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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 o

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 riding my bike home Yes, this is a very dumb and limited usage. But I don’t see Android users around me doing incredible things that I could be jealous of with their voice assistant. I am missing something? Or maybe it’s because I’m not in the US and we still have to catch up with the trend of using voice assistant more?

Consultant32452 9y ago
The things you listed are my primary uses of Google Assistant, but here's some others. What time is it in [location]? What's the temperature outside? Change the temperature inside (nest). Turn off all the lights. Really the only thing you can't do with Siri that I'm aware of is home automation. But I could be wrong about that.
- phxrsg 9y ago
  Siri can do home automation with HomeKit and it actually works really well. The disadvantage here is that HomeKit has less supported accessories because, as I understand it, it's less open/requires certification of the accessory. 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...
  - exelius 9y ago
    I thought Apple required HomeKit devices to go through a certification process that includes an audit of device security controls (things like secret management, crypto, default passwords, etc) — and very few of these low-cost IoT devices worry about security. Apple won’t certify them, but there’s not yet a mass market for secure IoT devices (which would necessarily cost more due to the extra engineering required). It’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem.
  - photojosh 9y ago
    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 garage door (with a little WiFi dev board) and for a video doorbell (with a RPi with camera). Others have used HomeBridge with a cheap $20 Chinese IP camera to do the same thing, although you have to install an alternate firmware if you don't want the camera to phone home to China... :O [0]: https://github.com/nfarina/homebridge https://github.com/nfarina/homebridge
    - konradb 9y ago
      Are you able to say what lock you got? Would be interested in getting a decent one.
      - Consultant32452 9y ago
        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.
        konradb 9y ago
        Thanks!
      - photojosh 9y ago
        Sorry, slow to reply. It's a Schlage Sense. Major selling point for me was that it has a keypad, so I can give non-tech savvy folks an easy in (plus backup in case of flat phone). If you don't want that, there are nicer looking one.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- Twisell 9y ago
  Actually I forgot a 4th usage, I also use Siri to switch my living room hue starter kit to my « cinema » scene from my sofa (all 5% red light). For all other scenes I usually use the physical hue dimmer button because I’m standing.
veesahni 9y ago
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?) - Conversions (what's X ounces to ml) - Quick stock checks (what's X stock price) - Playing music around the house (play X on the kitchen speakers) Additionally, I've found myself using Android's voice recording capabilities to dictate text all the time. It's just so much faster than typing or swiping. I haven't an iPhone for a few years, so I can't compare with what Siri is capable of today.
- spullara 9y ago
  All of those Siri can do. Anything else?
  - ztratar 9y ago
    Siri misunderstands me so frequently, I've learned to not use it for most of the above things.
    - veesahni 9y ago
      This is what I experienced years ago when I last had an iPhone. Google's voice recognition is exceptional. I can mumble words and it still seems to contextually figure out what I was probably trying to say.
      - swish_bob 9y ago
        Unless you're picking from a list of options, at which point Google becomes utterly useless to me. I've literally spent 10 minutes in a "SMS, WhatsApp or Hangout" "SMS" "SMS, WhatsApp or Hangout" loop before, trying every inflection I could think of.
  - veesahni 9y ago
CharlesW 9y ago
> Is there any proof that actual people use and value Google and Amazon assistant more than Siri? I found at least one measurement report: As of July 2017 Verto Analytics showed Siri on top[1] with 41.4M unique users per month (but falling), and Alexa with only 2.6M (but rising fast). [1] https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/11/siri-usage-and-engagement-dropped-since-last-year-as-alexa-and-cortana-grew/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/11/siri-usage-and-engagement-...
- Grazester 9y ago
  Well from my experience my wife never uses Siri on her iphone and always tells me to ask Google on mine even when she has her iphone in hand. I always tell her just ask Siri and her response is always, "you know Siri sucks". I honestly know this but only tell her to ask Siri to annoy her for interrupting me to ask Google something on my phone.
- ebikelaw 9y ago
  Honestly my own experience makes me wonder how many of those "users per month" either accidentally invoked it by holding down the button on their phones or had Siri just pop up and start yakking because its hotword detection went wrong.
  - happertiger 9y ago
    If they have an iPhone X, at least 92 percent of those users are the inside of a handbag or suitecase.
  - aluhut 9y ago
    My company had to switch from Microsoft to IPhones. I hear Siri every day. Usually followed by swearing. When I got mine, I was trapped in some Siri -> Lock Screen -> Siri combination. "Siri go away" and "Siri show me the home screen" didn't help either. I just wanted to get on the home screen but since there is no Back-Button...well it's disabled now.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
paultannenbaum 9y ago
I recently switched from being an iphone user to a pixel 2, and I can say that the difference between siri and the google assistant is signifiant. Enough so that I rarely used siri and I use the google assistant every day. It isn't that the google assistant is more featured packed, more so that it just works much better. Especially with slightly more complex queries.
