Why isnt Siri better

[Bigdawg4]

Before you think Im trolling, Ive had every itration IP to date as well as 2 ipads. Before I got the ip5, I got a SGS3 and the talk to text was almost perfect. I didnt like most anything about the OS...but the back button and the hands free texting was exceptional. Siri isnt nearly as good, it often misses or gets words wrong. Why is this? Any one else?

 

[KentuckyHouse]

As someone who uses both platforms, I know what you're saying. While Siri has gotten better when it comes to it's voice-to-text, it's no where near Google's VTT and the fact that Google's is real time. I rarely use Siri for anything other than VTT because of this. Once you've used the real time VTT, anything else seems awful.

 

[richardbb85]

sirri sucks period

 

[zedzded]

I've used it a couple of times when driving to text & it's worked OK - just. But you still have to pick it up and press a button to activate it, which is illegal in Australia, so it really cuts out it's usefulness, you watch the ads and they're all of some guy or girl driving and using Siri - not legal here though... It's still a long way off being a functioning, practical tool, it works 60 - 75% of the time, which isn't good enough, at the moment, it's a gimmick.

 

[Technarchy]

Why is Siri not better compared to what?

S-Voice? I have a GS4 and S-Voice is complete, 100% ass.

Google Now? Which you can't access while using a headphone remote, or from the lock screen, and it does not understand contextual relationships.

Google Now is great for reference and search, but it makes a poor lifestyle product, which Siri does best.

 

[zedzded]

Why is Siri not better compared to what?

S-Voice? I have a GS4 and S-Voice is complete, 100% ass.

Google Now? Which you can't access while using a headphone remote, or from the lock screen, and it does not understand contextual relationships.

Google Now is great for reference and search, but it makes a poor lifestyle product, which Siri does best.

I haven't used any of the others, perhaps it is better, but I don't think that's the point. Siri is completely Ƨhit, it's unreliable and it is a gimmick. If other rival voice recognition technology is worse, that doesn't make Siri good. They should have let it out of the Iphone altogether until they had improved the technology to the point when it was much more reliable and practical. There's no point having a phone with a tool that works some of the time.

 

[Bigdawg4]

Why is Siri not better compared to what?

S-Voice? I have a GS4 and S-Voice is complete, 100% ass.

Google Now? Which you can't access while using a headphone remote, or from the lock screen, and it does not understand contextual relationships.

Google Now is great for reference and search, but it makes a poor lifestyle product, which Siri does best.

It was S voice...and I never ever had an issue with it. But I also didnt have it long as I missed the smoothness of IOS. I did like the bigger screen as well...and hope apple gets a bigger screen soon. The 4.8 was perfect for me as I typically use my cell in the landscape orientation.

 

[Technarchy]

I haven't used any of the others, perhaps it is better, but I don't think that's the point. Siri is completely Ƨhit, it's unreliable and it is a gimmick. If other rival voice recognition technology is worse, that doesn't make Siri good. They should have let it out of the Iphone altogether until they had improved the technology to the point when it was much more reliable and practical. There's no point having a phone with a tool that works some of the time.

Never had a problem with Siri, and I miss not having it. Nothing about it was a gimmick, or unreliable in my usage. I used it daily and it's actually one of the features drawing me back to the iPhone is strong way.

 

[zedzded]

Never had a problem with Siri, and I miss not having it. Nothing about it was a gimmick, or unreliable in my usage. I used it daily and it's actually one of the features drawing me back to the iPhone is strong way.

Yup, that's what a lot of people say. But the fact remains many people have found it unreliable and impractical and whilst people continue to have problems with it, it will remain to be regarded as an unreliable gimmick.

BTW My Grandad drove a crappy old 1970s Lada around for 20 years and it never broke down, but that doesn't make the Lada a decent, reliable car.

 

[wmukj]

I actually wonder about this a lot too. I understand software/hardware limitations, and the the massive amount of variance in voice amongst users cannot make it easy for recognition, but it is maddening using Siri.

zedzded, I use the Apple headset when I am driving (and driving only, have a decent set of in-ears for work, etc.) because I am able to just hold the mic button to activate Siri. I am not sure if this violates the laws in Australia or not, but it makes it easier for me to make a call driving, search a location in maps, or open a podcast or music depending on which vehicle I am in (wife takes the new shiny one most of the time ). I still attempt to compose a text every now and then, and that is where the real madness begins.

