Gurman: Apple Working On Revamped Siri Experience That Doesn't Require 'Hey Siri' Trigger Phrase

[ArtOfWarfare]

I’m for “Oi, listen here you!”
Alternatively, “Oi, Siri mate!”

You joke, but really, if something wants to live up to the promise of what these digital assistants claimed they were, they would understand the endless array of things we could call them.

And you know, they would both give the correct answer and actually play on how we had invoked them coming back with "Oi, it's 42, you hear?"

But Siri is utterly useless and braindead. As it is:

1 - She doesn't know you've invoked her.
2 - She wouldn't understand the question if she did know you were talking.
3 - She'll give an incorrect response.
4 - There won't be anything amusing about the response at all. It'll be the same maddening canned crap she always gives.

Well, and also, for everytime she does that, there will be ten times you didn't mean to invoke her but she'll randomly say something.

 

[PsykX]

Actual exchange I had last night:

Me: “Hey Siri, turn off the fan in 15 minutes”

HomePod: “I’m sorry, you must set automations at least one minute in advance”

Me: “Hey Siri, turn off the fan in 15 minutes”

HomePod: “I’m sorry, you must set automations at least one minute in advance”

Me: “Hey Siri, turn off the fan in 15 minutes”

HomePod: “I’m sorry, I’m not sure who’s speaking. Who is this?”

Me: “David”


HomePod: “I’m sorry, you must set automations at least one minute in advance”


Me: “Hey Siri, just turn off the fan”

Siri: “okay”

I have the same experience. Trying to speak loud and clear, to clearly define my intent, etc. Siri's just a stupid assistant. In fact I've watched the Siri reveal keynote recently and it hasn't changed much in 11 years, but they did remove some humour. I was having so much fun asking for a good foundry to hide a body.

 

[mihighil]

COURAGE

 

[imnotthewalrus]

What i need is a way to change "Siri" to something else entirely. My speech impairment makes it impossible to say that word in a way Siri recognizes. ☹️

You know you can press the side button (phone or watch) right?

 

[LeeW]

Just kill Siri and add Alexa.

 

[cicalinarrot]

I'm still waiting for the revamped Siri experience that doesn't require repeating things three times, cussing, swearing and finally giving up and doing things manually after having wasted a full minute for a 10 seconds task.

 

[Mick-Mac]

I'd be a very happy person if Apple didn't release a new version of macOS for the next 3 years and then when it did finally come out the only new feature was an improved voice recognition system. I added an extra year to that schedule so that Apple would refrain from releasing it after 2 years so they could subsequently spend an additional year fixing their usual unforgivable bugs because their software QC is just sooo very much in the toilet these days.

 

[Xenobius]

I am not sure that anything can help Siri...

 

[Helios_7]

That’s like buying a totaled car and thinking “I’ll start with replacing the rims”.

 

[Greenmeenie]

People better be careful when saying the word “Seri-ously” then 😂 Seriously tho, saying “hey” does make it seem more personable. Like you’re talking with an actual AI. I always thought Apple should change the command to “Hey Apple” for a more direct brand connection. What about letting people assign their OWN word to trigger siri? THAT would be fun.

 

[TL24]

Siri is absolutely trash compared to Google Assistant, it’s like a night and day difference.

Apple should be ashamed they haven’t done anything with Siri for years now.

 

[Smoovejayy]

Why not keep “Hey Siri” and fix the rest of it?

Exactly this.

 

[Night Spring]

You know you can press the side button (phone or watch) right?

Yes, that's how I invoke Siri now. But the point of "hey Siri" is to let you invoke Siri even if your device is across the room, right? That's the part that doesn't work for me.

 

[PowerButton]

Me saying in response to reading this, “are you SERIOUS,” Siri responding, “uh-huh, I’m listening.” 🤔

 

[GuruZac]

“Apple working on revamped Siri experience that doesn’t require Siri at all.”

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

I’m sorry but talking about a “revamped experience” and then just changing the trigger phrase is simply laughable.

I assume the so called revamped experience will have more going on than just a minor change, but the way it’s presented is awful.

 

[HMI]

Apples fixes bugger all. Just more dung on the pile.

I live in the UK. WTF are shades? we have curtains and/or blinds. It drives the misses potty when siri says "closing the shades"

WTF is “potty?” Here we have “crazy” or “FRUSStrated” (or the UK equivalent: frusTRAYted).

 

[anthogag]

Great news. Just "Siri" is much better.

Yes, "Siri" could be difficult for some people to say. "Siri" is a stepping stone to naming the computer what ever you want. Something easier to say and for the computer to recognize.

 

[Someyoungguy]

Reply to wrong post deleted

 

[npmacuser5]

From my experience, Siri already ignores the hey part and interrupts often.

 

[n-evo]

why can't I do the same for devices that have more processing power than 1960's NASA mission command?

"A smartphone of today has more computing power than NASA's 1960 supercomputer"

Can we stop using this benchmark? I just saw it again in a comment thread, in an attempt to educate someone who didn't seem to quite get the relentless march of technology. And certainly - it may be hard to imagine that something that today requires a massive, distributed cloud computing architectur

www.linkedin.com

 

[PruneTracy]

Long time member. Infrequent poster….

Siri(ously)? This is the improvement they feel the need to address?

I use Siri frequently while driving, and the amount it bungles is beyond frustrating.

 

[dannys1]

Actual exchange I had last night:

Me: “Hey Siri, turn off the fan in 15 minutes”

HomePod: “I’m sorry, you must set automations at least one minute in advance”

Me: “Hey Siri, turn off the fan in 15 minutes”

HomePod: “I’m sorry, you must set automations at least one minute in advance”

Me: “Hey Siri, turn off the fan in 15 minutes”

HomePod: “I’m sorry, I’m not sure who’s speaking. Who is this?”

Me: “David”


HomePod: “I’m sorry, you must set automations at least one minute in advance”


Me: “Hey Siri, just turn off the fan”

Siri: “okay”

Is Siri even capable of doing something “in X minutes” - I’ve wanted that feature years - that and the ability to say “and” to link two enquiries together.

But who am I kinding, it’s got to the point where I have to ask it to turn the light on 3 times.

 

[Debauch]

Everyone: Hey Apple, Siri is really bad, unresponsive, doesn’t understand commands, has issues executing commands, and needs improvement so it’s useful.

Apple: You can now invoke Siri 43% faster.

 

[sgtaylor5]

I am not sure that anything can help Siri...

View attachment 2108972