notatoad 9y ago
I've had similar confusion based on the anecdata: none of the android users i know (including myself) ever use the Google Assistant. Or if they do, they don't do it in public. most iPhone users i know use siri at least a little bit. So is Siri actually better? Or is there something else going on that makes it more usable even if it's technically not as "good" And the quantity of articles complaining about siri would seem to back up the idea that siri is getting used a lot more - Google Assistant is certainly not perfect, it's got some glaring flaws [1]. If people were actually using it, they'd be complaining. The lack of press coverage about Google Assistant's weak points is not a good thing. [1]https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/03/14/10-stupidly-simple-things-wish-google-home/ https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/03/14/10-stupidly-simple-...
- grogenaut 9y ago
  I use google voice a ton. For dictating messages while in the car, and for setting reminders and calendar notifications while walking. Probbably adds up to around an hour of speaking a week.
- maltalex 9y ago
  I have a related anecdote. After being on Android since version 1.5 I’ve recently switched over to an iPhone (8) due to privacy and security concerns. Thats when I begun using the voice assistance for the first time. For me, it was a trust issue - I simply had an easier time trusting Apple’s Siri with my voice. On Android I would disable every non-essential Google feature that I could. I don’t feel like I need to do that on IOS.
- jacksmith21006 9y ago
  Would say your friend is unusual. People that have GA I know use it all the time including myself. I also carry an iPhone and never use Siri like never.
katastic 9y ago
My wife and I have an iOS and Android phone, and an Alexa home thingy. - Android definitely reads our voice better. Alexa is a close second. iOS has to be helped in loud or non-ideal situations. - iPhone maps/GPS are way worse too. Often times I'll just hand my wife my phone in the car because Apple maps is taking forever or, giving INSANE directions that take us through tons of backroads to save .12839083 minutes on our drive when the highway is a clear direction that any human (or good AI) would have recommended. As for the Alexa, we use it every day and it works great. "Alexa set alarm for 5." "AM or PM?" "AM." Boom. Done. And I'm NO Android zealot. I have tons of problems with it. The app store seems to be way less damaging to your phone for iOS. Like, the first result for any phone problems for Android is "delete some apps." Ugh, the entire point of having a smart phone is apps. So if "removing all your apps" is the solution to the only advantage of having a smart phone, then your entire phone architecture is insane. That'd be like saying "Hey, my car keeps stalling." "Well, it only stalls when you drive, so don't drive it then." "Okay."
ebikelaw 9y ago
So far unmentioned in this discussion is the only reason I use Android voice assistant: Android Auto. When I'm driving my car I obviously can't type on my phone, so I use my voice for everything: changing the navigation destination, calling for music to be played, dialing the phone and sending text messages, amusing children by asking it stupid questions, etc. I carry an iPhone on my person but I use Android in my car. I don't ever find myself using Siri, but I use Google Assistant a lot. I tried using CarPlay a few times but the voice recognition just wasn't there. I distinctly remember trying to get it to navigate to a restaurant called Da Nang Quan and it just was stumped. Google can recognize these kinds of things. I've also noticed it has no problem recognizing the spoken commands of my young children which generally speaking Siri can't figure out at all.
- ebikelaw 9y ago
  So I just tried to replicate the query for the restaurant Da Nang Quan (which is in Oakland California) and this time it actually makes a sensible interpretation of my question ("Danang Quan") once out of five times, and got close another time ("Danang Kwan") and got complete nonsense the other three times. Unfortunately all three of the results it tried to give me for the nearly-right questions were in Vietnam which again is not anything like the answer I needed. This confirms my experience so far with Siri.
- jd20 9y ago
  There's an Ike's Sandwiches like literally 30 feet from my office in San Jose, and I always like to ask Siri when it closes. To this day, I've probably tried on a dozen occasions and it has never once gotten it right. I'm a native English speaker with no accent. I tried again just now, this is what I got: Me: "What time does Ike's sandwich close?" Siri heard: "What time does Eichs sandwich close" Siri responded: "Hmmm... I don't see any hours for Rick's Sandwich Shop on Elkins St, Boston" Things like this is why I've all but stop using Siri.
  - js2 9y ago
    Siri has made me feel like an idiot so many times I don't even try any more. Fool me once... (I use it for reminders. That seems to work. Looking up anything is useless.)
ggg9990 9y ago
Yes, I turned off Siri when I got an Echo and turned off the Echo when I got a Google Home
jacksmith21006 9y ago
Yes use the Google assistant all the time and it is excellent.
jacksmith21006 9y ago
My wife clicks the shutter on her iPhone and without touching an additional button walks later into our family room and ask for fine detail in photos and they appear in 4k. We also have a 4k Chromecast and a Google home. Just buy, plug in and log in. She already used Google photos.
jd20 9y ago
