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I don't know a single person using Cortana, so it's not a surprise I guess. At least the push to use it in Windows will finally go away... A bit too late I have

I don't know a single person using Cortana, so it's not a surprise I guess. At least the push to use it in Windows will finally go away... A bit too late I have migrated to Ubuntu earlier this year... Puting an end to 20 years of Windows on my computer. Farewell Microsoft.

kgwxd 7y ago
Does anyone use any voice assistant anywhere? Other than people trying it out for the first time, I've literally never seen it in the wild.
- mey 7y ago
  Driving is the only time I use voice control.
- Waterluvian 7y ago
  I've seen a friend use it while driving. Seems painfully obvious and yet I still refuse to use it while driving. Instead I just don't phone for that time.
  - coldtea 7y ago
    Using a voice assistant might be less distracting than using your phone, but it's still distracting while driving, having to concentrate on what you say, the right commands, their feedback, etc.
    - pamitm 7y ago
      Almost the same level of distraction as holding a conversation then. I can live with that.
      - macintux 7y ago
        Keep in mind that holding a conversation while driving is still dangerous if the conversation isn’t with someone else in the car.
      - coldtea 7y ago
        A conversation with another person in the car is not the same as a phone conversation (for one, the other person doesn't share the road cues with you to know to stop talking when something requires attention, can't see your face and you can't see theirs, it's easier to get emotionally triggered, etc). And of course another person in the car can also help point to things to watch out on the road, a person in a phone call, not. Even worse, talking to an assistant is even worse, you need to spend mental effort to phrase things in a certain way (voice interface wise), parse their responses (which could be off), and so on...
        pbhjpbhj 7y ago
        There's at least one way in which it's easier talking to a voice assistant, I use AndroidAuto as my GPS (ie navigation aid whilst driving). When you talk to someone they don't "bing" to show they're listening, so you generally have to look at them. Me: "OK Google" AndroidAuto: {bing} Me: "Navigate home" AndroidAuto: "Navigating to [home], your travel time will be Xhrs, usual traffic along your route" [or whatever it says] It's pretty low concentration, like tuning a radio manually I'd say. You have to choose how you phrase things for different people too. If you're talking to another adult with kids in the car you might be choosing that phrasing with quite a deal of cognitive load.
- ascagnel_ 7y ago
  I use a voice assistant in my home occasionally, to control lights and music. - I only do it from the privacy of my home - The problem scope is relatively small, given that the lights have a limited set of names/scenes
- dlystyr 7y ago
  I often tell my voice assistant to STFU and how useless they are... funnily enough Google responds and accepts it has not ironed out all of the bugs.
  - dinkleberg 7y ago
    I get instant rage when I'm jamming out to some tunes or watching a movie with headphones on and Siri pops on and cuts off the audio. Then when I angrily swear at her, rather than just cutting out, she responds that I'm not being polite.
- jml7c5 7y ago
  The only time I ever use it is when I'm cooking and my hands are dirty (and usually just to get some measurement conversion), or when I'm wanting to start navigating somewhere quickly before driving. I've found it wholly useless, frustrating, and slower in all other circumstances.
- Splognosticus 7y ago
  I use Siri to set alarms and timers since that's far and away more convenient than opening the app and switching to the right tab and futzing with the time dial. If I've got my phone in my pocket and my hands full it's helpful to be able to tell Siri to turn the flashlight on. Aside from that I don't think I've used it for much. I get the weather from the radio already, and don't care to search the web with a voice assistant. It'd be nice if she'd read me my text messages but she flatly refuses to do that.
  - mistersquid 7y ago
    > It'd be nice if she'd read me my text messages but she flatly refuses to do that. Siri is integrated with AirPods Pro and will read your text messages to you as they come in. It’s pretty great. But what really excites me about voice assistance and voice assistive technology is the advent of Voice Control in iOS 13. Voice Control allows me to manipulate my iPad, for example, while using both hands to eat dinner or wash dishes etc. My screen doesn’t get greasy and I can scroll and tap links using my voice. The on device dictation ability is also first-rate. For example, I’ve used dictation to generate the majority of this comment.
