Is Apple going out of their way to cripple Siri?

[iBlazed]

One of the very few things I use Siri for because it's one of the only things she does well consistently is make phone calls, especially when driving. I would say "Call dad", and Siri would simply reply, "Calling Dad". As of a couple of days ago, Siri feels the need to confirm every single time I ask her to call someone. Why are they adding extra steps to process a commands? One of the few commands that works correctly 99% of the time.

 

[Armen]

One of the very few things I use Siri for because it's one of the only things she does well consistently is make phone calls, especially when driving. I would say "Call dad", and Siri would simply reply, "Calling Dad". As of a couple of days ago, Siri feels the need to confirm every single time I ask her to call someone. Why are they adding extra steps to process a commands? One of the few commands that works correctly 99% of the time.

I actually like the confirmation. At times I have 2 contacts that sound similar so she would call the wrong person.

I would hardly call saying "yes" to confirm a call crippling.

 

[iBlazed]

I actually like the confirmation. At times I have 2 contacts that sound similar so she would call the wrong person.

I would hardly call saying "yes" to confirm a call crippling.

To me, anything that puts more steps in the way to getting something done is crippling. Especially when I rarely had any errors with it before. The more steps a voice assistant requires you to take, the longer it takes to get a function done and the more likely you are to just do it manually.

 

[Alphabetize]

I think Siri got worse in iOS 8.

I will ask Siri to play a certain song, like, "Play Hotel California." and Siri will say, "Playing Hotel California." but it will either:

1. Play a random song.
2. Play continue playing the song I was already playing.

This happened on the first iOS 8 beta and it still hasn't been resolved. Tried on two different iPhones running iOS 8. Tried one on iOS 7 and it works fine.

 

[iBlazed]

I think Siri got worse in iOS 8.

I will ask Siri to play a certain song, like, "Play Hotel California." and Siri will say, "Playing Hotel California." but it will either:

1. Play a random song.
2. Play continue playing the song I was already playing.

This happened on the first iOS 8 beta and it still hasn't been resolved. Tried on two different iPhones running iOS 8. Tried one on iOS 7 and it works fine.

Yes, I noticed this too. And it happens rather frequently. Apple better get their s*** together because I'm really beginning to get pissed off at their software quality.

 

[Armen]

To me, anything that puts more steps in the way to getting something done is crippling. Especially when I rarely had any errors with it before. The more steps a voice assistant requires you to take, the longer it takes to get a function done and the more likely you are to just do it manually.

I agree extra steps aren't always a good thing but in this case the change actually benefits people like me who have contacts whose names are so similar.

 

[WordMasterRice]

I agree extra steps aren't always a good thing but in this case the change actually benefits people like me who have contacts whose names are so similar.

Unless he has somebody named Dan in his contacts I'm not sure if anyone else would have a name close enough to warrant this though. If it asks every time that would definitely be annoying. If I had an assistant that asked me a question every time I asked them to do something that assistant wouldn't last very long.

 

[oneMadRssn]

I think Siri got worse in iOS 8.

I will ask Siri to play a certain song, like, "Play Hotel California." and Siri will say, "Playing Hotel California." but it will either:

1. Play a random song.
2. Play continue playing the song I was already playing.

This happened on the first iOS 8 beta and it still hasn't been resolved. Tried on two different iPhones running iOS 8. Tried one on iOS 7 and it works fine.

I can't confirm, but I remember the command "play the new Coldplay album" would indeed play the newest Coldplay album I had on the device (at least on iOS6 or iOS7). Or, "play the Coldplay album Ghost Stories" would indeed play that album. I am not sure when these commands stopped working, but they now produce some nonsense result, like playing all Coldplay on shuffle or something, even though that album is on the device with all correct metadata.

 

[iBlazed]

Unless he has somebody named Dan in his contacts I'm not sure if anyone else would have a name close enough to warrant this though. If it asks every time that would definitely be annoying. If I had an assistant that asked me a question every time I asked them to do something that assistant wouldn't last very long.

EXACTLY!! Nevermind dad, sometimes I ask it to dial a very specific first and last name, such as "Alice Matthews", there is no one in my contacts with a name at all similar to that and it still asks for confirmation. If it's going to do that, it should at least be smarter about and only ask for confirmation when you have similar names and it doesn't understand which one you're trying to call.

 

[Armen]

Unless he has somebody named Dan in his contacts I'm not sure if anyone else would have a name close enough to warrant this though. If it asks every time that would definitely be annoying. If I had an assistant that asked me a question every time I asked them to do something that assistant wouldn't last very long.

You need to consider that not everyone has American/English names in their address book. Some of my contacts do not have English names and Siri screws up sometimes and calls someone else instead.

