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iOS 14.3 Lets Siri Replicate Sounds Like Lion Roaring
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Interesting, but more effort could be put into other voice feaures. If there's one thing I am still disappointed with in the Apple ecosystem, it is Siri.
I ask HomePod or Siri (iPhone 12/Apple Watch 5) not-uncommon queries all the time and end up getting a list of search results. In fact, this got worse in iOS 14.
"What is our current elevation?" results in "Interesting question." We used this all the time while traveling through the mountains in iOS 13. Siri should be able to tell from GPS, map location or the internal barometer (in some devices).
"What is the barometric pressure in pascals?" Search results. I think this used to work. Now you need to do it in two parts: "What is the barometric pressure?" "What is 30.2 inches of mercury in pascals?"
"What is our current latitude and longitude?" Search results. "What is our current location" will show a map with the lat/long at the bottom, but it shouldn't be difficult for Siri to respond with voice.
Sometimes when I rephrase my question, she'll get it... but the original phrasing may be perfectly acceptable (and not even regional in origin) or even better than the one she understood.
Siri can be tiring because she can only accept one command at a time. "Hey Siri, turn off the front porch light and the front room light." Nope. "Hey Siri...", "Hey Siri...." Same thing for "What time is it in London?" and "What's the temperature there?" Google Assistant handles this by listening a few seconds for another command after speaking.
Siri can't handle lists. "Hey Siri, add orange juice and antifreeze to the shopping list." This results in one reminder item for "orange juice and antifreeze." Really, my wife asked me to add OJ and that prompted me to remember I also needed antifreeze. They're in different stores, making it even stranger to see them on one line. And hey, it sounds like a murder attempt to me.
"Hey Siri, play this music on all speakers" isn't understood, but "play this music on all HomePods is."
There are some other common household question we've asked that don't get a hit, but I haven't tested these with iOS 14 yet. I think the gap is narrowing between Siri and Google/Alexa. I do appreciate Apple's valuation of privacy, which is why I don't use Google/Alexa devices much, and I understand that the privacy limits on the profile data Siri collects can impact it's ability to respond contextually... but none of that applies to my examples above.
I ask HomePod or Siri (iPhone 12/Apple Watch 5) not-uncommon queries all the time and end up getting a list of search results. In fact, this got worse in iOS 14.
"What is our current elevation?" results in "Interesting question." We used this all the time while traveling through the mountains in iOS 13. Siri should be able to tell from GPS, map location or the internal barometer (in some devices).
"What is the barometric pressure in pascals?" Search results. I think this used to work. Now you need to do it in two parts: "What is the barometric pressure?" "What is 30.2 inches of mercury in pascals?"
"What is our current latitude and longitude?" Search results. "What is our current location" will show a map with the lat/long at the bottom, but it shouldn't be difficult for Siri to respond with voice.
Sometimes when I rephrase my question, she'll get it... but the original phrasing may be perfectly acceptable (and not even regional in origin) or even better than the one she understood.
Siri can be tiring because she can only accept one command at a time. "Hey Siri, turn off the front porch light and the front room light." Nope. "Hey Siri...", "Hey Siri...." Same thing for "What time is it in London?" and "What's the temperature there?" Google Assistant handles this by listening a few seconds for another command after speaking.
Siri can't handle lists. "Hey Siri, add orange juice and antifreeze to the shopping list." This results in one reminder item for "orange juice and antifreeze." Really, my wife asked me to add OJ and that prompted me to remember I also needed antifreeze. They're in different stores, making it even stranger to see them on one line. And hey, it sounds like a murder attempt to me.
"Hey Siri, play this music on all speakers" isn't understood, but "play this music on all HomePods is."
There are some other common household question we've asked that don't get a hit, but I haven't tested these with iOS 14 yet. I think the gap is narrowing between Siri and Google/Alexa. I do appreciate Apple's valuation of privacy, which is why I don't use Google/Alexa devices much, and I understand that the privacy limits on the profile data Siri collects can impact it's ability to respond contextually... but none of that applies to my examples above.