    - mixmastamyk 7y ago
      Interesting, I’ve never felt the urge to use an iPad during dinner or dishes.
      - serf 7y ago
        me neither, but if you ever go to a diner (at least in the US) you'll probably spot some (imo extremely rude) patrons watching some blaring loud movies on their tablets while they eat. I absolutely hate that trend, if it wasn't obvious.
  - funnybeam 7y ago
    Why would you want to turn the flashlight on when the phone is in your pocket?
- davnicwil 7y ago
  I use Google assistant to set reminders. It's so much more convenient than clicking through and typing the same thing on my phone especially or even my laptop. Literally works in 3 seconds. It's great!
  - artificialLimbs 7y ago
    This. And calendar events; much faster than fiddling with menus, and I can do it while i'm driv... uh, running.
  - kd913 7y ago
    I don't think that is worth the privacy lost by having Google parse voice commands. 15-30 seconds inputting data versus privacy lost by having a profile generated on me by Google. A Google VP literally said that you should warn guests if you have voice assistants in your home.
    - RandomBacon 7y ago
      I think it should be federal law that devices like these that are always listening come with stickers for purchasers to put on the front door warning guests that they are being recorded. Of course no one is going to use those stickers, but it will remind everyone of how big of a privacy violation these things are.
- TheRealWatson 7y ago
  This is clearly the worst crowd possible, except maybe people with speech disabilities, to ask this question. Just look at how many people don't like it. I really can't make myself talk to a machine. I even abhor the phone answering services that insist that I speak instead of punching numbers. I my household the only person that interacts with the Echo/Alexa is our 3 year-old daughter. She finds it funny. On the other hand, the voice assistant devices are selling like crazy, so people are interested in them.
  - pmarreck 7y ago
    So other people are benefiting from them and you are confined by your hangup. Have I got that about right?
  - Kye 7y ago
    You can persuade most of these to let you use numbers if you respond by hitting 0 every time they repeat the question until they produce a number punching list.
- gumby 7y ago
  I use Siri for timers and alarms; ask for the weather, and for, sending text messages and calling when I'm on the go. My GF has been a heavy user of voice transcription on her phone, but when she got an Apple Watch she really ramped it up. It is a pretty good way to use the watch, especially if your AirPods are connected to it.
- nytesky 7y ago
  Now, I will establish my HN cred by saying I prefer CLI and Unix, would read my mail in PINE if I could, and run everything from Linux to Windows to MacOS in the house. But I use Siri all the time. Perhaps because I desperately miss a keyboard? But asking Siri to play a particular song, call a particular person, give me directions, and turn on the flashlight? All are way faster than navigating the touch interface. And dictation is the best way for me to message while on the move; I’m old so typing a flat keyboard while walking is a foolish idea. That said, accuracy is terrible. So many times I have wrong song. I don’t understand why Alexa doesn’t learn that the song I have asked for dozens of times is the right one, not the weird house version that sneaks in. I probably should investigate iOS shortcuts, that may tip me back to the touch screen.
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  I use Alexa to get the echo dot to play random toddler songs and songs like them. It’s actually really useful for that in the living room. Unfortunately, my toddler’s first complete sentences were “Alexa, play baby shark/space unicorn/cat flushing toilet”.
- athenot 7y ago
  I don't use many Siri commands but a few come in handy: - "add milk to grocery list" — I have a reminder list called "Grocery" to make that happen. Makes it easy to add stuff as I realize I'm running low, then I can check it off in the Reminders app. - "create appointment next {day} at {time} {title}" — I never use that one when I'm next to my computer, but when I'm around the house or after a doctor visit, it's usually accurate. - "what time is it" — no I don't wear a watch. But when I'm hiking and I'm too lazy to pull my phone out, this comes in handy as it works though most pockets. - "send text message to {person}", "call {person}" — when driving, that's a pretty seamless way to convey quick messages without touching the phone. - "get directions to {place}" — I only use that for locations I know the phone will understand, like favorites or business names that are not ambiguous.
