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Still missing a BIG feature: Voice Dialing

Vandam500

Vandam500

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Sep 29, 2008
1,844
109
I love my iPhone to death and everything but my gf just bought me a bluetooth headset (Plantronics 925, love it) and I noticed that in the manual it has voice dialing.

Out of curiosity I pressed the button on the headset once, spoke, but nothing happened:( I then remembered the iPhone doesn't have voice dialing. This I think would be an extremely great little feature and a big improvement to OS 3.0, I can only imagine how many people need this especially while driving,etc.

What do you guys think?
 
While Voice dialing is not built-in on the iPhone, there are many 3rd party apps that enable it. One of which, I use quite often, is Say Who Lite (which is free) or Say Who, which works surprisingly well. I have found that it works faster when you assign nicknames to your contacts, otherwise you may have to clarify which contact you want to call.

TEG
 
I think that for the past 10 years of owning mobile phones and socializing with a hell of a lot of people not a single time have I ever seen 1 person use voice dialing apart from when they are showing you their mobile phone can do it.

Why do yo think this is such a "BIG feature" ? When like 99% of the population doesn't use it?

I have been living around France, Spain and England so different cultures and none use voice dialing.

I think this would be considered a tiny feature. A "BIG feature" should be used for describing things such as multi touch and push notifications. Something which everyone will use not just a select few.

my 2 centimos :D
 
FlintAlt2 said:
I think that for the past 10 years of owning mobile phones and socializing with a hell of a lot of people not a single time have I ever seen 1 person use voice dialing apart from when they are showing you their mobile phone can do it.

Why do yo think this is such a "BIG feature" ? When like 99% of the population doesn't use it?

I have been living around France, Spain and England so different cultures and none use voice dialing.

I think this would be considered a tiny feature. A "BIG feature" should be used for describing things such as multi touch and push notifications. Something which everyone will use not just a select few.

my 2 centimos :D
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THANK YOU! I was just gonna say the same thing, Useless feature.
 
aok1975 said:
What is the point of voice dialing if you have to slide to unlock first?
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This can be easily implimented. Example, I can start playing music without unlocking and with my headset I press the call button twice and it dials the last person I called. I am certain they can easily implement this by holding the answer/reject button for a couple of seconds and same thing with bluetooth headsets.

FlintAlt2 said:
I think that for the past 10 years of owning mobile phones and socializing with a hell of a lot of people not a single time have I ever seen 1 person use voice dialing apart from when they are showing you their mobile phone can do it.

Why do yo think this is such a "BIG feature" ? When like 99% of the population doesn't use it?

I have been living around France, Spain and England so different cultures and none use voice dialing.

I think this would be considered a tiny feature. A "BIG feature" should be used for describing things such as multi touch and push notifications. Something which everyone will use not just a select few.

my 2 centimos :D
Click to expand...

99% of the population? I'm sorry but I can not "inhale" that ratio. I am pretty darn sure many people use the voice dialing it's just that your not with them in busy moments to see:p
 
Voice dialing?? Nobody uses it on other phones. Voice recognition software of any kind is useless it is years behind in terms of technology and barely 50% reliable in most cases. Just use your fingers or setup groups.
 
Vandam500 said:
99% of the population? I'm sorry but I can not "inhale" that ratio. I am pretty darn sure many people use the voice dialing it's just that your not with them in busy moments to see:p
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I couldn't begin to guess what the real percentage of the public is, but I can say for a fact that I've never seen someone use it.

Given that I have seen many people picking their noses in public, I can therefor say that public nose-picking is more popular than voice-dialing.

So I'm sure that some people use it, yes. But it has to be a small number, doesn't it?
 
I am in agreement with the OP, who incidentally is referring to Bluetooth voice dialing, to me this is a huge gaping hole in the iPhone.

As for the reference to 99% of the population not using - i doubt that figure, i used it on my Razr and my 8525. it is so convenient to be driving down the road and reach up to my headset, touch the button, say a name and make the call. no need to get the phone out of my pocket or unlock it, or look through the contacts, just press and say. I have even made calls when my phone had fallen on the floor going around a corner, no need to stop and pick the phone up or try to do it while driving.

