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Recent Siri Changes Remove Call, Email, and Voicemail Features Used by Low Vision and Blind Users

techfirth said:
For all of the amazing work Apple does on accessibility features, their Siri stuff is sorely lacking. My father is completely blind and uses Siri for basic tasks like calling and reading messages, but so many other commands he uses silently (with no voice announcement at all) displays content on screen, or silently open web results, leaving him wondering whether it did anything.

Somewhere in accessibility there should just be a “the user of this iPhone is blind” toggle which kills all of this weird behaviour and forces voice responses for everything and suppressed context switching to other apps. It absolutely baffles me that this isn’t a thing already.

Quick example for anyone at apple reading this: “What alarms have I set?” - No voice response at all, just a text pop up on-screen saying “You have no alarms set.” or if it’s feeling fruity, the phone switches straight to the list of alarms in the Clock app, with no voice feedback again. Ask the HomePod the same question, and it reads them out. C’mon Apple!
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Siri reads them out on my phone I’ve just checked. There might be something that needs toggling on in one of the settings on your fathers phone. I’ll go through my accessibility settings, notification and Siri settings and report back on what’s set on to see if it can be sorted for him.
But agreed, it should be more simple instead of having to check 3 different menus in settings. They do it with Face ID, attention mode is automatically disabled with Face ID when Voice Over is enabled.
 
This simply shouldn't happen. They're treating visually impaired users like trash. They'd never accidentally leave out the ability for sighted users to send an email or check voicemail.
 
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Haha
 
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Realityck said:
As expected, have iOS 15.1 in beta cycle. They could just issue a update to iOS 15.0 too.
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It seems this is not an iOS issue, but a Siri ‘server side’ issue. It won’t work no matter what version of iOS is used, so iOS 15.1 or any other update won’t make any difference.
 
techfirth said:
For all of the amazing work Apple does on accessibility features, their Siri stuff is sorely lacking. My father is completely blind and uses Siri for basic tasks like calling and reading messages, but so many other commands he uses silently (with no voice announcement at all) displays content on screen, or silently open web results, leaving him wondering whether it did anything.

Somewhere in accessibility there should just be a “the user of this iPhone is blind” toggle which kills all of this weird behaviour and forces voice responses for everything and suppressed context switching to other apps. It absolutely baffles me that this isn’t a thing already.

Quick example for anyone at apple reading this: “What alarms have I set?” - No voice response at all, just a text pop up on-screen saying “You have no alarms set.” or if it’s feeling fruity, the phone switches straight to the list of alarms in the Clock app, with no voice feedback again. Ask the HomePod the same question, and it reads them out. C’mon Apple!
Click to expand...
So went through my settings and really the only things I can find to check would be under settings, Siri and search, and check that responses has been selected for always voice responses, as well as announce calls and notifications being on.
 
Flight Plan said:
Apple's idea to mine people's photos was bad because it would have opened up innocent people to being (accidentally or purposely) falsely accused of having committed a crime without due process of law. An atrocious crime, yes. But all it takes is one false accusation for an innocent person to lose their job, family, personal property, personal liberty, and even their very life.

Why do you insist on ignoring that valid concern? Why do you resist an honest discussion on that concern?
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In what way did they remove “due process of law”?
 
MacCheetah3 said:
(…)
Remember when software was provided on discs/disks, high-speed Internet access was scarce for residences, and there wasn’t an update possible around the corner? Companies knew the initial/original product must be as perfect as possible or face huge expenses and just as much blowback — even without rampant social networks
(…)
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Absolutely, this always brings me back to ATARI, NES, SNES, PS1/2 eras and how things really just had to work. And chances are if there’s one lying around, it will still do many decades later.

Today a flagship game being launched on disc, let’s say Call Of Duty #327, can be attached to a 0-day 100GB patch after install, basically the contents of the disc were bugged and obsolete.

The concept of a “launch” has definitely changed since it’s a permanently ongoing endeavor now.
 
Siri should have a more clever pathway to understanding, like beginning with:

« do you know my contact called x »

Yes

« then send x a message/mail/whatever. »

better ways to interact because it’s dumb and clever in some areas.
 
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Anybody remember the original Siri app, pre-Apple acquisition? That thing was awesome! Sure it was text-only, but you could write fluid sentences like "Find me a flight to San Francisco next Thursday morning on United for less than $400" followed by "How about Los Angeles?".

Innovation has changed, not just at Apple. It used to be "here's the greatest thing we could make". Now everything feels tied to a do-or-die yearly cycle and there's no one throat to choke anymore. You could argue this is the only way for a company to grow to the scale Apple has - but ever the tech prophet, Steve warned us about this years ago:

"Companies forget how to make great products. The product sensibility and product genius that brought them to this monopolistic position gets rotted out by people running these companies who have no conception of a good product versus a bad product. They have no conception of the craftsmanship that’s required to take a good idea and turn it into a good product. And they really have no feeling in their hearts about wanting to help the customers."

Edit: This!
 
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So true.
bchah said:
Anybody remember the original Siri app, pre-Apple acquisition? That thing was awesome! Sure it was text-only, but you could write fluid sentences like "Find me a flight to San Francisco next Thursday morning on United for less than $400" followed by "How about Los Angeles?".
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I may be mistaken but also recall Nuance’s Dragon Go app having context recognition.
 
