Apple Still Hasn't Fixed Siri Issue That Nixed Call, Email, and Voicemail Features Used by Low Vision and Blind Users [Updated]

[wilberforce]

I'm wondering whether there is some privacy issue here.
Like messages or identification of callers getting read out to unintended or unverifiable recipients.
Did someone sue Apple?
Or it does not comply with some telecommunications law?

 

[Lcgiv]

Running iOS 15.1.1, call last missed call works when I ask Siri…

 

[Fowl]

disappointing from a company that is usually on the forefront of accessibility.

On par for a company famous for ignoring customer complaints, or at least treating them as a trade secret.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

When was the last time Apple wowed anyone in a good way?

I'm not counting the ARM Macs - it was pretty obvious that was the direction Apple was heading in for several years before they did it.

I'm really wowed by how low quality all the software from Apple over the past ~decade has been.

I used to just make fun of how bad Siri was, but overtime, it seems like that lack of quality has spread to everything Apple does.

 

[Melbourne Park]

Cannot understand why Siri isn't phone based, rather than needing a cellular connection. Doing so would increase speed, save bandwidth, privacy issues, network issues (like in a carpark, a lift, the outback), battery life, reliability, learning ability ...

 

[scotty321]

Exhibit A for why Apple should never ever ever get into the car business.

 

[scotty321]

We need a major class action lawsuit against Apple for this.

 

[SFjohn]

When was the last time Apple wowed anyone in a good way?

I'm not counting the ARM Macs - it was pretty obvious that was the direction Apple was heading in for several years before they did it.

I'm really wowed by how low quality all the software from Apple over the past ~decade has been.

I used to just make fun of how bad Siri was, but overtime, it seems like that lack of quality has spread to everything Apple does.

I’m wowed by quite a number of Apples’s software/hardware from the basic phone app, notes, todo’s, to pages, numbers, keynote all the way up to final cut, logic, compressor. But most of all the utter magic that is Apple Pay on the Apple Watch. Aside the top pro apps of Apple, everything is free, secure, and just works for me and our small 10 unit HOA.

 

[miniyou64]

Just like how they stuffed up DND. Everytime I activate it, everyone's device in our household has its DND turned on

Are they all on the same Apple ID? You can turn off the option to have the setting affect other devices in Focus settings

 

[LeeTom]

Is it true what everyone is saying that that iOS 15 has been one of the worst so called upgrades in iOS history?

Is it true what everyone is saying that "now i see it" is the most hyperbolic forum poster of Internet history?

 

[incoherent_1]

Of course it’s intentional. They’ve intentionally removed tons of useful things over the years.

::silently pours one out for Force touch and Aperture::

 

[dysamoria]

Apple haven’t been on the forefront of good design since iOS 7 was pooped out.

 

[trifero]

Hey, Apple, this is no joke. Fix it NOW. Leave everything untill you fix THIS.

 

[hagar]

i don’t see how this is anything different than how Siri has been behaving in previous versions of iOS.

She forgets things all the time, can’t understand commands for months and then magically regains that feature.

She is DESIGNED to drive you crazy.


Just this morning she forgot how to set a HomeKit scene: … on it … still working on that … something went wrong … I don’t know what you mean by that…

 

[RickDEGH]

Apple has been a disappointment of late. My M1 Mac Mini (MMMM ?) doesn’t play any sound when I AirPlay to HomePod Mini after the Mac goes to sleep, although it connects and play goes on. A restart solves the issue, but then once the Mac goes to sleep any subsequent AirPlay to the HomePod produces the same issue until another restart. Some FaceTime calls don’t end properly. If I end a call (usually there’s an issue with the call) and try to call again, I’m immediately connected, with the tone, as if the the person I’m calling has picked the call, but then it’s a false call. Sometimes it takes ending and re-calling severally before the call truly ends and I’m able to call properly again. I had the issue on my 12 Pro after updating to iOS 15. Same issue is happening on my 13 Pro.

 

[Fraserpatty]

I just don’t understand what would motivate Apple to remove features that already existed.

More disappearing features: I used to be able to ask Siri what my battery percentage was on my iPad if I was unable to see the little numbers without my glasses, but it no longer answers that, athough someone said it still will answer in iOS instead of iPadOS. I also used to be able to have Siri add to one of my notes but now it just asks me if I want it to open the note. Why is Siri going backwards?