One of my favorite things that Alexa can do, which Siri still can't, is integrate with my Logitech Harmony and SmartThings hubs. This lets me control all my AV devices and Lutron Z-Wave lights using voice commands. I hear now there's an unofficial bridge (runs as a NodeJS service) called Homebridge which might get Harmony working with Siri, and Lutron has newer lights not using Z-Wave that are Homekit compatible, but when I was shopping for all this stuff several years ago Siri /HomeKit support was abysmal. It also helps that Echo's microphones and speech recognition is much better at far distances, with background noise, than "Hey Siri" (and assuming I don't have my phone in my pocket). At this point, I pretty much only use Siri when I'm in the car, and that's the environment where it seems to perform the worst (long delays to start listening, frequent misunderstandings, request failures).
- happertiger 9y ago
  Smartthings is the platform to beat for Apple. It’s simple, easy and incredibly powerful. I can’t understand why Apple doesn’t apply their magic to the model and just knock it out of the park. They have all of the pieces and the ux experience to make it exceptional.
tbyehl 9y ago
Siri is something that's occasionally useful, if you think to use it. Alexa and now Google Home can integrate themselves into your whole life. Alexa is the primary interface for the home automation at my home and my girlfriend's. Her 9 y/o kids can use it. Our 67 y/o mothers can use it. We've got a baker's dozen of Alexa-enabled speakers between us, covering all of our living spaces and half the bathrooms. They get used constantly. Many of our use cases are "trivial" but having a voice assistant everywhere instead of tied to phones / tablets greatly changes their utility.
ddingus 9y ago
Most ordinary people I know favor Siri despite it's differences. The "character", theatre, framing, if you will, with Siri is superior. Few people in my circles use the Amazon device at present. Somehow, people like Siri. Siri is an agent in their minds and that is how they treat Siri. The "OK Google" is one too, but not as well personified. If I were to hazard a gut guess, based on an anecdotal sample, personification, as well as relevance to pop culture are big draws and can make up for technical gaps. Personally, it's no contest. I use Google voice constantly. Works well enough for me to continue to invest in the experience.
chetanahuja 9y ago
> "Is there any proof that actual people use and value Google and Amazon assistant more than Siri?" This is a common confusion among iPhone users. I suspect the reason is that if all you're used to is Siri (and it's myriad disappointments), it's hard to conceive of the the quantum leaps that is Google Assistant in product polish and usefulness. First and foremost is the near flawless voice recognition. I, with my India accent even, can just say things to my Android device (and now, my new google home) it just ... gets it. It's spooky. Then, after it recognizes the question/request correctly, it is very likely to take the correct action with a high enough probability that it's now almost a surprise to hear "Sorry I don't now how to do that yet" when it does happen. Outside of the active queries, there are things it does automatically that are at the level of what a particularly attentive human assistant might do for you. It'll check your calendar and remind you that you should start driving for your 4pm appointment because the traffic is unusually heavy on 101 today. Or that your flight tomorrow morning has been cancelled. It knows about your flight because of the confirmation email in your gmail account. Remember, you have to take no action for this sort of reminders. Just have to opt in when assistant is setting itself up on your new phone. There are myriad other such examples. It has saved my bacon numerous times. We're truly living in the future.
- jacksmith21006 9y ago
  You nailed it. People think this technology is not that useful because they have only used Siri and Alexa. Use the Google Assistant and you will see it is very helpful. I have used all three and can say from personal experience the Google Assistant is head and shoulders in front of the other two in UX.
piyush_soni 9y ago
I use Google Assistant all day, and know people who do the same. It's actually amazing, and although Apple was the first one to add any decent voice assistant, Google was the first one that understood my accent at all ("Indian English"). When we had that, it was a shame to even ask any question to Siri. Now when Siri has an Indian English version as well, I still compare it all the time with my friend's latest iPhone, and it still sucks. It understands me every time.
PopePompous 9y ago
As far as I can tell, the only advantage Siri has over Google Assistant is its integration with Wolfram Alpha. If you ask Siri "What is the angular diameter of Mars?" it will tell you the current angular diameter of Mars. Google Assistant can't do that. Apart from the Wolfram Alpha connection, Siri is inferior in every way, IMHO.
Hippocrates 9y ago
Agree completely. Siri works near perfectly for my basic uses: Alarms, timers, reminders, weather, stock prices, music, calls, texts etc. I concede that Google and Amazon's assistants are more advanced, if the measure of advanced is the number of gimmicky joke responses and Easter eggs they can say during a social gathering.
softawre 9y ago
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.
romwell 9y ago
Personally, I get the most mileage out of Google's voice assistant when I'm driving. It's a situation when I can't (well, shouldn't) use the phone's UI, so it's great to ask it to: -find a place and check its hours of operation -navigate to said place -find a gas station along the way -etc. On an occasion, I've asked it to add things to a calendar. As a lazy person, I prefer to do things with the minimal number of steps. Scheduling things in a calendar requires an inordinate amount of clicks. On the other hand, it's something that a CLI could be well-suited for. For such things, voice control is natural.
rajington 9y ago
I see us at the beginning of a path that grants magic powers, controlling everything with our voice, or even our intention. That requires machine learning, which requires data, which requires data collection, and the closest one to Google there isn't Apple or Amazon, it's Facebook.