I typically attempt about 3-5 times to get a text out, and then I end up just looking at the text (which is illegal here in my state) and trying to fix the two words Siri cannot get while nearly killing myself, or just letting Siri have it and giving up I have taken to just sending something that makes enough sense for most people to decipher, typically followed by one word..."Siri".

My coworker is an early adopter and avid beta fanatic and he claims Siri seems to be better in iOS7. We'll see.

 

[Technarchy]

Yup, that's what a lot of people say. But the fact remains many people have found it unreliable and impractical and whilst people continue to have problems with it, it will remain to be regarded as an unreliable gimmick.

I wasn't really seeking a counterpoint, and really your opinion and experience will never trump my own.

I like Siri and not having it is a downer, as it is a solid lifestyle product. Disagree? I don't really care.

 

[zedzded]

zedzded, I use the Apple headset when I am driving (and driving only, have a decent set of in-ears for work, etc.) because I am able to just hold the mic button to activate Siri. I am not sure if this violates the laws in Australia or not

Pretty sure this is illegal in Australia. We can't even control an Ipod when we are driving.

My coworker is an early adopter and avid beta fanatic and he claims Siri seems to be better in iOS7. We'll see.

That's what I've heard. Rumour has it that you can launch Siri without pressing a button. When i first start using it, it was great, but it would only work some of the time. I could dictate 3 texts with no problems, including names or places and it was excellent, but then it would fail with a very simple command or simple words. I don't think it'd a million miles away from being a reliable, efficient tool, but in it's current state it's pretty average.

 

[LSUtigers03]

Tonight I asked this question with my moto x and my fiances iPhone 5 both listening. This is the result. Also if it matters Google now read me the result and I never touched the moto x. I had to activate Siri on the iPhone 5.

 

[cynics]

Why isnt Siri better

I prefer Siri overall, at least compared to Google Now no experience with S-Voice. But I do find Siri's TTS to be seriously lacking compared to Google's TTS. Like pictured above Siri is terrible with names. For me this sucks because when I want directions 99 times out of 100 the road name is going to be a name not a word or number.

Rarely, and I mean rarely does my iPhone get TTS right the first time. I've adjusted the way I use TTS for short sentences at a time for easy error correction. And WHY OH WHY must Siri capitalize the first word of what you say even mid sentence?!

I never really messed with either until I started using Bluetooth. Now I use Siri constantly.

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Tonight I asked this question with my moto x and my fiances iPhone 5 both listening. This is the result. Also if it matters Google now read me the result and I never touched the moto x. I had to activate Siri on the iPhone 5.

I had to try this one too...I'm actually quite impressed Google didn't do what Apple did...I tried twice...I wanted to just test its intelligence so I spoke very clearly.

EDIT : I tried to touch "Reed" to correct it thinking maybe that would help but it doesn't.

 

[walie]

Tonight I asked this question with my moto x and my fiances iPhone 5 both listening. This is the result. Also if it matters Google now read me the result and I never touched the moto x. I had to activate Siri on the iPhone 5.

Game. Set. Match.

 

[Makaveliarts]

I agree Siri needs a lot of work hardly ever use her on my 4s, but sometimes she surprises me

 

[cynics]

Why isnt Siri better

I'm also finding conversation to be spot on with Siri now that I'm playing with it.

Example.

Me "who does Eric Reid play for?"

Google "49er's"

Me "and when is their next game?"

Google "49er's next game is Sunday Sept 8th blah blah blah"

That used to be an issue with Google now but now its working pretty well. I haven't been able to stump google or Siri and not both in a few minutes of testing anyway.

EDIT:

I take that back. Google is becoming much better at conversation the Siri. I asked the same question above except I used a name Siri could handle, Joe Flacco.

She said he plays for the Baltimore raven (who incidentally beat the 49er's last SB lol!).

Then I asked :

So much for Siri's contextual speech huh?

EDIT x 2 : to continue with the last edit. You need to be specific with Siri and you can get the information you are looking for. I worded the question wrong.

When Siri said Baltimore Ravens. I SHOULD have said "and when do they play again?". Key word being "and", then she spits out the right info. That's not very "contextual" though. Google works with just saying "when do they play again?" As if it was continuing the conversation.

