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How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

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Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#241

Post by Consultant32452 »

konradb wrote: post #234
photojosh wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently got a certified smart lock, and it's been superb. Any communications outside my network are handled through Apple/HomeKit and I trust them a lot more than some random Chinese IoT supplier. > That said, for engineers in the crowd I know that I and others get around it by making a HomeKit RPi adapter for things that don't support it... Yep, they're using HomeBridge. [0] I'm planning on doing this for my gara…

Are you able to say what lock you got? Would be interested in getting a decent one.

I have a Kwikset Kevo that I enjoy. If I have guests they just install the Kevo app and I can send them temporary keys that expire. I don't use the integration, but apparently it's integrated with Alexa.

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#242

Post by andrewmcwatters »

IBM wrote: post #141
breatheoften wrote: post #134

I will believe that someone is trying to improve Siri when the implementation is updated so that the time between when I push the button and when I can start speaking is reduced to the minimum possible with a only a short reliably deterministic delay length. The inability of Siri to provide me a way to know when I can start talking absolutely (waiting for that horrible beep is just insanely terrible) completely break…

You don't have to wait for Siri to respond and you haven't had to for a while. Just say "Hey Siri" followed by the command with no pauses and it will handle it just fine.

This isn't true. On iPhone 6, running the latest iOS version, with a brand new battery, there is a significant delay before you can speak. Instead, you have to hold the home button down.

https://david-smith.org/iosversionstats/

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#243

Post by IBM »

andrewmcwatters wrote: post #242
IBM wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't have to wait for Siri to respond and you haven't had to for a while. Just say "Hey Siri" followed by the command with no pauses and it will handle it just fine.

This isn't true. On iPhone 6, running the latest iOS version, with a brand new battery, there is a significant delay before you can speak. Instead, you have to hold the home button down. https://david-smith.org/iosversionstats/

Hey Siri doesn't work on the iPhone 6 if it's not plugged in. Only the 6s and later do, and it's enabled by a specific low power chip.

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#244

Post by FreakyT »

throwaway84742 wrote: post #45
FreakyT wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly this—a particular anecdote from the biography describes his motivation. Apparently when the HP Touchpad failed, Steve Jobs viewed it as a tragedy more than a triumph: > "Hewlett and Packard built a great company, and they thought they had left it in good hands, but now it's being dismembered and destroyed. It's tragic. I hope I've left a stronger legacy so that will never happen at Apple." In creating Apple U…

I still have a working HiFi in my home gym. It’s a solid piece of engineering, especially for its time. I don’t know why people love to hate it so much.

I feel like sentiment toward the iPod HiFi is less "hate" and more "why does this exist". It was a perfectly solid piece of hardware, but Apple tried to enter a market that was already saturated (iPod docks) with a far more expensive product that didn't offer any significant advantages.

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#245

Post by throwaway84742 »

FreakyT wrote: post #244
throwaway84742 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still have a working HiFi in my home gym. It’s a solid piece of engineering, especially for its time. I don’t know why people love to hate it so much.

I feel like sentiment toward the iPod HiFi is less "hate" and more "why does this exist" . It was a perfectly solid piece of hardware, but Apple tried to enter a market that was already saturated (iPod docks) with a far more expensive product that didn't offer any significant advantages.

It was one of the very few that didn’t suck, IMO. That’s why I bought it. And IIRC it wasn’t the most expensive option.

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#246

Post by softawre »

Twisell wrote: post #28

Something always make me scratch my head. Is there any proof that actual people use and value Google and Amazon assistant more than Siri? Or is the leadership only designed by autoproclaimed experts and funky ad-hoc metrics? I totally confess that I use Siri for only 3 things: -Desactivating all wake up alarm during my morning poo -Setting timers while baking -Sending a « I’m coming » text to my loved one before ridi…

I just recently switched from an iPhone8 to a Pixel2. Google Assistant is way better. It's faster, more accurate, and can do more.

I use it for all sorts of things that I would never try to get Siri to do.

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#247

Post by softawre »

happertiger wrote: post #162
Pokepokalypse wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google's voice recognition is excellent, and fuck Samsung for putting that stupid Bixby crap and getting in the way.

Sigh. That’s the main reason I won’t move to the s9. I already have an iPhone and Siri just sucks. Why would I want another sucky assistant? It’s like hiring the wrong person... twice. I really wish the manufacturers would only have a few features, like weather or timer or location (home, work, school) that were truly bulletproof in execution. It feels like they are trying to do too much most of the time when I just…

Get a Pixel2. It feels like an iPhone did 5-6 years ago.

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#248

Post by segmondy »

Are we surprised? Apple is not a software company, and has never been good at it. Apple is a design company, they make pretty things. Their hardware and software looks pretty. They figured out how to make their hardware robust. Their software not so much so.

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#249

Post by Woofles »

Angostura wrote: post #210
veesahni wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google's voice recognition is excellent. I trust Assistant to help me throughout my day with a number of things now: - Cooking & laundry timers - Reminders (remind me to do X when I get home) - Directions (Take me to the nearest X, take me home, etc) - Checking hours of business (what time does X close today) - Initiating phone calls (Call X) - Checking weather (is it going to snow today? How cold is it right now?) -…

I use Siri a fair amount from the Phone (mainly in the car or kitchen to be honest). Going through those: - Cooking & laundry timers - Yes. Works well - Reminders (remind me to do X when I get home) - I find Apple geofenced alerts to be unreliable. - Directions (Take me to the nearest X, take me home, etc) - Pretty good, search isn't as good as Google, but good enough these days. - Checking hours of business (what ti…

Checking hours of the business works well. The integration with Yelp has that done pretty well.

I've actually been super impressed with Siri. You can have it call you an uber, get the leading scorer from your favorite hockey team, contextually ask followup questions about a person you were searching, etc. I haven't used Siri in a long time (besides timers, weather, etc) and it has come so far since I did.

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#250

Post by ddingus »

icebraining wrote: post #179
ddingus wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it's not personified to the degree Siri is. I noted this elsewhere in the thread. Doing that bit of theatre, with some humor, pop culture relevant things, even just good responses, appears to matter more to people than "it can do it", and "it actually did it" hit rates. OK Google needs a name. Google is this big, smart thing. People get that. But, "Ask Siri" has less friction and appears easier to identify with t…

Or, let the user name it. Why not? Supposedly these devices have low-power chips that can only recognize certain pre-configured names (like "OK, Google"), and then wake up the main CPU to do the rest.

Ahh, didn't know that. Makes a ton of sense.
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