  - ahnick 7y ago
    What I really like about Siri is the geofencing capability. "Siri, remind me when I get home to text Daniel" (or something of that nature) This way the reminder is not tied to a particular time, but instead tied to a location that is more relevant or convenient to carry out the task.
    - justwalt 7y ago
      Where are reminders like this stored? If you wanted to cancel that before you got home, would you have to use Siri again to do it?
      - ahnick 7y ago
        Just in the normal reminders app. You can ask Siri to delete the reminder or just mark it off in the reminders app itself.
    - ralfd 7y ago
      I should start using that! How does Siri know what home is?
      - 7y ago
- kyriakos 7y ago
  I regularly use Google assessment on android to add stuff to my shopping list. It's very convenient especially while cooking when my hands are occupied, as soon as I notice something running out I just ask Google to add it.
- mav3rick 7y ago
  Your friend circle is clearly not diverse. Most people use these to play music, lights on / off and alarms.
  - coldtea 7y ago
    So they hardly use it either (seeing that these are the most basic of voice assistant functions, and all can be done with local processing).
- kpU8efre7r 7y ago
  I use Google assistant daily for adding things to shopping list, simple trivia, weather, etc.
- ahnick 7y ago
  I use Alexa to add to my grocery list over the course of the week. If I run out of an item (e.g. Use the last of the milk, run out of butter, notice I'm getting low on bread, etc.), I just tell Alexa to add it to the grocery list. It's faster than whipping out my phone to do it and it has made building out my grocery list more reliable. (Inevitably I would struggle to remember everything that I needed to get when I would wait to do it at the end of the week)
- scarface74 7y ago
  I use Siri mostly for more complicated reminders I don’t want to do manually like “remind me to do $x when I get in my car” (based on Bluetooth connecting to my car) or “remind me to do $y when I get home/work”. I work out with only my cellular Apple Watch. If I need to send any long text, I’ll use voice dictation”.
- ineedasername 7y ago
  I use GA all of the time. I usually have bluetooth headphones around my neck and use them constantly to set timers for reminders, directions in the car, and most usefully whenever I want a quick answer to something. It's really nice to be occupied cooking dinner still be able to get a quick answer to "what's backscatter radiation" or some other random thing when listening to an audio book, or thinking about, well, anything. In this respect GA is far superior to Alexa, which returns "I don't know that yet" 3 out of 5 times.
  - LastZactionHero 7y ago
    It's really nice to be occupied cooking dinner still be able to get a quick answer to "what's backscatter radiation" What the heck are you cooking?!
    - ineedasername 7y ago
      homemade nuka cola!
- coldtea 7y ago
  Some outliers do.
- hadlock 7y ago
  I don't think we've touched a light switch in our house in eight months due to voice assistant. Kitchen timers, asking spelling of words, doing imperial to metric conversion, getting weather. Sometimes if I'm in an argument with my wife I will have google define the term we're arguing over for dramatic effect, or we'll consult google via voice to clarify something, like the population of the Philippines, for example.
  - jacobwilliamroy 7y ago
    Has the introduction of voice commands to the home had a statistically significant effect on how many arguments you have with your wife? Does she use it as much as you do?
    - hadlock 7y ago
      No correlation between additional arguments, it's usually politics or public policy or similar; she does actually use it about as much as I do. I would say 75%, which seems especially high even though she's not big in to technology. She's actually been pushing to get a voice control node "home mini" installed in the bedroom for quite a while, and wants a nest thermostat for the next place we move into.
  - TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
    I had voice control set up for the house lights for a few months, and went back to having a manual remote clicker in most of the house and a PIR switch in the pantry. For me at least, button pushing has a lower cognitive load than talking at something.