Consultant32452 9y ago

The things you listed are my primary uses of Google Assistant, but here's some others. What time is it in [location]? What's the temperature outside? Change the temperature inside (nest). Turn off all the lights. Really the only thing you can't do with Siri that I'm aware of is home automation. But I could be wrong about that.

phxrsg 9y ago
Siri can do home automation with HomeKit and it actually works really well. The disadvantage here is that HomeKit has less supported accessories because, as I understand it, it's less open/requires certification of the accessory. 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...
- exelius 9y ago
  I thought Apple required HomeKit devices to go through a certification process that includes an audit of device security controls (things like secret management, crypto, default passwords, etc) — and very few of these low-cost IoT devices worry about security. Apple won’t certify them, but there’s not yet a mass market for secure IoT devices (which would necessarily cost more due to the extra engineering required). It’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem.
- photojosh 9y ago
  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 garage door (with a little WiFi dev board) and for a video doorbell (with a RPi with camera). Others have used HomeBridge with a cheap $20 Chinese IP camera to do the same thing, although you have to install an alternate firmware if you don't want the camera to phone home to China... :O [0]: https://github.com/nfarina/homebridge https://github.com/nfarina/homebridge
  - konradb 9y ago
    Are you able to say what lock you got? Would be interested in getting a decent one.
    - Consultant32452 9y ago
      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.
      - konradb 9y ago
        Thanks!
    - photojosh 9y ago
      Sorry, slow to reply. It's a Schlage Sense. Major selling point for me was that it has a keypad, so I can give non-tech savvy folks an easy in (plus backup in case of flat phone). If you don't want that, there are nicer looking one.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
Twisell 9y ago
Actually I forgot a 4th usage, I also use Siri to switch my living room hue starter kit to my « cinema » scene from my sofa (all 5% red light). For all other scenes I usually use the physical hue dimmer button because I’m standing.

