Can Siri search Netflix?

[mtngoatjoe]

Last night, I told Siri I wanted to watch Sherlock.

No joy. The BBC series (available on Netflix) wasn’t in the search results. I thought Siri could search Netflix, but apparently not. Or am I missing something?

 

[MacFanBoi]

I gave it a try as well but same as you it didn't find it even though I can see it in the usa netflix line up. I even tried switching to my usa itunes store account but same thing it didn't come up with any results from netflix.

 

[benjitek]

I thought Siri could search Netflix...

What made you think that? Had you read it somewhere?

 

[d21mike]

What made you think that? Had you read it somewhere?

http://www.apple.com/tv/
Siri Remote
Ask more of your television.
With all these new apps on your TV, what’s the best way to find something to watch? Just ask Siri. With the Siri Remote, you tell your TV exactly what you want to watch. Ask Siri to give you a few options, like “Show me popular TV shows.” Siri automatically searches across popular services like iTunes, Netflix, and more, so you don’t have to dig through each app individually. Ask to hear an album that just dropped, and Siri starts playing it from Apple Music.* You can even ask Siri to launch a specific app. The Siri Remote lets you focus on the entertainment.

It also will search HBO, Showtime and Hulu. Not listed there but I have tested it.
[doublepost=1452029421][/doublepost]

Last night, I told Siri I wanted to watch Sherlock.

No joy. The BBC series (available on Netflix) wasn’t in the search results. I thought Siri could search Netflix, but apparently not. Or am I missing something?

It will but it does not always work. Not sure why.

Try this:

Find Legends on Netflix.

This works but Sherlock does not. Strange. I have found a number of problems but have not found a reason.

 

[RichardScarry21]

Siri will search Netflix for me. It's not perfect when there are multiple titles with a similar name (i.e. Sherlock). I was having some trouble with Siri and Apple TV last night but it seems to have cleared up today.

 

[rhp2424]

I have had 50/50 success with Siri search. I believe I even did a search where I said, "Find comedies on Netflix" and it brought up only Netflix options. I have had other times where I ask for a movie and I knew it was on Netflix but it didn't find it. I have filed a report through Apple feedback when I have had a couple of issues. I suggest you do the same if you haven't done so yet.

 

[MacFanBoi]

Yeah it does seem hit and miss sometimes. When I asked it to find sherlock it found over a dozen movies and tv series including the elementary tv series but not the sherlock series I wanted.

 

[benjitek]

Last night, I told Siri I wanted to watch Sherlock...

Shows how unfamiliar I am with Siri voice-search on my ATV4. I remember seeing it demoed in the keynote, but didn't actually try it. For some reason I assumed it was for iTunes Movies/TV.

After reading your post, I played around with it a little, and I did find a way to bring up Sherlock. Using your phrase 'I want to watch Sherlock' didn't bring up BBC-Sherlock at all for iTunesTV or Netflix, just selections with 'Sherlock Holmes' in the title and the TV series 'Elementary'. Then I got it to work, but it should've worked without having to figure out Siri

• First, say 'I want to watch Sherlock', then the panel slides up with the search results -- all Sherlock Holmes + Elementary.
• While the panel is still showing, activate Siri again and say 'called Sherlock' -- then the BBC-Sherlock appears as the first choice, selecting it brings up the summary screen with both iTunes & Netflix as viewing options.
• I also found if I first activated Siri by just saying 'TV shows' and then after the popup panel appears, saying 'called Sherlock' also worked.
• For a single command, you can say: 'I want to watch a TV show called Sherlock', or 'TV show called Sherlock' or 'show me TV shows called Sherlock' -- all of those brought it up as the 1st choice.
• If I said 'TV show called Sherlock on Netflix' the pop-up panel was bypassed and I was immediately taken to the BBC-Sherlock summary screen with iTunes and Netflix as the viewing options.

I spent a while testing the command formats above with a variety of TV shows (and movies) and it works consistently -- for Hulu, Netflix and iTunes. Genres by service worked too, but they're pretty general. I could say 'show me [comedies] [comedy tv shows] [comedy movies] on Netflix', but if I substituted [stand-up comedy], Siri just shows 'comedy' results.

The search results are current. Comparing them with JustWatch which shows each streaming service's new releases by day, I was able to search for up to today's released titles on iTunes, Hulu and Netflix and they all came up.

 

[JoshMKB24]

I've noticed if I'm say on the home screen and ask Siri to search for something, if its available on Netflix it will show up. If I am in Netflix and want Siri to search just Netflix, that is not possible and the same search screen across all of the platforms still shows up.

 

[benjitek]

If I am in Netflix and want Siri to search just Netflix, that is not possible

That's not Netflix-specific. You can't use Siri for text entry in any ATV4 app -- native or 3rd party, which is what would be required to enter text by voice in a Netflix search field, or any ATV4 text input field.

 

[SteveJobs2.0]

To search in Netflxi on the main menu I always compete the command by saying "on Netflix". For example, "show me action movies on Netflix". This eliminates movie results originating from ITunes showing up.

 

[benjitek]

To search in Netflxi on the main menu I always compete the command by saying "on Netflix". For example, "show me action movies on Netflix". This eliminates movie results originating from ITunes showing up.

That's what he said, he was just commenting that he couldn't access the native Netflix search screen using Siri while in the Netflix app...

 

[JeffPerrin]

Interestingly, "Show me TV shows on Netflix" and "Show me GOOD TV shows on Netflix" bring up different results. So even though you get iTunes mixed in with the results, at least you can narrow it down somewhat with extra key words.

Hopefully Siri will allow app-specific searches in the near future. Otherwise, most people will just continue to use the text search bar, slowing adoption of the Siri voice-command model...

 

[benjitek]

| ...you get iTunes mixed in with the results... | ...Hopefully Siri will allow app-specific searches in the near future... |

Odd... If I specify 'Netflix' in a voice search, all I get is Netflix. Could be that some results are available on Netflix and iTunes, but there aren't any that are only on iTunes. Selecting the Netflix version launches Netflix into the selected search result, so it's really not much different than if you were searching within Netflix.

If by 'app-specific searches' you mean saying 'search Netflix for [whatever]' and have the Netflix app launch and perform the search -- I'd be surprised. Currently, when you specify Netflix in a voice search, the results are Netflix-specific. When you select a result, the media summary screen shows buttons for all available viewing sources, including iTunes. If that same search launched Netflix and did the search, Apple would be preventing a potential revenue generating iTunes button press. Using 'Sherlock' as an example, seasons 1-3 are on both iTunes & Netflix but the new 1-episode season 4 is only on iTunes. If you select season 4, the ATV displays a prompt letting you know that episode is for-purchase only and you must acknowledge that before proceeding. Personally, for Hulu -- I find searching for and selecting media using ATV4 search a lot easier than searching in Hulu.

What seems more likely as a future function is voice input in a text field -- then instead of tapping out words in the Netflix-app search screen, you could speak them.

 

[benjitek]

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