 

[WordMasterRice]

You need to consider that not everyone has American/English names in their address book. Some of my contacts do not have English names and Siri screws up sometimes and calls someone else instead.

This doesn't matter and has no bearing on this discussion. If the names are phonetically similar then it would ask. In this case there is no one in the OP's contacts that are phonetically similar, it's asking just to ask.

If it's so unreliable that it can't even get close then they should work on that rather than confirmations.

 

[Armen]

This doesn't matter and has no bearing on this discussion. If the names are phonetically similar then it would ask. In this case there is no one in the OP's contacts that are phonetically similar, it's asking just to ask.

If it's so unreliable that it can't even get close then they should work on that rather than confirmations.

There is no right or wrong here. It's just preference. I prefer the confirmation.

 

[dk001]

There is no right or wrong here. It's just preference. I prefer the confirmation.

Then why not make it a selectable option?
No wait! That actually is a make sense suggestion .....

 

[Armen]

Then why not make it a selectable option?
No wait! That actually is a make sense suggestion .....

It's Apple. too many options = confuse the average person.

 

[rugmankc]

I am well into my 60's and LOVE Hotel California. I started to play a Jazz Song from a separate playlist, then asked Siri to play "Play Song Hotel California". No problem.

Not sure why some have issues. But, it is, in some cases, how you word it.

 

[Tommo66]

You mention you are in the car, are you using 'Hey Siri' to activate it. If you do it assumes you might not be looking at the screen and asks for confirmation in case of error.

I've never had the issue when activating Siri holding the Home button.

 

[iBlazed]

You mention you are in the car, are you using 'Hey Siri' to activate it. If you do it assumes you might not be looking at the screen and asks for confirmation in case of error.

I've never had the issue when activating Siri holding the Home button.

This doesn't only happen in the car. It always does it now.

 

[sbailey4]

I agree extra steps aren't always a good thing but in this case the change actually benefits people like me who have contacts whose names are so similar.

Not really. In the past it would ask "Do you want Bubba or Dubba?" if there were similar. Even "which number for Suzie?" if you had two in there. That I can see, but "Call Dad?" Not sure how you could even add 2 relatives in your profile both dad. Never considered trying it tho. I would think if you did it would ask "Which dad?" not ask if you want to call Dad (since you JUST said you did)

For the record mine does not have this issue. Siri on iP6 is fast and seems better than ever to me.

 

[Armen]

Not really. In the past it would ask "Do you want Bubba or Dubba?" if there were similar. Even "which number for Suzie?" if you had two in there. That I can see, but "Call Dad?" Not sure how you could even add 2 relatives in your profile both dad. Never considered trying it tho. I would think if you did it would ask "Which dad?" not ask if you want to call Dad (since you JUST said you did)

For the record mine does not have this issue. Siri on iP6 is fast and seems better than ever to me.

Siri does not understand everything you say all the time. There have been situations in which I've said something like "Call my sister" and she's responded with "calling Richard".

 

[vexorg]

Has anyone tried cortana for comparison?

 

[Abazigal]

The funny thing is that for me, Siri asks for confirmation only when I tell it to "call Home", but not for other commands like "Call John". I am curious as to when Siri decides to ask for confirmation and when it deems it appropriate to just go ahead with the command?

 

[magicMac]

The funny thing is that for me, Siri asks for confirmation only when I tell it to "call Home", but not for other commands like "Call John". I am curious as to when Siri decides to ask for confirmation and when it deems it appropriate to just go ahead with the command?

Maybe it wants to know if you mean call apple (the phones home) or your home !

What happens if you say : ET, phone home ? Lol

 

[iBlazed]

Has anyone tried cortana for comparison?

Same exact thing. It's nice having a phone for each platform for comparison.

 

[eastamherstbias]

One of the very few things I use Siri for because it's one of the only things she does well consistently is make phone calls, especially when driving. I would say "Call dad", and Siri would simply reply, "Calling Dad". As of a couple of days ago, Siri feels the need to confirm every single time I ask her to call someone. Why are they adding extra steps to process a commands? One of the few commands that works correctly 99% of the time.

Yep only recently it started doing this. It is adding extra steps when they are not needed. I have noticed it getting stupider with understanding words.

"Call Work"
"There is No Work"

"Call Work"
"Would You Like To Call Work?"

 

[JackieInCo]

I think Siri got worse in iOS 8.

I will ask Siri to play a certain song, like, "Play Hotel California." and Siri will say, "Playing Hotel California." but it will either:

1. Play a random song.
2. Play continue playing the song I was already playing.

This happened on the first iOS 8 beta and it still hasn't been resolved. Tried on two different iPhones running iOS 8. Tried one on iOS 7 and it works fine.

I have this album. Asked Siri to play it and she told me I had to unlock the phone first. I did and it brought up the album and I had to actually press play to get it started.