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Alexa and Siri Can Hear Hidden Commands

nytimes.com

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Re: Alexa and Siri Can Hear Hidden Commands

#71

Post by mattnewton »

mkirklions wrote: post #67
ComputerGuru wrote: post #65

iOS now has a “text to siri” feature that can disable spoken interfacing but retain the “smart” capabilities of the digital assistant. Not that digital assistants are worth the risk they bring. Until now I can’t get Siri to do anything useful that isn’t very artificially and carefully phrased.

I got an iphone from work and I was shocked at how little Siri could do. Given all the hype from my friends and the commercials, I expected something outstanding. Nope, significantly worse than google's assistant. That was the start of my complete disappointment in apple as I continued to use an iphone and wonder- Why is anyone buying this?

They aren’t buying it for Siri

Re: Alexa and Siri Can Hear Hidden Commands

#72

Post by mulletbum »

kfrzcode wrote: post #70
mkirklions wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got an iphone from work and I was shocked at how little Siri could do. Given all the hype from my friends and the commercials, I expected something outstanding. Nope, significantly worse than google's assistant. That was the start of my complete disappointment in apple as I continued to use an iphone and wonder- Why is anyone buying this?

The same reason people buy Coach bags etc... status and brand.

Everyone who likes iPhones owns one, so that removes status.

Personal anecdote, I dislike Apple computers, but I like their phones. So I am at least one person who doesn't buy them for brand.

This notion is outdated.

Re: Alexa and Siri Can Hear Hidden Commands

#73

Post by sillyquiet »

kfrzcode wrote: post #70
mkirklions wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got an iphone from work and I was shocked at how little Siri could do. Given all the hype from my friends and the commercials, I expected something outstanding. Nope, significantly worse than google's assistant. That was the start of my complete disappointment in apple as I continued to use an iphone and wonder- Why is anyone buying this?

The same reason people buy Coach bags etc... status and brand.

Why do people keep repeating this tired and offensive myth? I bought my iphone for the hardware and software capabilities that I judged to be the best for my use cases. And I am not the only one that actually had a non-trite reason, I am sure.

Re: Alexa and Siri Can Hear Hidden Commands

#75

Post by [deleted] »

coleca wrote: post #29

Isn't there an inaudible tone that you can use to disable the assistant? I recall reading somewhere that Amazon used it in their commercials for Alexa so that everyone's Echos weren't lighting up during the commercials. I know when a commercial for the Echo comes on and the voices repeat "Alexa, do X" the Echo I have near the TV speaker doesn't light up.

[deleted]

Re: Alexa and Siri Can Hear Hidden Commands

#76

Post by mkirklions »

sillyquiet wrote: post #73
kfrzcode wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same reason people buy Coach bags etc... status and brand.

Why do people keep repeating this tired and offensive myth? I bought my iphone for the hardware and software capabilities that I judged to be the best for my use cases. And I am not the only one that actually had a non-trite reason, I am sure.

Is this a myth? What does apple have better than android in 2018?

Re: Alexa and Siri Can Hear Hidden Commands

#77

Post by mkirklions »

mulletbum wrote: post #72
kfrzcode wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same reason people buy Coach bags etc... status and brand.

Everyone who likes iPhones owns one, so that removes status. Personal anecdote, I dislike Apple computers, but I like their phones. So I am at least one person who doesn't buy them for brand. This notion is outdated.

Can you explain what is good about their phones?

Things that drive me crazy-

>No widgets

>constant reminders to sign-in

>constant reminders to update

>no double tap/settings seem harder to find

>Finger print scanner sucks so bad.

>Little annoyances like the animations to change screen take 0.5 seconds too long.

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be enjoying on my iphone.

Re: Alexa and Siri Can Hear Hidden Commands

#78

Post by GW150914 »

baxtr wrote: post #45
Jun8 wrote: post #6

The interesting thing is that Google Assistant has teh same problem, it's right there in the subtitle. It's interesting that it was omitted from the main title. Rather than journalistic oversight I think this verifies what people have commented many times: that the fact that GA does not have a personalized name makes it to refer to it. SO much so that a very distant third product is included rather than GA.

Maybe the main title would be too long if it included “and google’s voice assistant”

This was the title I used, it must have been changed: “Alexa and Siri Can Hear This Hidden Command. You Can’t.”

I couldn’t have added the subtitle because as you say, it would have been too long.

Re: Alexa and Siri Can Hear Hidden Commands

#79

Post by xena »

mkirklions wrote: post #77
mulletbum wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone who likes iPhones owns one, so that removes status. Personal anecdote, I dislike Apple computers, but I like their phones. So I am at least one person who doesn't buy them for brand. This notion is outdated.

Can you explain what is good about their phones? Things that drive me crazy- >No widgets >constant reminders to sign-in >constant reminders to update >no double tap/settings seem harder to find >Finger print scanner sucks so bad. >Little annoyances like the animations to change screen take 0.5 seconds too long. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be enjoying on my iphone.

> No widgets

Flick to the left from the homescreen or from the notification screen. They have them.

> constant reminders to sign-in

After an update, sure, but TouchID got rid of most of these.

> constant reminders to update

iPhones actually get updated. Reminding you to install them is good practice.

> no double tap/settings seem harder to find

Please explain this gesture.

> Finger print scanner sucks so bad.

You probably (like me) only scanned part of your fingerprint.

> Little annoyances like the animations to change screen take 0.5 seconds too long.

Dig into the accessibility settings. They let you change a lot more than you think you should be able to.

Re: Alexa and Siri Can Hear Hidden Commands

#80

Post by mistermann »

djrogers wrote: post #58
mistermann wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a web page one can refer to instead? Seems like it could be far more efficient way to learn, and would also be able to easily highlight newly released features.

Googling for 'list of siri commands' comes up with many excellent web pages, including this one from Apple themselves: https://www.apple.com/ios/siri/

I probably should have specified I'm interested in the Google one.

As far as I can tell, Google doesn't post a comprehensive reference, based on:

google now command reference site:google.com

Most any list that's been published is from 3rd party sites, and usually from 2016.

Google's documentation that I've found tends to be of a form of a random list of various different scenarios you can do, but nothing comprehensive.

And besides, my sense is that new development is on Google Assistant, which (I think) requires web search history to be turned on, which in my opinion is stepping over the line. I'm getting tired enough of Google's invasiveness that I'd like to switch to iOS, but I can't stand the UI, and the hardware is all too expensive for my tastes.

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