- Pxtl 7y ago
  On my bicycle where my phone is in my pocket I'm relying 100% on voice commands via a Bluetooth headset. Also, I find appointments much faster to create in voice than in the app. So tedious and clicky.
- jacobwilliamroy 7y ago
  Not sure if you consider this "use": I reconfigure my friend's alexa occasionally to make it do unhelpful things.
- briandear 7y ago
  I use it all the time, especially on HomePod. I also use it with Watch to send messages. In the car, I use it for directions. Don’t use it on my Mac though, spotlight is just too fast.
- pmarreck 7y ago
  I use Alexa at home pretty frequently and Siri on my iOS devices pretty frequently. Examples include "add <item> to my shopping list", "turn my bedroom lights off/on", "what is the weather today/tomorrow" and "set a 4 minute 15 second egg timer" (for my poached eggs every morning)
- tjohns 7y ago
  Absolutely! I use Google Assistant to control my home automation (mostly lights and TV), check commute times when leaving for work, play NPR, and occasional Wikipedia lookups that don't warrant pulling a phone out. I also use the Leidos Flight Service skill (voice app) to get a quick preview of the weather before driving to the airport to fly a plane, if I'm not in front of a computer. Of course, I'll pull out a tablet and do a more in-depth briefing at the airport before actually flying... but it's a great way to check nearby METARs and TAFs while on a commute.
- charles_f 7y ago
  I actually used Cortana on my Android phone. (Disclaimer - I work for MSFT). The main reason why I don't use Google assistant instead is the total unease with having Google listen to me 24/7. Cortana's not too bad for the simple stuff like getting the outlook of the day or setting up geofenced reminders (remind me to unload the washing machine when I come back home). Anything more complex absolutely fails 100% of the time, with this ridiculous behavior most assistants have to default to "here is what I found on the web". Why on earth would I want you to search for what I asked you to do? Wouldn't I ask you to search on the web if I wanted you to search on the web? I think that's the downfall of most voice assistants I've tried. Discoverability is poor, which wouldn't be a problem if the feature set was not limited to the basics. That being said it also loses a lot of its appeal by requiring a physical activation (either clicking on the app or on my headsets button), since Google removed the possibility for alternative voice assistants to do that. Compared to "hey siri", that schnucks.
  - hakfoo 7y ago
    For something hosted on a phone, I think they could improve the feel of privacy just by discarding the wake-word concept. This also allows them to cut out the passive listening hardware (saving money) or software load (saving battery life and CPU overhead) If you have the phone in your hands anyway, it's not that outlandish to have a button you press to engage Siri/Cortana/etc. This also avoids annoying/embarrassing accidental triggers. The only thing I ever used Cortana for (back in the Windows Phone 8 days) was the geofenced stuff-- "take the perishable items out of the car when you get home". Absurd thought: With enough data mining, not having the assistant's features discoverable could become itself a feature: Sifting through a billion requests and where it falls back to web requests could expose "desire paths"-- the specific functionality consumers expect a voice-assistant to provide but wouldn't necessarily know to ask for on a marketing survey.
    - charles_f 7y ago
      Right, but when you're in the car through or cooking, or bathing your kid, activating it via voice is a real saver.
- Intermernet 7y ago
  I use Google Assistant all the time in Android Auto. It's actually remarkably brilliant... Until it isn't and becomes either humorous or frustrating depending on the situation.
- perlgeek 7y ago
  I've heard some of my colleagues use the "remind me when I get home to..." feature. I also sometimes use the voice input to google search on mobile, though I guess that doesn't count as a full-blown assistant.
- jotm 7y ago
  I played with it when you could replace the godawful "OK Google" phrase with your own. It was pretty useless. I'm never saying "OK Google". Siri, Cortana, etc are a bit better but why not let people personalize that? Gotta remind people who owns them?
  - Bjartr 7y ago
    "hotword" detection is done in special recognition hardware so as to not incur latency to the cloud, which is where the rest of the voice recognition gets done. You can't change the hotword, or can only choose between a few, because that's what's baked into the chip on the device.
