is super functional. It is really becoming an assistant for me.

This introduces the idea my phone does not need to be crazy glued to my hand any more to be useful.

 

[cmichaelb]

I can tell you why I ask Siri the time. I don't usually wear a watch, my phone is sitting across the room, and I am not in view of any clock. So I treat the phone as I would any person that has a watch and simply ask, "Hey Siri, what time is it?" And I get a verbal response telling me the time. Didn't get up, didn't have to have phone on me at all times, yet still got functional use from my phone.

Oh and I do this with timers as well. I am cooking, hands are messy, phone is on table and I am at kitchen counter and I say "Hey Siri, set timer to 20 minutes" it does so and verbally acknowledges me. That amazes the hell out of me and is super functional. It is really becoming an assistant for me.

Okay, thanks. That makes sense to me.

 

[scaredpoet]

Everybody is different. We have different political parties and cars <g> because it's a human condition to like things to work in the most comfortable way for us.

While I can agree with this, I've also seen something else lately: People going over the top in being offended by things that are completely harmless. The whole "war on Christmas" situation has been one really good example of this, where people demand that a specific holiday be represented in a specific way, and assume that someone's failing to recognize it mains there is some attempt to whitewash or offend.

To be fair, the same is true at the other side of this issue: How am I to know that you want me to wish you a Happy Solstice, or Happy Hanukkah (Or Chanukah, because how it's spelled is also a thing), or joyous Kwanzaa? Is someone gonna give me a public shaming if I accidentally mix up Eid al-Fitr with Eid al-Adha? Or that you're among the more joyless of the atheists and get offended at the possibility of any holiday, no matter how secularized or commercialized it has become, is mentioned?

Or I could say nothing at all about the holiday season... and then have people jump down my throat over that.

This is a product, sadly, of our learning that we can manipulate society to bend to our will by claiming offense. The quickest and most effective way to get people to do what you want is to be utterly offended that they are doing some other thing.

Siri makes comments. Some of them, people might find stupid. 9 pages of comments over 14 months on this thread have not changed that fact. That's just the way it is. Get over it, or don't use it.

Fortunately, people actually DO have choices... like the very useful yet quite-humorless Google Now, or even Cortana. And you don't even have to switch platforms anymore.

 

[HEK]

While I can agree with this, I've also seen something else lately: People going over the top in being offended by things that are completely harmless. The whole "war on Christmas" situation has been one really good example of this, where people demand that a specific holiday be represented in a specific way, and assume that someone's failing to recognize it mains there is some attempt to whitewash or offend.

To be fair, the same is true at the other side of this issue: How am I to know that you want me to wish you a Happy Solstice, or Happy Hanukkah (Or Chanukah, because how it's spelled is also a thing), or joyous Kwanzaa? Is someone gonna give me a public shaming if I accidentally mix up Eid al-Fitr with Eid al-Adha? Or that you're among the more joyless of the atheists and get offended at the possibility of any holiday, no matter how secularized or commercialized it has become, is mentioned?

Or I could say nothing at all about the holiday season... and then have people jump down my throat over that.

This is a product, sadly, of our learning that we can manipulate society to bend to our will by claiming offense. The quickest and most effective way to get people to do what you want is to be utterly offended that they are doing some other thing.

Siri makes comments. Some of them, people might find stupid. 9 pages of comments over 14 months on this thread have not changed that fact. That's just the way it is. Get over it, or don't use it.

Fortunately, people actually DO have choices... like the very useful yet quite-humorless Google Now, or even Cortana. And you don't even have to switch platforms anymore.

Thank you for this reply. More of us that are sick of the political correctness BS need to raise our voices. It seems to me when people could rightly or wrongly comment about things, as the constitution clearly states used to be our right. Things actually ran smoother. Now with having to worry about who or what group you will offend with your every opinion. Grow thicker skins people, accept the fact that your opinion may not be someone else's and get over it.

 

[Vicrooloo]

Disappointed by the kind of responses in this thread. Reminds me of some threads in the Android forums.
I guess I shouldn't have expected better.

If OP is still having an issue: All you can do is toggle the voice feedback under Settings > General > Siri. Google Now doesn't have comments but Apple hasn't given devs access to the "Hey Siri" voice command.

 

[JackieInCo]

I'm curious as why anyone would ask Siri the time. The clock is on screen, it's on the lock screen. I;ve never had to so it's a bit curious to me.

