How to Call Someone and Put Them on Speaker Without Picking up Your iPhone

[jlc1978]

For me personally, Siri has been pretty good for parsing multilingual pronunciations. I just tried the three ways of pronouncing a rare name in my contacts (this is a name that can be in English, Japanese, or Italian) and Siri got all three. I've noticed some improvements in this area in the past year or so, so perhaps it's gotten better since you last tried it. Another tip would be to say the full name. In the past (when it was much worse at this) I've noticed a better hit rate when the entire name was said.

I admit it has gotten better. The biggest challenge I have seen is when a letter is pronounced differently than in the language being used, such as a soft X sound (Sh); which is not in English. Siri can't seem to find names with an x in it and returns ones with an s; even if I say the whole name. Part of the problem may be that I have contacts that make sense if you are looking for an sh in the name and thus Siri returns the most likely ones. I fixed the problem by simply tagging the name Wife.

Some accents also give it problems, such as zinc for sink; even contextually. I can understand if you use zink stand alone but if you use it contextually Siri gets confused. Speakers who don't aspirate H's can cause problems as well, as Siri thinks hair spray is air spray and returns supply stores instead of beauty stores. Accents and sounds not in the spoken language are no doubt hard to dechiper, and if Siri returned sink for zinc every time more people would be frustrated.

 

[ignatius345]

I use my speakerphone for almost all my calls

Not in public, one hopes.

 

[shyam09]

For me personally, Siri has been pretty good for parsing multilingual pronunciations. I just tried the three ways of pronouncing a rare name in my contacts (this is a name that can be in English, Japanese, or Italian) and Siri got all three. I've noticed some improvements in this area in the past year or so, so perhaps it's gotten better since you last tried it. Another tip would be to say the full name. In the past (when it was much worse at this) I've noticed a better hit rate when the entire name was said.
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Just tried defining a word by spelling it out. It works perfectly fine for me. View attachment 806593
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To be fair, Siri has seen some decent improvements in the past couple of years, and some people here are probably still basing their comments on pre iOS 9 Siri.

Try avarice.

I get “a VARICE”. That’s the one that got me.

I haven’t tried other words that start with ‘A’ to see if something different happened.

 

[autumnpatchouli]

I was under the impression that disabling “Allow Siri When Locked” was a security safeguard. Is that not the case?

 

[szw-mapple fan]

Try avarice.

I get “a VARICE”. That’s the one that got me.

I haven’t tried other words that start with ‘A’ to see if something different happened.

Just tried and it's the same problem with many a words. Worked for "artist" but had the same problem with "avert." This is a hilarious fail.

 

[44267547]

Siri does far more, far better than many give it credit for.

I don't think your post clarifies enough here. You’re incorrect and partially right in the same context.

Yes, Siri is great for iOS core functionality with in ‘house commands’ with toggling features, opening apps, timers, ect. Siri usually excels here.

But where you’re wrong and many others complaints compile is Siri struggles with outward searches and dictation is lacking. Not to mention, the way Siri _can_ decipher various questions/commands is horrendous. (Also, most are now aware Siri is server based, which can affect the responses).

Altogether, now that John Giannandrea (Formerly with Google) is in charge of reconstructing Siri, those changes are coming where Siri needs it most.

 

[maflynn]

Nice option of using Siri, unless you have a homepod, MBP, or an iPad, then one of them (usually my homepod) picks up the hey siri.

 

[Likeaboss7]

Very good to know if one ever has to call emergency. Just yell hey Siri call 9.. on speaker and you have assistance wherever one is. I’m always afraid of slipping when I get out of the bathtub lol. Or if one is in a situation where they are to flustered to get their phone out unlock it and then dial an emergency number.