veesahni 9y ago

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?) - Conversions (what's X ounces to ml) - Quick stock checks (what's X stock price) - Playing music around the house (play X on the kitchen speakers) Additionally, I've found myself using Android's voice recording capabilities to dictate text all the time. It's just so much faster than typing or swiping. I haven't an iPhone for a few years, so I can't compare with what Siri is capable of today.

spullara 9y ago
All of those Siri can do. Anything else?
- ztratar 9y ago
  Siri misunderstands me so frequently, I've learned to not use it for most of the above things.
  - veesahni 9y ago
    This is what I experienced years ago when I last had an iPhone. Google's voice recognition is exceptional. I can mumble words and it still seems to contextually figure out what I was probably trying to say.
    - swish_bob 9y ago
      Unless you're picking from a list of options, at which point Google becomes utterly useless to me. I've literally spent 10 minutes in a "SMS, WhatsApp or Hangout" "SMS" "SMS, WhatsApp or Hangout" loop before, trying every inflection I could think of.
- veesahni 9y ago

CharlesW 9y ago

> Is there any proof that actual people use and value Google and Amazon assistant more than Siri? I found at least one measurement report: As of July 2017 Verto Analytics showed Siri on top[1] with 41.4M unique users per month (but falling), and Alexa with only 2.6M (but rising fast). [1] https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/11/siri-usage-and-engagement-dropped-since-last-year-as-alexa-and-cortana-grew/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/11/siri-usage-and-engagement-...

Grazester 9y ago
Well from my experience my wife never uses Siri on her iphone and always tells me to ask Google on mine even when she has her iphone in hand. I always tell her just ask Siri and her response is always, "you know Siri sucks". I honestly know this but only tell her to ask Siri to annoy her for interrupting me to ask Google something on my phone.
ebikelaw 9y ago
Honestly my own experience makes me wonder how many of those "users per month" either accidentally invoked it by holding down the button on their phones or had Siri just pop up and start yakking because its hotword detection went wrong.
- happertiger 9y ago
  If they have an iPhone X, at least 92 percent of those users are the inside of a handbag or suitecase.
- aluhut 9y ago
  My company had to switch from Microsoft to IPhones. I hear Siri every day. Usually followed by swearing. When I got mine, I was trapped in some Siri -> Lock Screen -> Siri combination. "Siri go away" and "Siri show me the home screen" didn't help either. I just wanted to get on the home screen but since there is no Back-Button...well it's disabled now.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

paultannenbaum 9y ago

I recently switched from being an iphone user to a pixel 2, and I can say that the difference between siri and the google assistant is signifiant. Enough so that I rarely used siri and I use the google assistant every day. It isn't that the google assistant is more featured packed, more so that it just works much better. Especially with slightly more complex queries.

notatoad 9y ago

I've had similar confusion based on the anecdata: none of the android users i know (including myself) ever use the Google Assistant. Or if they do, they don't do it in public. most iPhone users i know use siri at least a little bit. So is Siri actually better? Or is there something else going on that makes it more usable even if it's technically not as "good" And the quantity of articles complaining about siri would seem to back up the idea that siri is getting used a lot more - Google Assistant is certainly not perfect, it's got some glaring flaws [1]. If people were actually using it, they'd be complaining. The lack of press coverage about Google Assistant's weak points is not a good thing. [1]https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/03/14/10-stupidly-simple-things-wish-google-home/ https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/03/14/10-stupidly-simple-...

grogenaut 9y ago
I use google voice a ton. For dictating messages while in the car, and for setting reminders and calendar notifications while walking. Probbably adds up to around an hour of speaking a week.
maltalex 9y ago
I have a related anecdote. After being on Android since version 1.5 I’ve recently switched over to an iPhone (8) due to privacy and security concerns. Thats when I begun using the voice assistance for the first time. For me, it was a trust issue - I simply had an easier time trusting Apple’s Siri with my voice. On Android I would disable every non-essential Google feature that I could. I don’t feel like I need to do that on IOS.
jacksmith21006 9y ago
Would say your friend is unusual. People that have GA I know use it all the time including myself. I also carry an iPhone and never use Siri like never.