But for future reference use the word "and" and you'll get better/faster results from Siri.

 

[Italianblend]

Siri knows when the appointment is. She just told me 8:00!!!

 

[3rd Rock]

SIRI is still a work in progress. It's that simple, and it will get better over time. How long did it take for "Dragon, Natural Speaking" to get it right 100% ? Whoops. They haven't yet. It to is a work in progress, and some of this is difficult to implement perfectly at the gate.

 

[Bigdawg4]

SIRI is still a work in progress. It's that simple, and it will get better over time. How long did it take for "Dragon, Natural Speaking" to get it right 100% ? Whoops. They haven't yet. It to is a work in progress, and some of this is difficult to implement perfectly at the gate.

Take some time? Its been out 2 yrs...part of the reason I buy apple is they dont half bake anything. It should be right on its release. From my limited experience with s voice...it didnt need anytime to work as it should.

 

[John T]

Personally I don't use Siri a great deal. However, when I have, it"s always performed adequately.

In my opinion, the reason why some people don't appear to get results to their satisfaction could be down to a number of things, vis. Their diction is not clear or heavily accented. They ask "impossible" questions. An example has already been stated - "When is the next time they play" (who are "they"?!). Individuals may not understand Siri's "logic" and therefore use it incorrectly, anticipating the impossible.

 

[Bigdawg4]

Personally I don't use Siri a great deal. However, when I have, it"s always performed adequately.

In my opinion, the reason why some people don't appear to get results to their satisfaction could be down to a number of things, vis. Their diction is not clear or heavily accented. They ask "impossible" questions. An example has already been stated - "When is the next time they play" (who are "they"?!). Individuals may not understand Siri's "logic" and therefore use it incorrectly, anticipating the impossible.

Maybe I am not making myself clear, its not that siri doesnt perform functions adequately...its that it wont take what i said and capture it word for word before it perfprms any function. Ex: I said "Is S voice better than Siri" nothing too complicated as far as diction is concerned but this is what Siri heard and captured "Is this voice better in"...not even close. I dont use siri much either but I did use s voice while I was driving and for the 2 weeks I had it I cant remember it missing a word let alone butchering a whole sentence. I have 2 daughters that are now of driving age and I am constantly preaching to them about not texting and driving, but if I dont give them a tool(iphone) to use their voice with intead of their fingers Im not doing all I can for them.

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I dont appreciate this thread being moved to a lesser seen ios6 venue...this is most assuredly an iphone issue, as the effectiveness of siri determines if I will purchase another ip for my daughters or something else that handles speech to text much better.

 

[LSUtigers03]

I'm also finding conversation to be spot on with Siri now that I'm playing with it.

Example.

Me "who does Eric Reid play for?"

Google "49er's"

Me "and when is their next game?"

Google "49er's next game is Sunday Sept 8th blah blah blah"

That used to be an issue with Google now but now its working pretty well. I haven't been able to stump google or Siri and not both in a few minutes of testing anyway.

EDIT:

I take that back. Google is becoming much better at conversation the Siri. I asked the same question above except I used a name Siri could handle, Joe Flacco.

She said he plays for the Baltimore raven (who incidentally beat the 49er's last SB lol!).

Then I asked :

Image

So much for Siri's contextual speech huh?

EDIT x 2 : to continue with the last edit. You need to be specific with Siri and you can get the information you are looking for. I worded the question wrong.

When Siri said Baltimore Ravens. I SHOULD have said "and when do they play again?". Key word being "and", then she spits out the right info. That's not very "contextual" though. Google works with just saying "when do they play again?" As if it was continuing the conversation.

But for future reference use the word "and" and you'll get better/faster results from Siri.

I asked the questions separate and Google now handled it well.

 

[zedzded]

SIRI is still a work in progress. It's that simple, and it will get better over time. How long did it take for "Dragon, Natural Speaking" to get it right 100% ? Whoops. They haven't yet. It to is a work in progress, and some of this is difficult to implement perfectly at the gate.

You don't put technology into a phone that is "a work in progress" i.e it only works some of the time. A company would be better of leaving it out and retaining some credibility. Like having a sports car that is faster than anything else on the market, but it constantly overheats..