Listening to music while the phone is in the pocket while working is one occasion a person might ask Siri for the time. I've done it in the past.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I'm curious as why anyone would ask Siri the time. The clock is on screen, it's on the lock screen. I;ve never had to so it's a bit curious to me.

When it is raining i use it, instead of taking my phone out of the pocket. I have headphones on all the time anyway.

 

[ABC5S]

How can "What time is it?" be a stupid question?

Don't post stupid replies is more like it.

Mine comes back with the weather than, she says " Hot ". That is not annoying.

I ask, what time is it, and Siri says the time, than "Beep" Second time she gives the time, but nothing else. Third time I asked for the time, nothing but the time. Nothing annoying about this either.

If it bothers you so much, go get help...

 

[cmichaelb]

Listening to music while the phone is in the pocket while working is one occasion a person might ask Siri for the time. I've done it in the past.

Thanks. I was curious, but from seeing these examples I can see the use case now.

 

[IphoneIssues]

I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a whole lot of agenda behind many of these over the top complaints. Since you mentioned coming from android, you may have frequented those forums over time. Had you noticed similar super sensitive complaints there? I was unclear if the "E" issue was referencing android phone or iPhone.

Human nature can be quite interesting at times. Especially how serious some people take their own opinion when others have the opinion that the issue is rather ludicrous. May need a whole new religious section, to really get into it. We have a political section.

I was browsing a different iphone forum, about a month ago. That's where the guy was talking about the "E" issue, on his iphone.

Yes, I've frequented Android forums. I only ever saw people complaining about things actually not working.

Here, there is a bit of legitimate stuff. Far fewer than Android problems. Then, there's this silly stuff.

 

[HEK]

I was browsing a different iphone forum, about a month ago. That's where the guy was talking about the "E" issue, on his iphone.

Yes, I've frequented Android forums. I only ever saw people complaining about things actually not working.

Here, there is a bit of legitimate stuff. Far fewer than Android problems. Then, there's this silly stuff.

K, thanks was curious what you perceived. I need to add some filler besides just saying thanks, because I will get chastised for one word answers.

 

[IphoneIssues]

K, thanks was curious what you perceived. I need to add some filler besides just saying thanks, because I will get chastised for one word answers.

It's really like Apple does such a good job that this is the type of stuff people have to be irritated with.

Yep, if there was ever a thread where a one-word response would bother somebody, it's this one.

 

[TheMacApple]

I asked it "Siri, what time is it?"
.

Why would one need to ask what time it is? Unless your blind, one should expect a dumb ass answer

 

[C DM]

Why would one need to ask what time it is? Unless your blind, one should expect a dumb ass answer

If one reads the thread (even just the last page) one would know. Whatever the reasoning though, why would anything else other than the time be expected as a reply?

 

[HEK]

If one reads the thread (even just the last page) one would know. Whatever the reasoning though, why would anything else other than the time be expected as a reply?

When I ask Siri for the time, it simply tells me the time, no added comments. Maybe some people are asking in a snarky manner? So it responds back sarcastically.

 

[C DM]

When I ask Siri for the time, it simply tells me the time, no added comments. Maybe some people are asking in a snarky manner? So it responds back sarcastically.

It seems to me that Siri isn't always consistent, either based on device, region, time, weather, star alignment, random number generator, what have you. Perhaps it's on purpose to make "her" more "human-like", or perhaps there's something else in play. For some people either always or most of the time she responds essentially exactly as expected providing just the information that was requested and nothing more, for others sometimes or even a lot of the time there's extraneous information (sometimes somewhat relevant other times not so much) or just plain banter that also gets included. Go figure.

 

[HEK]

It seems to me that Siri isn't always consistent, either based on device, region, time, weather, star alignment, random number generator, what have you. Perhaps it's on purpose to make "her" more "human-like", or perhaps there's something else in play. For some people either always or most of the time she responds essentially exactly as expected providing just the information that was requested and nothing more, for others sometimes or even a lot of the time there's extraneous information (sometimes somewhat relevant other times not so much) or just plain banter that also gets included. Go figure.

Weird right. Trying to figure out the variable. I've even tried asking stupid questions and Siri does come back with snarky remarks. But the regular run of the mill questions it just answers without adding comments. I do have my systems notifications mostly turned of? But don't see the connection there. Have had Hey Siri turned on since got the phone in late September. I do get a kick out of the phone coming on to answer my question as it sleeps across the room. A couple of times my son's iPhone answered as well. Seems our voices must be similar enough that under certain conditions it got confused.

 

[NovemberWhiskey]

If you switch Siri's voice to male, he talks back a lot less.