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Disappointed with Siri on Apple TV

R

richardamp

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 18, 2013
43
37
I'm very excited about the new Apple TV and think it'll be great, however after playing around for a little while I am very disappointed with current Siri functionality.

1. When searching the App Store with Siri, you have to be very precise on the app name. For example, I couldn't get the speedtest.net app to come back in the search results because it had a longer app name. Siri wasn't intuitive at all to figure this out.

2. Can't do a voice dictation in a search box...can only use the very clunky on-screen keyboard.

3. Searching within apps was confusing and inconsistent. For example, within the ABC app, I did a Siri search for Modern Family. The first time I did it, it took me to the Modern Family page within the ABC app showing the free episodes. However, when trying this search again in the ABC app it often (but not always) took me to the universal search results page that included iTunes, Hulu, etc. Same experience in the History Channel app.

4. Can't use Siri to search for keywords within the App Store, like "games"

5. Siri is not very flexible with search terms...far from the natural language recognition I'm used to with my iPhone.

6. Overall, very limited in its functionality across the board.


I'm sure Siri will get better over time, but given that this is a key selling feature of the new Apple TV, it's very disappointing and can be frustrating at times.
 
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Siri on ATV4 is pretty bad. I love Siri on the iphone. And it is pretty good on my Apple Watch.
 
turbineseaplane said:
Are you serious?
Dictation was one thing I was thinking "finally! we'll have that on the TV!"

What a huge buzz kill

This bun needed more time in the oven - Sounds half baked to me.
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It's pretty great despite those shortcomings. I know that Apple will get it in eventually. Gaming is fun and just being able to search netflix/hbo/itunes with siri is worth it to me IMO. I am totally satisfied with this purchase.
 
Siri not being able to control Apple Music at launch is a huge oversight as well... Apple Music came out in June and they think its acceptable to not have full support for it at the launch of a product they launch several months later...please
 
I'm keeping my TV 4 because it's better than the TV 2 I had. But let's face it: two high profile product launches this year from Eddy Cue's org and both of them feel they aren't ready for prime time. Either Eddy has too much on his plate or he's in over his head. Everything listed in this thread are absolute no brainers that one would have expected at launch.
 
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Rogifan said:
I'm keeping my TV 4 because it's better than the TV 2 I had. But let's face it: two high profile product launches this year from Eddy Cue's org and both of them feel they aren't ready for prime time. Either Eddy has too much on his plate or he's in over his head. Everything listed in this thread are absolute no brainers that one would have expected at launch.
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Right now i have an old Apple tv hooked up and the new ready to go back, Yes the old one is slower but i can't believe i am going to say this but it is more functional. never thought i would say that yesterday
 
Relax. It's Siri 0.1 on the ATV. Give it a couple updates to make an actual evaluation. We all know how Apple does this. They release only the bare bones functionality at first, then build it up incrementally. I suspect we'll see a much more capable implementation of Siri in the coming months. I bet she'll even get her voice back.
 
JoeShades said:
Right now i have an old Apple tv hooked up and the new ready to go back, Yes the old one is slower but i can't believe i am going to say this but it is more functional. never thought i would say that yesterday
Click to expand...

The 4 is less functional than the 3? I think you'll have a hard time making that comment stick.
 
Surf Monkey said:
The 4 is less functional than the 3? I think you'll have a hard time making that comment stick.
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No podcast App, no radio App, airplay does not work properly if you run a playlist and turn screen off , screensavers show same photos in same order. Want to play music with a slideshow, takes an extra step......etc
 
At least yours works - I can't even activate Siri on my new ATV as the option is set to "Off", greyed out and not selectable.
 
I'm bummed that I can't just display results from my iTunes purchases with a Siri search. Asking to see things that I've purchased just brings me to the main iTunes movie store page.
 
Surf Monkey said:
Relax. It's Siri 0.1 on the ATV. Give it a couple updates to make an actual evaluation. We all know how Apple does this. They release only the bare bones functionality at first, then build it up incrementally. I suspect we'll see a much more capable implementation of Siri in the coming months. I bet she'll even get her voice back.
Click to expand...

Siri 1.0 will be available only on Apple TV 5 with A10 processor. Keep waiting.
 
JoeShades said:
No podcast App, no radio App, airplay does not work properly if you run a playlist and turn screen off , screensavers show same photos in same order. Want to play music with a slideshow, takes an extra step......etc
Click to expand...

So you're carping about the temporary shortcomings of a brand new iteration of iOS.

Compelling.
 
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