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Recent Siri Changes Remove Call, Email, and Voicemail Features Used by Low Vision and Blind Users
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Not gonna sugar coat it. This is the worst iOS release in recent memory. Use to be that you were paying a premium for Apple because you were getting a high level of quality control. iOS 15 has been everything but that. Makes me wonder what is going on because this is not the Apple that use to be. What the hell are they doing? I sure hope this isn't a sign of things to come and that the hardware will be the next to show a drop in QC. FFS, Apple. Get your **** together.
Siri, Shortcuts, etc. is getting really messy. Apple seems a bit directionless in these areas. Too many pointless changes between iOS/iPadOS updates. It's almost like people are making changes just to say they did something, like busy work, instead of making our devices easier but more powerful.
And this is why you should never be in a rush to download an update
Have you not been following recent observations about the quality of the new iPad Mini? I think that time could already be upon us, but hopefully it's a one-off. They've even defended the Mini saying it's just a normal thing for LCD screens to have this "jelly scrolling" effect. Not good.
Oh, but those turning this Siri story into an attack against iOS 15 didn't read the parts of the article explaining this issue is present on iOS 14 and even 12.
Seems crazy. Why replace it with something less functional? If they have to process some things over the web then just it. Siri was already not all that great. I have an Echo speaker with Alexa and it's way better. It's actually useful.
Well...
-"Time since last full charge" replaced with the much-less-helpful "screen on" metric
-Maps voice volume options almost completely eliminated
-Genuinely useful MagSafe adapters for laptops removed
-QR scanning banner replaced in favor of a tiny box that moves around and is harder to interact with
-Notifications can no longer be cleared from the banners
-Headphone jacks removed (and no, it's not for packaging or waterproofing)
-Text selection magnifier removed (but they finally saw how stupid that was and brought it back)
There's a bit of a pattern going on here.
What is going on at Apple lately? I feel like they are more concerned about virtue signaling than quality control. What good is a sustainably sourced phone if you want to smash it on the ground?
Apple are getting worse by the minute. These half baked releases are an insult and finger in the eye to all users. Heads really do need to roll. They are so full of themselves over how they care about their customers yet actually behave like they don’t give a rat.
Siri is decades away from being truly an assistant.
But look at all the new emojis! You should shut up and be happy for that.
Every year there are some total garbage changes to Siri, or voice assistance in iOS. I used to be able to use my phone hands free in an older car that had good BT, but not support CarPlay. I believe in iOS 12, it stopped automatically reviewing messages in that car when I did voice to text, it also stopped giving any audio feedback (beeps or voice) to tell me a command was accepted or what the heck Siri was doing.
Zero idea why they make these changes, and it is likely a big contributor as to why Siri has a bad reputation in some circles.
Zero idea why they make these changes, and it is likely a big contributor as to why Siri has a bad reputation in some circles.
Siri continues to be the idiot child Apple can’t seem to age her beyond.
With the recent release of iOS 15, Apple appears to have made some changes to Siri functionality that have removed features relied on by low vision and blind iPhone users.
Several Siri commands that provide details on phone calls, voicemails, and sending emails no longer appear to be working. The following commands used to be functional, but have recently been removed.
Over the last two weeks, we've received several emails from iPhone users who are missing this key Siri functionality, or their relatives who are attempting to help them navigate the changes. The Siri feature removals have also been documented on the AppleVis forums for blind and low vision users of Apple products.
- Do I have any voicemails?
- Play my voicemail messages
- Check my call history
- Check my recent calls
- Who called me?
- Send an email
- Send an email to [person]
Asking Siri to provide details on recent phone calls or voicemails results in the following response: "I can't help with that, but you can ask me to open the Phone app." Asking about email garners a similar response about Siri being unable to help.
It's worth noting that it's still possible to ask Siri to play the most recent voicemail message that's available, or a voicemail from a specific person, but Siri will not read out a list of all the available voicemails. The Siri commands seem to have disappeared when iOS 15 was released, but iOS 14 users are also not able to use them anymore so it's not an issue tied to iOS 15.
We asked Apple for comment on whether this was a bug or if there are alternate commands available for users, but after several days of waiting for a response, we did not hear back. A user on the AppleVis forums spoke to Apple support and was told that Apple is aware of the issue, so there's a possibility that this functionality will be re-added at some point.
Article Link: Recent Siri Changes Remove Call, Email, and Voicemail Features Used by Low Vision and Blind Users
As long as SIRI can play Billie Eilish, users should be ecstatic - possible Tim Cook quote.
iOS 11, iOS 13, iOS 15 are Apple's version of Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows 8.x and Windows 11
Agreed.
Smart Invert has been a varying mess since the launch of iOS 14. I haven’t yet updated — do I dare say upgraded? — yet to iOS 15. Decided I’ll (try to) wait for iOS 15.2 or so.
Siri functionality has overall been a disappointment, gaining (mostly gimmicky) abilities sometimes while losing others. Also, as someone had pointed out in a different thread, Apple hasn’t implemented the more natural voices across the board, namely still offering primarily very dated text-to-speech.
Sincerely, a visually handicapped person.
I wish Apple would just kill off Siri and create an API that would allow Google, Amazon, or Microsoft to use their voice AI's. I personally do not use Siri anymore since it always misunderstands what I am saying to the point it is useless.