Hmm..I think the idea about linking devices on the same Apple ID together is suggestive of a Google Assistant/Alexa competitor. From the rumors we've seen, one of Apple's stumbling blocks for one these home based devices is shifting from a device-centric to a person-centric model. For example, when you add a calendar item- to whose calendar does that go? If you ask it to play music, which person's music plays? This sounds like an important first step. Apple has also theoretically tried to distinguish between people (though it doesn't seem to work in my opinion). When I say "Hey Siri", only my phone is supposed to activate. Getting that right might help solve these issues too.
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Questionable Rumor Claims Siri iCloud Integration and Contextual Learning Coming in iOS 11
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Siri on Apple TV is so dumb right now. She can hardly do anything, and when you use her, everything has to stop. How in the world is the Apple TV my HomeKit hub, but it's unable to process any Home commands?? I'm looking forward to them improving the experience. I got an Amazon Echo for christmas, and I can't deny that it's really nice to have an always on solution. Apple needs to get in the game again.
They need to do something with Siri. They were the first to market with something like Siri. Hard to believe it's been around since the iPhone 4S. They've been content to only let Siri get "smarter" in very tiny increments (and in specific areas). Meanwhile, Apple's competition has rolled out similar things and is taking pretty significant steps in both deep integration and learning. So far, Apple has missed the mark with Siri big time.
Siri has so much untapped potential -- particularly when it comes to helping keep people's eyes off their smartphones while driving. I've had to largely stop using Siri while driving because ironically, I find that I look at the screen longer when using Siri than I do when I do something myself. That's primarily because I still can't trust Siri to not transcribe something that makes no sense or completely misinterpret who I told it to call.
Sometimes, Siri is just plain stupid. For example, the other day I told it to call someone with a very easy to pronounce name that is in my contacts. He's the only person in my contacts with either that first or last name. It correctly transcribed the name of the person as I was speaking it and then it proceeded to ask me if I wanted to call two completely different people. So bizarre.
Siri has so much untapped potential -- particularly when it comes to helping keep people's eyes off their smartphones while driving. I've had to largely stop using Siri while driving because ironically, I find that I look at the screen longer when using Siri than I do when I do something myself. That's primarily because I still can't trust Siri to not transcribe something that makes no sense or completely misinterpret who I told it to call.
Sometimes, Siri is just plain stupid. For example, the other day I told it to call someone with a very easy to pronounce name that is in my contacts. He's the only person in my contacts with either that first or last name. It correctly transcribed the name of the person as I was speaking it and then it proceeded to ask me if I wanted to call two completely different people. So bizarre.
Ironically, I would like Siri to gain a little more autonomy. There are so many things she could do at the OS level without any internet connectivity at all, but she's offline-stupid.
Apple, and the tech industry in general, are putting all their eggs in the internet-connected basket. That's fine as long as there are offline fallbacks... but there often aren't. Always-available, always-on, always-reliable internet is a fine goal, but it's a pipe dream, and will be for a long time. When the lights go out, so to speak, it would be nice for some services to still function.
Apple, and the tech industry in general, are putting all their eggs in the internet-connected basket. That's fine as long as there are offline fallbacks... but there often aren't. Always-available, always-on, always-reliable internet is a fine goal, but it's a pipe dream, and will be for a long time. When the lights go out, so to speak, it would be nice for some services to still function.
Maybe Siri is actually being very clever and is vetting your friends for you?
For everyone saying that they turned off Siri because it couldn't understand them, I'd implore you to turn it back on and try again. Apple has silently updated Siri's voice recognition several times over the past few years. I leave my iPhone on the counter around the corner in the bathroom while I'm in the shower and shout out to Siri to do things. Even in that unideal situation, it works pretty freaking well. The biggest problem is hearing it over the shower. I'm not known for having the clearest voice either, so I was surprised when I tried it and I've been using it a lot in the morning over the past few months. It has also gotten a lot faster at processing, so responses come almost instantly.