    - jotm 7y ago
      Yeah, only problem is you could in fact, change it. And then they removed that feature, long before it ran on a separate low power IC. That's for Android phones. I'm actually not sure they run it from a separate IC anyway, like the iPhones.
- jinushaun 7y ago
  Almost everyone I know owns either a Google Home or an Echo. Mostly for checking the weather, playing music and turning on/off lights
- rcarmo 7y ago
  I use Siri extensively with HomeKit, and have an Echo in my office for development. Siri talks to a dozen lights, sockets and sensors about the house, but I don't trust Alexa with access to more than a couple (essentially my office lights) since their security model sucks compared to Apple's (Google's isn't much better, IMHO). For instance, I was forced to open my Plex server to the outside to get Alexa to play music on my office speakers, which is borderline insane (I set up another Plex server on a VM with my "work" music).
- swader999 7y ago
  Just my youngest who doesn't like typing yet.
Jill_the_Pill 7y ago
nobody: --- Cortana: Tell me what you would like to do. Me: Uninstall Cortana permanently, thoroughly and forever. Cortana: I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.
fortran77 7y ago
Hello! I use Cortana. Nice to meet you!

kgwxd 7y ago

Does anyone use any voice assistant anywhere? Other than people trying it out for the first time, I've literally never seen it in the wild.

mey 7y ago
Driving is the only time I use voice control.
Waterluvian 7y ago
I've seen a friend use it while driving. Seems painfully obvious and yet I still refuse to use it while driving. Instead I just don't phone for that time.
- coldtea 7y ago
  Using a voice assistant might be less distracting than using your phone, but it's still distracting while driving, having to concentrate on what you say, the right commands, their feedback, etc.
  - pamitm 7y ago
    Almost the same level of distraction as holding a conversation then. I can live with that.
    - macintux 7y ago
      Keep in mind that holding a conversation while driving is still dangerous if the conversation isn’t with someone else in the car.
    - coldtea 7y ago
      A conversation with another person in the car is not the same as a phone conversation (for one, the other person doesn't share the road cues with you to know to stop talking when something requires attention, can't see your face and you can't see theirs, it's easier to get emotionally triggered, etc). And of course another person in the car can also help point to things to watch out on the road, a person in a phone call, not. Even worse, talking to an assistant is even worse, you need to spend mental effort to phrase things in a certain way (voice interface wise), parse their responses (which could be off), and so on...
      - pbhjpbhj 7y ago
        There's at least one way in which it's easier talking to a voice assistant, I use AndroidAuto as my GPS (ie navigation aid whilst driving). When you talk to someone they don't "bing" to show they're listening, so you generally have to look at them. Me: "OK Google" AndroidAuto: {bing} Me: "Navigate home" AndroidAuto: "Navigating to [home], your travel time will be Xhrs, usual traffic along your route" [or whatever it says] It's pretty low concentration, like tuning a radio manually I'd say. You have to choose how you phrase things for different people too. If you're talking to another adult with kids in the car you might be choosing that phrasing with quite a deal of cognitive load.
ascagnel_ 7y ago
I use a voice assistant in my home occasionally, to control lights and music. - I only do it from the privacy of my home - The problem scope is relatively small, given that the lights have a limited set of names/scenes
dlystyr 7y ago
I often tell my voice assistant to STFU and how useless they are... funnily enough Google responds and accepts it has not ironed out all of the bugs.
- dinkleberg 7y ago
  I get instant rage when I'm jamming out to some tunes or watching a movie with headphones on and Siri pops on and cuts off the audio. Then when I angrily swear at her, rather than just cutting out, she responds that I'm not being polite.
jml7c5 7y ago
The only time I ever use it is when I'm cooking and my hands are dirty (and usually just to get some measurement conversion), or when I'm wanting to start navigating somewhere quickly before driving. I've found it wholly useless, frustrating, and slower in all other circumstances.