 

[twistedpixel8]

So short-sighted (no pun intended). Apple's always going on and on about accessibility, so this really flies in the face of that.

Ugh, sometimes Apple (the company as a whole) reminds me of a child jumping around, randomly focusing on one thing at a time, impulsively, and without reason. Throwing toys right and left. No structure, no plan. Just kind of going with their mood. One day it's all about the Mac, the next it's all about the (rumored) Car, then it's all about homeOS. Hard to predict.

This kind of behavior was fine and even fun in the 2000s, but today, it's just gotten old. Apple needs to slow the eff down, really sit down, work through all their bugs, figure out a cohesive software and hardware plan, and just LISTEN. Focus on fixing up current software issues and creating a stable foundation, then add features.

I guess I'm just annoyed with Apple right now because of this article, but seriously... this is a basic thing they missed. I feel terrible for blind/low vision users, they suffer as much as it is already.

Apple is basically the corporate embodiment of Asperger’s syndrome. It is like a robot making decisions about human lives without actually understanding emotion.

The really sad thing is that Apple will probably fix this and put out a statement apologizing, yada yada yada… but it will just be a PR “save face” exercise as a result of the negativity. It won’t be because someone felt horrible about what’s happening.

 

[jdoyle]

Did they strip down Siri because its processed on device now? Its really bad to do this so people who need it. On a different note, occasionally on iOS 15 Siri's voice slows down and becomes sluggish. Like she's suddenly had lobotomy. Any else experience that? It's bizarre.

 

[Marbles1]

Good to see this reported on. VoiceOver seems to break with every major release. There's also long standing bugs e.g. when you receive a call, sometimes the phone doesn't ring as the ringing seems to conflict with VoiceOver trying to announce the caller etc. It's like they haven't bothered testing it.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

IMO they should stop with the "major update every year" cycle and just add features when they're ready. Because right now they have boxed themselves into a very specific timeframe for their OS releases that they have to stick to whether they're ready or not. The updates are free anyway, so who really cares? The average user just updates when it pops up on their device, they aren't anxiously awaiting the next macOS or iOS.

It feels like they've been doing that anyways for the past couple years. All the big announcements go out at WWDC but the features arrive as they become ready with the .x updates. There are still some stuff that were supposed to be in iOS 15 that we are still waiting for, like Universal Control.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

Cannot understand why Siri isn't phone based, rather than needing a cellular connection. Doing so would increase speed, save bandwidth, privacy issues, network issues (like in a carpark, a lift, the outback), battery life, reliability, learning ability ...

A lot of things are processed on-device now in iOS 15 Siri. It was one of the big features Apple announced in June.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

Just like how they stuffed up DND. Everytime I activate it, everyone's device in our household has its DND turned on

That's how it's supposed to work. It's hardly Apple's fault if you decided to use the same Apple ID for everyone in the family instead of everyone having their own Apple accounts and linked with family sharing. Most people prefer DND to be synced. I don't want to have to remember turning it on on 3 devices when I'm about to start a meeting.

 

[polyphenol]

Cannot understand why Siri isn't phone based, rather than needing a cellular connection. Doing so would increase speed, save bandwidth, privacy issues, network issues (like in a carpark, a lift, the outback), battery life, reliability, learning ability ...

I suspect that is one reason we have seen things happen as they have.

Maybe Apple are trying to make it entirely based on the phone? And that has resulted in something that worked using data transfer then not working, at least initially.

 

[Lioness~]

I haven’t even turned Siri on.
I have much saner and better communication and thinking instead of talking to her.
I would rather talk to Batman and Batwoman actually then Siri ?

 

[Boris Bronson]

Just don’t think they care about Siri. Look at it on the Apple TV. It can take you right into programme screens in some apps but they don’t force devs to make this mandatory (I’m looking at you, Netflix). You can’t use Siri to force close apps, either - something obvious as it’s a pain to do on the remote.

So not surprised at all they’ve canned these accessibility shortcuts. Angry for users who need them as Apple made a big play to get disabled users onto iOS and it’s not exactly a cheap decision to make.

File this with their hypocrisy in other areas like carbon emissions, equality and privacy.