katastic 9y ago

My wife and I have an iOS and Android phone, and an Alexa home thingy. - Android definitely reads our voice better. Alexa is a close second. iOS has to be helped in loud or non-ideal situations. - iPhone maps/GPS are way worse too. Often times I'll just hand my wife my phone in the car because Apple maps is taking forever or, giving INSANE directions that take us through tons of backroads to save .12839083 minutes on our drive when the highway is a clear direction that any human (or good AI) would have recommended. As for the Alexa, we use it every day and it works great. "Alexa set alarm for 5." "AM or PM?" "AM." Boom. Done. And I'm NO Android zealot. I have tons of problems with it. The app store seems to be way less damaging to your phone for iOS. Like, the first result for any phone problems for Android is "delete some apps." Ugh, the entire point of having a smart phone is apps. So if "removing all your apps" is the solution to the only advantage of having a smart phone, then your entire phone architecture is insane. That'd be like saying "Hey, my car keeps stalling." "Well, it only stalls when you drive, so don't drive it then." "Okay."

ebikelaw 9y ago

So far unmentioned in this discussion is the only reason I use Android voice assistant: Android Auto. When I'm driving my car I obviously can't type on my phone, so I use my voice for everything: changing the navigation destination, calling for music to be played, dialing the phone and sending text messages, amusing children by asking it stupid questions, etc. I carry an iPhone on my person but I use Android in my car. I don't ever find myself using Siri, but I use Google Assistant a lot. I tried using CarPlay a few times but the voice recognition just wasn't there. I distinctly remember trying to get it to navigate to a restaurant called Da Nang Quan and it just was stumped. Google can recognize these kinds of things. I've also noticed it has no problem recognizing the spoken commands of my young children which generally speaking Siri can't figure out at all.

ebikelaw 9y ago
So I just tried to replicate the query for the restaurant Da Nang Quan (which is in Oakland California) and this time it actually makes a sensible interpretation of my question ("Danang Quan") once out of five times, and got close another time ("Danang Kwan") and got complete nonsense the other three times. Unfortunately all three of the results it tried to give me for the nearly-right questions were in Vietnam which again is not anything like the answer I needed. This confirms my experience so far with Siri.
jd20 9y ago
There's an Ike's Sandwiches like literally 30 feet from my office in San Jose, and I always like to ask Siri when it closes. To this day, I've probably tried on a dozen occasions and it has never once gotten it right. I'm a native English speaker with no accent. I tried again just now, this is what I got: Me: "What time does Ike's sandwich close?" Siri heard: "What time does Eichs sandwich close" Siri responded: "Hmmm... I don't see any hours for Rick's Sandwich Shop on Elkins St, Boston" Things like this is why I've all but stop using Siri.
- js2 9y ago
  Siri has made me feel like an idiot so many times I don't even try any more. Fool me once... (I use it for reminders. That seems to work. Looking up anything is useless.)

ggg9990 9y ago

Yes, I turned off Siri when I got an Echo and turned off the Echo when I got a Google Home

jacksmith21006 9y ago

Yes use the Google assistant all the time and it is excellent.

jacksmith21006 9y ago

My wife clicks the shutter on her iPhone and without touching an additional button walks later into our family room and ask for fine detail in photos and they appear in 4k. We also have a 4k Chromecast and a Google home. Just buy, plug in and log in. She already used Google photos.

jd20 9y ago

One of my favorite things that Alexa can do, which Siri still can't, is integrate with my Logitech Harmony and SmartThings hubs. This lets me control all my AV devices and Lutron Z-Wave lights using voice commands. I hear now there's an unofficial bridge (runs as a NodeJS service) called Homebridge which might get Harmony working with Siri, and Lutron has newer lights not using Z-Wave that are Homekit compatible, but when I was shopping for all this stuff several years ago Siri /HomeKit support was abysmal. It also helps that Echo's microphones and speech recognition is much better at far distances, with background noise, than "Hey Siri" (and assuming I don't have my phone in my pocket). At this point, I pretty much only use Siri when I'm in the car, and that's the environment where it seems to perform the worst (long delays to start listening, frequent misunderstandings, request failures).

happertiger 9y ago
Smartthings is the platform to beat for Apple. It’s simple, easy and incredibly powerful. I can’t understand why Apple doesn’t apply their magic to the model and just knock it out of the park. They have all of the pieces and the ux experience to make it exceptional.