Splognosticus 7y ago
I use Siri to set alarms and timers since that's far and away more convenient than opening the app and switching to the right tab and futzing with the time dial. If I've got my phone in my pocket and my hands full it's helpful to be able to tell Siri to turn the flashlight on. Aside from that I don't think I've used it for much. I get the weather from the radio already, and don't care to search the web with a voice assistant. It'd be nice if she'd read me my text messages but she flatly refuses to do that.
- mistersquid 7y ago
  > It'd be nice if she'd read me my text messages but she flatly refuses to do that. Siri is integrated with AirPods Pro and will read your text messages to you as they come in. It’s pretty great. But what really excites me about voice assistance and voice assistive technology is the advent of Voice Control in iOS 13. Voice Control allows me to manipulate my iPad, for example, while using both hands to eat dinner or wash dishes etc. My screen doesn’t get greasy and I can scroll and tap links using my voice. The on device dictation ability is also first-rate. For example, I’ve used dictation to generate the majority of this comment.
  - mixmastamyk 7y ago
    Interesting, I’ve never felt the urge to use an iPad during dinner or dishes.
    - serf 7y ago
      me neither, but if you ever go to a diner (at least in the US) you'll probably spot some (imo extremely rude) patrons watching some blaring loud movies on their tablets while they eat. I absolutely hate that trend, if it wasn't obvious.
- funnybeam 7y ago
  Why would you want to turn the flashlight on when the phone is in your pocket?
davnicwil 7y ago
I use Google assistant to set reminders. It's so much more convenient than clicking through and typing the same thing on my phone especially or even my laptop. Literally works in 3 seconds. It's great!
- artificialLimbs 7y ago
  This. And calendar events; much faster than fiddling with menus, and I can do it while i'm driv... uh, running.
- kd913 7y ago
  I don't think that is worth the privacy lost by having Google parse voice commands. 15-30 seconds inputting data versus privacy lost by having a profile generated on me by Google. A Google VP literally said that you should warn guests if you have voice assistants in your home.
  - RandomBacon 7y ago
    I think it should be federal law that devices like these that are always listening come with stickers for purchasers to put on the front door warning guests that they are being recorded. Of course no one is going to use those stickers, but it will remind everyone of how big of a privacy violation these things are.
TheRealWatson 7y ago
This is clearly the worst crowd possible, except maybe people with speech disabilities, to ask this question. Just look at how many people don't like it. I really can't make myself talk to a machine. I even abhor the phone answering services that insist that I speak instead of punching numbers. I my household the only person that interacts with the Echo/Alexa is our 3 year-old daughter. She finds it funny. On the other hand, the voice assistant devices are selling like crazy, so people are interested in them.
- pmarreck 7y ago
  So other people are benefiting from them and you are confined by your hangup. Have I got that about right?
- Kye 7y ago
  You can persuade most of these to let you use numbers if you respond by hitting 0 every time they repeat the question until they produce a number punching list.
gumby 7y ago
I use Siri for timers and alarms; ask for the weather, and for, sending text messages and calling when I'm on the go. My GF has been a heavy user of voice transcription on her phone, but when she got an Apple Watch she really ramped it up. It is a pretty good way to use the watch, especially if your AirPods are connected to it.
nytesky 7y ago
Now, I will establish my HN cred by saying I prefer CLI and Unix, would read my mail in PINE if I could, and run everything from Linux to Windows to MacOS in the house. But I use Siri all the time. Perhaps because I desperately miss a keyboard? But asking Siri to play a particular song, call a particular person, give me directions, and turn on the flashlight? All are way faster than navigating the touch interface. And dictation is the best way for me to message while on the move; I’m old so typing a flat keyboard while walking is a foolish idea. That said, accuracy is terrible. So many times I have wrong song. I don’t understand why Alexa doesn’t learn that the song I have asked for dozens of times is the right one, not the weird house version that sneaks in. I probably should investigate iOS shortcuts, that may tip me back to the touch screen.
