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Yes, I am aware of all this, and that's why I bought a couple of Echo Dots. My point is that I wish Apple didn't assume I would be holding my iPhone in my hand

Yes, I am aware of all this, and that's why I bought a couple of Echo Dots. My point is that I wish Apple didn't assume I would be holding my iPhone in my hand. I have Xs, for example. It doesn't need to operate from a different room but unless I'm holding my phone, I just don't bother. Adding an additional microphone, etc would make Siri more useful while it's nearby. I'm really looking forward to yelling into my kitchen to start my Apple Music on my Echo in a few weeks.

fastball 8y ago
Let me get this straight. You want Apple to put more mics into the iPhone, so that it can better address a use-case that Apple is already addressing with a well-engineered product built expressly for that purpose? OK.
- melling 8y ago
  Let me clarify for you. I would like my $1300 phone to answer me when it’s sitting 3 feet away from me. I wanna start music, I want to pause music, I want to ask it questions, and I want it to work reliably. When a timer stops, for example, I want to be able to say "hey Siri stop timer." It’s perfectly acceptable if Apple doesn’t see this as a use case. I’ll simply take my business somewhere else to solve that problem. I'm simply throwing it out as a nice to have.
  - DonaldPShimoda 8y ago
    > I want my $1300 phone to answer me when it’s sitting 3 feet away from me. Is this a problem you have? I'm able to reliably use Siri on my phone from up to maybe 2-3 feet away in a moderately noisy environment (casual conversation around a table) with almost no issue, and I can easily use it up to 10+ feet away in a quiet environment. I've had this success since the 7+ at least (when I tested it), but I've continued to see such performance on the X and XS Max.
    - melling 8y ago
      Try saying: “Hey Siri, create a 10 second timer” “Hey Siri, play some Rolling Stones” Find yourself picking up the phone to stop these two actions?
      - gok 8y ago
        Hm are you sure you have `Listen for "Hey Siri"` on?
        melling 8y ago
        Yes. Siri will respond to those two questions. Did you try each then try to stop them with Siri?
        gok 8y ago
        Oh oh I see you're saying the requests you listed work but "hey Siri stop the timer" and "hey Siri stop the music" don't
        threeseed 8y ago
        Which absolutely does work. Not really sure what the OP means here.
        melling 8y ago
        Well, the timer does sort of work... but NOT REALLY. I tried it several times. It worked 4 out of 5 times on the phone. You know what it doesn't do? It doesn't stop the timer on my Apple Watch, which keeps buzzing even after my phone stops. The Watch stops if I press the button, I couldn't get the Music to work. So, can we be done? I have a couple of Amazon Echos. They just work as a hands-free voice activated device.
        threeseed 8y ago
  - toasterlovin 8y ago
    Maybe your phone is malfunctioning? My iPhone 7 easily responds to Hey Siri from 10 or so feet away. It's not as good as HomePod, but seems to work well enough.
  - fastball 8y ago
    So your next phone is going to be a non-iPhone if they don't improve "Hey Siri"? I understand that you would like "Hey Siri" to be better. What is not clear to me is how you think Echo Dots are a "competitor" to your phone. Echo Dots are purpose-built Home Assistant hardware. Just like the HomePod. No phone is going to perform nearly as well as a purpose-built home assistant -- it's a hardware limitation. No matter how many mics you put in any phone, the far-field performance is not going to be great. It's like you want your sedan to be just as good at carry heavy loads as your pickup truck. That's ridiculous. And as far as Home Assistants go, the HomePod's mic/noise setup is hands down the best. So if you find yourself constantly asking questions of your phone while its sat down in your living room or kitchen or bedroom or wherever it is you're setting timers and playing music (I'm going to bet it's the kitchen), buy a HomePod for your kitchen. That is the solution to your problem. Or you could get Google Home products. They are also better than the Echo line. Sounds to me like you're just disappointed you bought the worst Home Assistant products on the market.

fastball 8y ago

Let me get this straight. You want Apple to put more mics into the iPhone, so that it can better address a use-case that Apple is already addressing with a well-engineered product built expressly for that purpose? OK.

melling 8y ago
Let me clarify for you. I would like my $1300 phone to answer me when it’s sitting 3 feet away from me. I wanna start music, I want to pause music, I want to ask it questions, and I want it to work reliably. When a timer stops, for example, I want to be able to say "hey Siri stop timer." It’s perfectly acceptable if Apple doesn’t see this as a use case. I’ll simply take my business somewhere else to solve that problem. I'm simply throwing it out as a nice to have.
- DonaldPShimoda 8y ago
  > I want my $1300 phone to answer me when it’s sitting 3 feet away from me. Is this a problem you have? I'm able to reliably use Siri on my phone from up to maybe 2-3 feet away in a moderately noisy environment (casual conversation around a table) with almost no issue, and I can easily use it up to 10+ feet away in a quiet environment. I've had this success since the 7+ at least (when I tested it), but I've continued to see such performance on the X and XS Max.
  - melling 8y ago
    Try saying: “Hey Siri, create a 10 second timer” “Hey Siri, play some Rolling Stones” Find yourself picking up the phone to stop these two actions?
    - gok 8y ago
      Hm are you sure you have `Listen for "Hey Siri"` on?
      - melling 8y ago
        Yes. Siri will respond to those two questions. Did you try each then try to stop them with Siri?
        gok 8y ago
        Oh oh I see you're saying the requests you listed work but "hey Siri stop the timer" and "hey Siri stop the music" don't
        threeseed 8y ago
        Which absolutely does work. Not really sure what the OP means here.
        melling 8y ago
        Well, the timer does sort of work... but NOT REALLY. I tried it several times. It worked 4 out of 5 times on the phone. You know what it doesn't do? It doesn't stop the timer on my Apple Watch, which keeps buzzing even after my phone stops. The Watch stops if I press the button, I couldn't get the Music to work. So, can we be done? I have a couple of Amazon Echos. They just work as a hands-free voice activated device.
        threeseed 8y ago
- toasterlovin 8y ago
  Maybe your phone is malfunctioning? My iPhone 7 easily responds to Hey Siri from 10 or so feet away. It's not as good as HomePod, but seems to work well enough.
- fastball 8y ago
  So your next phone is going to be a non-iPhone if they don't improve "Hey Siri"? I understand that you would like "Hey Siri" to be better. What is not clear to me is how you think Echo Dots are a "competitor" to your phone. Echo Dots are purpose-built Home Assistant hardware. Just like the HomePod. No phone is going to perform nearly as well as a purpose-built home assistant -- it's a hardware limitation. No matter how many mics you put in any phone, the far-field performance is not going to be great. It's like you want your sedan to be just as good at carry heavy loads as your pickup truck. That's ridiculous. And as far as Home Assistants go, the HomePod's mic/noise setup is hands down the best. So if you find yourself constantly asking questions of your phone while its sat down in your living room or kitchen or bedroom or wherever it is you're setting timers and playing music (I'm going to bet it's the kitchen), buy a HomePod for your kitchen. That is the solution to your problem. Or you could get Google Home products. They are also better than the Echo line. Sounds to me like you're just disappointed you bought the worst Home Assistant products on the market.