tbyehl 9y ago

Siri is something that's occasionally useful, if you think to use it. Alexa and now Google Home can integrate themselves into your whole life. Alexa is the primary interface for the home automation at my home and my girlfriend's. Her 9 y/o kids can use it. Our 67 y/o mothers can use it. We've got a baker's dozen of Alexa-enabled speakers between us, covering all of our living spaces and half the bathrooms. They get used constantly. Many of our use cases are "trivial" but having a voice assistant everywhere instead of tied to phones / tablets greatly changes their utility.

ddingus 9y ago

Most ordinary people I know favor Siri despite it's differences. The "character", theatre, framing, if you will, with Siri is superior. Few people in my circles use the Amazon device at present. Somehow, people like Siri. Siri is an agent in their minds and that is how they treat Siri. The "OK Google" is one too, but not as well personified. If I were to hazard a gut guess, based on an anecdotal sample, personification, as well as relevance to pop culture are big draws and can make up for technical gaps. Personally, it's no contest. I use Google voice constantly. Works well enough for me to continue to invest in the experience.

chetanahuja 9y ago

> "Is there any proof that actual people use and value Google and Amazon assistant more than Siri?" This is a common confusion among iPhone users. I suspect the reason is that if all you're used to is Siri (and it's myriad disappointments), it's hard to conceive of the the quantum leaps that is Google Assistant in product polish and usefulness. First and foremost is the near flawless voice recognition. I, with my India accent even, can just say things to my Android device (and now, my new google home) it just ... gets it. It's spooky. Then, after it recognizes the question/request correctly, it is very likely to take the correct action with a high enough probability that it's now almost a surprise to hear "Sorry I don't now how to do that yet" when it does happen. Outside of the active queries, there are things it does automatically that are at the level of what a particularly attentive human assistant might do for you. It'll check your calendar and remind you that you should start driving for your 4pm appointment because the traffic is unusually heavy on 101 today. Or that your flight tomorrow morning has been cancelled. It knows about your flight because of the confirmation email in your gmail account. Remember, you have to take no action for this sort of reminders. Just have to opt in when assistant is setting itself up on your new phone. There are myriad other such examples. It has saved my bacon numerous times. We're truly living in the future.

jacksmith21006 9y ago
You nailed it. People think this technology is not that useful because they have only used Siri and Alexa. Use the Google Assistant and you will see it is very helpful. I have used all three and can say from personal experience the Google Assistant is head and shoulders in front of the other two in UX.

piyush_soni 9y ago

I use Google Assistant all day, and know people who do the same. It's actually amazing, and although Apple was the first one to add any decent voice assistant, Google was the first one that understood my accent at all ("Indian English"). When we had that, it was a shame to even ask any question to Siri. Now when Siri has an Indian English version as well, I still compare it all the time with my friend's latest iPhone, and it still sucks. It understands me every time.

PopePompous 9y ago

As far as I can tell, the only advantage Siri has over Google Assistant is its integration with Wolfram Alpha. If you ask Siri "What is the angular diameter of Mars?" it will tell you the current angular diameter of Mars. Google Assistant can't do that. Apart from the Wolfram Alpha connection, Siri is inferior in every way, IMHO.

Hippocrates 9y ago

Agree completely. Siri works near perfectly for my basic uses: Alarms, timers, reminders, weather, stock prices, music, calls, texts etc. I concede that Google and Amazon's assistants are more advanced, if the measure of advanced is the number of gimmicky joke responses and Easter eggs they can say during a social gathering.

softawre 9y ago

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.

romwell 9y ago

Personally, I get the most mileage out of Google's voice assistant when I'm driving. It's a situation when I can't (well, shouldn't) use the phone's UI, so it's great to ask it to: -find a place and check its hours of operation -navigate to said place -find a gas station along the way -etc. On an occasion, I've asked it to add things to a calendar. As a lazy person, I prefer to do things with the minimal number of steps. Scheduling things in a calendar requires an inordinate amount of clicks. On the other hand, it's something that a CLI could be well-suited for. For such things, voice control is natural.

rajington 9y ago

I see us at the beginning of a path that grants magic powers, controlling everything with our voice, or even our intention. That requires machine learning, which requires data, which requires data collection, and the closest one to Google there isn't Apple or Amazon, it's Facebook.