As for this report, I just wanted to say that Apple pretty much has to upgrade Siri's contextual capabilities this year or they'll even fall behind Samsung of all companies. Given the massive lead they had, it's a shame that they've squandered it like this. It's true that they're one of the only AI that works across such a wide variety of languages, but I feel like they were too focussed on that over making it actually intelligent at completing tasks. But at the same time, they've also positioned Siri to easily dominate around the world once it gets smarter and more useful. And if that's their strategy, then so be it. But I feel like this is the last year they can do it before they start losing consumers to much better offerings. Just look at how quickly Amazon's Alexa has taken a commanding lead of the personal assistant appliance space, with many hotels and things starting to integrate the technology into the room. This means less sales of HomeKit appliances to control systems in addition to a wider fragmentation of ecosystems for the average consumer. It also means that people call out to Siri far less and just call out to their Alexa. Apple ends up missing out on data collected through differential privacy, and Siri ends up improving slower. It spirals out of control from there.
As for this report, I just wanted to say that Apple pretty much has to upgrade Siri's contextual capabilities this year or they'll even fall behind Samsung of all companies. Given the massive lead they had, it's a shame that they've squandered it like this. It's true that they're one of the only AI that works across such a wide variety of languages, but I feel like they were too focussed on that over making it actually intelligent at completing tasks. But at the same time, they've also positioned Siri to easily dominate around the world once it gets smarter and more useful. And if that's their strategy, then so be it. But I feel like this is the last year they can do it before they start losing consumers to much better offerings. Just look at how quickly Amazon's Alexa has taken a commanding lead of the personal assistant appliance space, with many hotels and things starting to integrate the technology into the room. This means less sales of HomeKit appliances to control systems in addition to a wider fragmentation of ecosystems for the average consumer. It also means that people call out to Siri far less and just call out to their Alexa. Apple ends up missing out on data collected through differential privacy, and Siri ends up improving slower. It spirals out of control from there.
Maybe Siri is actually being very clever and is vetting your friends for you?
Ha! Thanks for the laugh.
Would this purported upgrade enable SIRI to respond with more than one weather fact at a time? Like High Temp AND Chance of Precip? I've been defeated, no matter how I phrase the question. All I get back is "Sorry, I can only answer one weather fact at a time." If I wanted to play ***** twenty questions about simple crap, and poke it every time to speak the next question, I could talk to a person.
This doesn't even feel like a rumor, it's literally what Apple needs to accomplish to keep up with the competition making Siri look more and more like a gimmick.
I don't know where this "Google is sooooo much better than Siri" talking point comes from. Every comparison I've read puts them close to parity, with Google taking a slight edge overall. Siri is better in some places, Google is better in others, but it is hardly a blowout. Alexa isn't even in the same ballpark as the other two.
That being said, Siri needs a lot of work and if Apple doesn't get it together for iOS 11 they'll have real problems. And why do Siri improvements even need to be tied to iOS releases?! They should update her constantly OTA.
That being said, Siri needs a lot of work and if Apple doesn't get it together for iOS 11 they'll have real problems. And why do Siri improvements even need to be tied to iOS releases?! They should update her constantly OTA.
Have you actually tried all three, for me Google and Alexa are pretty close, but Siri is a complete waste of time, hardly ever recognises what I ask, and eight times out of ten then responds that she can't help me.
Please make her a good listener first before she acts proactive on my banking app or apple pay
I have an Android phone for work and an Echo Dot at home. I've unplugged the Dot because it's so useless compared to the ways I use Siri. What do you use Alexa for that seems to be so far ahead? As for the Android, what are your findings that are so far ahead of Siri? From what I've used, it's not that far ahead of Siri (but I admit it does do a little bit better), so I'm curious of some examples since I am always hearing how "bad" Siri compares...
I'll use the same real world example I've used before. Ask Siri for information on flights between two major cities. Ask Google the same thing. One gives you a bing search results with links to Kayak and Orbitz, the other gives you airlines, flights, prices, times and duration.
