Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Voice Over never works

B

Bodhi395

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 23, 2008
817
0
I have tried the Voice Over feature on my iphone numerous times now and never once had it actually do what I told it to do. Everytime I tell it an artist to play it plays the wrong one, and half the time it tries to dial a number of someone I don't want it to dial, which can be very embarrassing depending on the number you call.

Had anyone got this feature to successfully work, at least more than half the time?

If not, why does Apple even include it when its obviously a flawed technology?
 
Do you mean Voice Control? No, it is not very good for music playback, but works GREAT for dialing contacts. You can also ask for time, song playing, shuffle, etc.

Speak slow and clear.
 
Voice control will never be perfect and I will never use it in my lifetime. If it still mistakes H-E-B for scabby knees then no thanks.
 
Do you have an accent? If you do, make sure to go to Settings > General > International > Voice Control and change the recognition language.

Apparently, living on the west coast of Canada; I speak perfect Cupertino.. It almost always recognizes what I'm saying.
 
No, I don't have an accent. The software is just not 100% perfect, which is completely understandable.
 
I don't have an accent, except a north-east American accent.

I try to speak loudly and slowly, but it doesn't seem to register correctly, I'm not sure if its something I'm doing wrong or it just doesn't work well.

I also wish you could turn the voice control off completely, since there have been numerous times I've accidentally turned it on by holding the home button too long. I once accidentally held it down to activate voice control, didn't realize what i had done, was talking to someone, and it dialed a number of a person in my contacts. Really annoying!
 
i honestly use the "what time is it" the most... a great feature to make sure im gonna catch the train without taking out the phone, or while riding my bike.
 
Out of all the features that are advertised by Apple that the iPhone does, Voice Control is one of the let downs, at least for me.

I have struggled to get it to actually tell me the time on the first try. The same applies for calling people. I do not have an accent at all, so it really is a funky system and this is not the first that I have heard of it. I guess Apple will make it better with time.
 
Definitely broken. When I tell it to call my dealer, it calls the local police department. What's up with that? (it's a joke guys, lol)
 
I find it works best using the ear buds with microphone - otherwise you have to tilt the phone up and speak into the mic.

I'm hoping that with Apple buying Siri that it will eventually get built in because Siri has amazing voice recognition.
 
Bodhi395 said:
I don't have an accent, except a north-east American accent.
Click to expand...

I am also in the northeast - but don't have a strong accent. I couldn't get it to recognize ANY names when I said "call xxx". It was so frustrating.

I discovered that if I say "dial" instead of call it works perfectly. May be worth a try for you.
 
Always works great for me, but I grew up in the bay area so I speak good geek.... :p

seriously though I never have an issue with it.
 
swoods93631 said:
Always works great for me, but I grew up in the bay area so I speak good geek.... :p
Click to expand...

I liked that.

The only problem I've had with my Voice Control has been that every time I say "Dial 611", it says "No match found". Everything else, no problem. I've even used it in a car with the stereo on or the windows down. it always plays the correct artist/playlist or calls the right people in my address book.
 
My iPhone always tries to call someone as well, Apple really needs to implement something like how Siri handles voice commands.
 
It recognizes what I say (Northern VA accent if there is one, I've been told that I have no accent). The only issue I have is that it doesn't understand what a podcast is. That's just pathetic in my opinion.
 
jacollins said:
Definitely broken. When I tell it to call my dealer, it calls the local police department. What's up with that? (it's a joke guys, lol)
Click to expand...

lol.

Do most of you with problems have an iPhone 3GS or 4? If you have a 3GS, maybe the iPhone 4 would be better because it has the noise-cancelling mic & can get a more accurate listen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back