Say Who lite does not work via bluetootn and requires almost as much effort as manually dialing.
 
wil49 said:
Voice dialing?? Nobody uses it on other phones. Voice recognition software of any kind is useless it is years behind in terms of technology and barely 50% reliable in most cases.
Click to expand...

It could work if it was implemented right -- from the home screen, without having to launch an app, you could just hold the phone up to your ear and say "Call Steve," or "Email Sarah," or "Text Bob Smith." I've seen voice recognition work pretty well. The Google app in particular is really good. It's not 100%, but I've seen it recognize some pretty complicated strings, and being able to just say something like "Barnes & Noble Bookstore" is way easier than typing it out.

And remember that 3.0 isn't out yet, so it's entirely possible that this will be a feature.
 
If you are holding the phone up to your ear, you probably can also touch an app.. this is probably for people with their phone's in a dock in their car.

And the Vlingo App is SUPER easy, just put it on your first page, slide to unlock and theres a super huge button you press to listen and the same one to press when you stop. Its pretty darn accurate if you dont have some crazy names in your phone. For instance, i have my hubby as "mattyb" instead of "matty B" and it never picked it up,. once i put the space, it was fine.

Either way, it IS a feature already available.

Now, if they made bigger strides in voice recognition where it was more reliable, i would LOVE to see a voice to text app for email and SMS.

I would also love for it to read my emails or SMS to me.
 
Why would you need voice recognition for texting or emailing? Aren't you just going to have to use your fingers anyway? :rolleyes:

Voice dialing, like so many other things, is just a checkbox item for many companies. They include it just to have it, not cause it's all that great.

Until the technology has a 90+% hit rate, and lets me say the name in different manners (not just in an identical sound wave each time), it's pretty much useless beyond novelty.
 
cellcello.. first off, Vlingo doesnt use recognition in the way you are thinking. You do not have to recreate the word exactly as you said it the first time, as you never actually HAVE to teach it anything. Vlingo is a LARGE company and does a LOT of high powered speech recognition applications. They are the best around in my opinion. (on a consumer level)

Now, for email and text.. sure i have to use my fingers, but no more than a simple touch to open a text and touch to "read" a text outloud. THen one more touch to listen. That is a LOT LOT LOT less touches that typing out a text, right>! I mean, if someone texts you while you are driving, it WOULD be easier to touch to atleast GET to the message, than to type it out. NOw, i am PRETTY sure that most people don;t pull over to reply to a text, they try and text right there.. and its 10x harder on the iphone because the actually HAVE to look at the screen. With my old no touch phones, i could text without looking because i knew where the number keys were.

It isnt the IDEAL situation,but it puts your eyes back on the road for about 90% of the time versus the entire time on the phone.

ALso, having it read it aloud to you would be nessecary, because why have something you can talk to when you have to sit and stare at it to read it anyways.

I would LOVE to answer most of my emails i got overnight on my way to work in the car. but i'm not about to get myself into an accident to do it. We do a lot of work with China, so emails overnight are common. Answering them during a commute will save time. And all i will have to do is touch MAIL and then each email and a SAY ALOUD button.
 
Double J said:
It could work if it was implemented right -- from the home screen, without having to launch an app, you could just hold the phone up to your ear and say "Call Steve," or "Email Sarah," or "Text Bob Smith." I've seen voice recognition work pretty well. The Google app in particular is really good. It's not 100%, but I've seen it recognize some pretty complicated strings, and being able to just say something like "Barnes & Noble Bookstore" is way easier than typing it out.

And remember that 3.0 isn't out yet, so it's entirely possible that this will be a feature.
Click to expand...

Voice dialing has been in other mobiles for quite some time, it has a big job to do not only does it has to recognise the words someone is saying it also has to deal with background noise.

For me voice recognition is no where near to being quicker than me using the device manually, I have used voice recognition on phones, word processors and more recently on OS X and I never missed not be able to use it. I find it hampers my interaction more than helping, like having to repeat the same thing over again and again, but if they can work a way to interact it properly like you say who knows it could and probably would be successful.