MacCheetah3 said:
So true.

I may be mistaken but also recall Nuance’s Dragon Go app having context recognition.
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Dragon had a serious edge with medical terminology back in the day. I had some clients who were doctors and swore by it, clinging to old hardware and software until the built-in recognition became good enough. They had a great way of going back and correcting words that were missed too.
 
emulator said:
Not even close, it has nothing to do with that. The main reason must be their hiring policies, these days and with this leadership, the workers' sex and etnicity is more important than their professional skills.
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And I imagine you have proof of that.
 
Apple's response: "It's perfectly normal for Siri commands to disappear, it's to do with the LCD screens. Wait...we've already used that one this week? Sorry, I mean it's an issue with Visa..."
 
There are a lot of small changes that are not very user friendly. Like, I use the maps in Carplay a lot. They changed how the guidance or ETA only work, made it an extremely small button that's harder to find and hit while on the road. Very poor decision. It's almost like Apple doesn't care any more about the real world use of their products. Removing hardware people want and use, removing features people want and use. They are making it easier to move away from them.
 
Flight Plan said:
I still haven't placed an order for my new iPad. There's just no reason for me to be in a hurry.

It's not just boneheadedness coming out of Apple lately with iCloud picture searching and now them reducing Siri from an 8th grade level to kindergarten. It's WORSE than that and I've put my MBP plans on hold indefinitely.

I'm also thinking that my iPhone 12 just might need to be the end of the line for me. Get excited about new products from Apple? Why should I when Apple isn't excited about me as a user and potential developer with lots of opportunity to get into the Apple ecosystem even deeper than I already am?

With every "pants on head" decision that makes MORE friction in my relationship with Apple's products and ecosystem, I find myself thinking seriously about moving to the android/Google ecosystems while also solidifying my participation even more in the Microsoft Windows ecosystem. Windows 10 has been rock solid for me on PC and Android has matured in all the years since my iPhone 5.

This is all in Apple's control, too. Really, it feels more and more like I'm in a bad marriage with a partner who just wants to have her freedom on Fridays and Saturdays, and I'm lucky if I see her by Sunday night. And the "I can't do that" from Siri just already has me asking Alexa for simple stuff like how to spell words while I'm typing into forum responses.

Doesn't Apple realize just how BAD that is? For YEARS, since iPhone 5, I've been asking Siri for spelling and reference help. But THIS YEAR, here in 2021, I've started asking Alexa. Because Alexa RESPONDS. Maybe Alexa just takes shorter lunch breaks?

Apple, why you gotta do us like this? Making me think Google might be the direction I need to go in? How did we get to this point? Have I done something to make you angry with me? Or is my $1,500 every couple years for a new phone not enough for you?

Edits: Speelng and grimmer. 🤭 🤪
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Same, used Apple for years and years. Had regular issues, but rationalized it all. At one point realized my work laptops always worked while dealing with issues with our MacBooks. Got a Pixel phone and was surprised how wonderful the Google services were with it. And it didn't hurt to have a headphone jack, always on display, OLED, etc, years ago. Years ago. And it was insanely affordable.

I ended up getting a PC laptop and its been running smooth. Freezes? Never happens. Often had the beach ball of death on Macs, kernel panics. Yet joking for years about the Blue Screen of Death. Never experienced it!

I now have two Android phones and all is fine.

I have an iPad, but its so old nothing will run on it.

Going from Siri to Google was clearly night and day in being usable. I used an iPhone recently asking Apple to give me directions to a store. It asked me if I was sure I wanted to go there, because it only got 2 star rating. I was like what? I didn't have a choice to drive to another store 60 miles away. This was after it asked me to confirm that that was the store I wanted on 168th street. There is ONLY one store in THAT city on THAT street. Why confirm? Dumb as a bag of rocks.
 
Same with my Mysa thermostats. Physically disabled, I use Siri to manage the thermostat. Once iOS 15 came out, asking for the temperature in a room gets me “The thermostat is off.”
 
Wow!
"Whole lotta bashing going on."
(Jerry Lee Lewis had a birthday yesterday)
It amazes me how many Apple fans seem pretty upset.
I'm an Android kinda guy.
At least 4 Google Play Store apps are not compatible with my tablet.
Nobody has any help or answers.
I will never have the latest Android.
My tablet came with Android 9 and has since updated to Android 10, then 11.
Game Over.
My 2019 Samsung Galaxy Tab A will never see Android 12.
That seems to be normal.
Two updates and done.
That's what I've read anyway.
That all said, it amazes me how things go wrong after Apple seeds so many betas.
Okay, ask Siri if she knows who "The Killer" is.
Then ask who Jerry Lee Lewis (The Killer) is.
 
I'm visually impaired and have had no problems using Siri for a bunch of different things. However, when I upgraded to iOS 15, some of the commands I use daily get the "I can't do that" response from Siri. The pattern I'm noticing is when the features are tied to the HomeKit or Shortcuts. One example is with smart plugs. Asking Siri to "turn on bedroom light" no longer works or she'll substitute turning it on with playing some random Music track of a similar name. Another example is adding items to my grocery list that I setup in the Notes app. Siri can no longer do that, from the iPhone nor HomePod.
 
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