I think I might just give it another go on OS X.lol
 
i was kind of talking about voice recognition as a whole.. dialing the phone, dictation AND speech to text would be AWESOME to get an ultimate hands free device while driving..

the OP was wishing for just Voice Dialing.. but its basically already there with the implication or APPS
 
Voice dialing is a MUST

I agree with the original poster and disagree with many of the others on here that think 99% of people wouldn't use this feature or don't/didn't use it on other phones. My wife and I as well as many of my friends currently use voice dialing every day while driving. Unfortunately, I can't use it any more since I have an iPhone.

On my previous phone, a Nokia, I was able to voice-dial with my headset. Hold down the button in my ear, say a pre-recorded name, and it would dial. This was faster and much safer than unlocking the keypad and manual dialing. It didn't require taking my eyes off the road. While this was not true voice recognition and rather voice matching, I found it extremely useful for my favorite contacts. I never had to pull my phone out of my pocket, or out of my work bag in my trunk even and it worked perfectly. In a state where it is illegal to drive and hold a phone to my ear, I would LOVE this feature. It's very difficult to unlock and find a contact while driving or open SayWho or Voiceboxdial and say a name and then confirm it recognized that spoken name right. The iPhone has a long way to go to improve usability while driving. It's not just a feature that "checks a box" on a list of features.
 
The biggest scenario I can see for voice dialing, voice command via bluetooth is 1. Being outside in the winter with gloves on and having to remove one to unlock the phone and dial it.
2. I am a firefighter and was in a situation where I need my phone but my hands were busy with a injured person. I had my headset on and it would have been nice.
I have that Vlingo or whatever it's called and it seems pretty good but you still have to unlock the phone and access the app before you can use it. FTL!
 
The OP means voice dialing as in with a Bluetooth headset.

You tap the button, it prompts you, you say, "Call *name*", it calls them.

It has never been wrong on my crapola real-service phone, and so it's a shame not to see it on my non-service iPhone.
 
Small White Car said:
I couldn't begin to guess what the real percentage of the public is, but I can say for a fact that I've never seen someone use it.

Given that I have seen many people picking their noses in public, I can therefor say that public nose-picking is more popular than voice-dialing.
Click to expand...
Lol. :D
I've had a phone(and known friends who have had them too)for just over 10 years now, and I've never seen anyone use voice dialing. I always thought you'd look a bit silly when trying to voice dial on a bus or train, lol.
 
Bring your iPod to a Ford dealership and ask a salesperson to demo the MS Sync system for you. It's handy, easy, and accurate. Now replace the car with bluetooth headset and there you go.

If your argument that people shouldn't be talking hands-free on their phone in their car, maybe we should be against conversations between passengers as well?
 
BergerFan said:
Lol. :D
I've had a phone(and known friends who have had them too)for just over 10 years now, and I've never seen anyone use voice dialing. I always thought you'd look a bit silly when trying to voice dial on a bus or train, lol.
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It wouldn't make much sense using voice dialing on a bus or train cause your not going to put yourself or others in danger if you want to call somebody on your phone. However, say your driving and you want to call someone, having to unlock the phone, hit the phone app or double tap home to favorites, then selecting the person you want to call is.

All I am saying is voice dialing is without a doubt the safest way to do it and as many others have said, it really does work pretty great with other phones. My little brother has a free Sony Ericsson phone my mom got him with a contract and he can voice dial :( Why can't my iPhone too:p
 
"I've never seen anyone use it and i don't use it because i think it's stupid. So why are you complaining about something missing when i think it's stupid in the first place."

Bottom line: It's a common feature in "99% of all the world's" mobile phones. It's useful (99% useful). Especially with more laws requiring hands-free etc. while driving. And you might not voice-dial the 30 numbers you might dial in a week. But those one or two or three numbers, i.e. Home, Spouse, that you dial 30-50 times in a week? Sure is useful to many people, and it's sad when you realize many a crappier phone can implement this simple feature out of the box.
 
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