seanmcdirmid 7y ago
I use Alexa to get the echo dot to play random toddler songs and songs like them. It’s actually really useful for that in the living room. Unfortunately, my toddler’s first complete sentences were “Alexa, play baby shark/space unicorn/cat flushing toilet”.
athenot 7y ago
I don't use many Siri commands but a few come in handy: - "add milk to grocery list" — I have a reminder list called "Grocery" to make that happen. Makes it easy to add stuff as I realize I'm running low, then I can check it off in the Reminders app. - "create appointment next {day} at {time} {title}" — I never use that one when I'm next to my computer, but when I'm around the house or after a doctor visit, it's usually accurate. - "what time is it" — no I don't wear a watch. But when I'm hiking and I'm too lazy to pull my phone out, this comes in handy as it works though most pockets. - "send text message to {person}", "call {person}" — when driving, that's a pretty seamless way to convey quick messages without touching the phone. - "get directions to {place}" — I only use that for locations I know the phone will understand, like favorites or business names that are not ambiguous.
- ahnick 7y ago
  What I really like about Siri is the geofencing capability. "Siri, remind me when I get home to text Daniel" (or something of that nature) This way the reminder is not tied to a particular time, but instead tied to a location that is more relevant or convenient to carry out the task.
  - justwalt 7y ago
    Where are reminders like this stored? If you wanted to cancel that before you got home, would you have to use Siri again to do it?
    - ahnick 7y ago
      Just in the normal reminders app. You can ask Siri to delete the reminder or just mark it off in the reminders app itself.
  - ralfd 7y ago
    I should start using that! How does Siri know what home is?
    - 7y ago
kyriakos 7y ago
I regularly use Google assessment on android to add stuff to my shopping list. It's very convenient especially while cooking when my hands are occupied, as soon as I notice something running out I just ask Google to add it.
mav3rick 7y ago
Your friend circle is clearly not diverse. Most people use these to play music, lights on / off and alarms.
- coldtea 7y ago
  So they hardly use it either (seeing that these are the most basic of voice assistant functions, and all can be done with local processing).
kpU8efre7r 7y ago
I use Google assistant daily for adding things to shopping list, simple trivia, weather, etc.
ahnick 7y ago
I use Alexa to add to my grocery list over the course of the week. If I run out of an item (e.g. Use the last of the milk, run out of butter, notice I'm getting low on bread, etc.), I just tell Alexa to add it to the grocery list. It's faster than whipping out my phone to do it and it has made building out my grocery list more reliable. (Inevitably I would struggle to remember everything that I needed to get when I would wait to do it at the end of the week)
scarface74 7y ago
I use Siri mostly for more complicated reminders I don’t want to do manually like “remind me to do $x when I get in my car” (based on Bluetooth connecting to my car) or “remind me to do $y when I get home/work”. I work out with only my cellular Apple Watch. If I need to send any long text, I’ll use voice dictation”.
ineedasername 7y ago
I use GA all of the time. I usually have bluetooth headphones around my neck and use them constantly to set timers for reminders, directions in the car, and most usefully whenever I want a quick answer to something. It's really nice to be occupied cooking dinner still be able to get a quick answer to "what's backscatter radiation" or some other random thing when listening to an audio book, or thinking about, well, anything. In this respect GA is far superior to Alexa, which returns "I don't know that yet" 3 out of 5 times.
- LastZactionHero 7y ago
  It's really nice to be occupied cooking dinner still be able to get a quick answer to "what's backscatter radiation" What the heck are you cooking?!
  - ineedasername 7y ago
    homemade nuka cola!
coldtea 7y ago
Some outliers do.
hadlock 7y ago
I don't think we've touched a light switch in our house in eight months due to voice assistant. Kitchen timers, asking spelling of words, doing imperial to metric conversion, getting weather. Sometimes if I'm in an argument with my wife I will have google define the term we're arguing over for dramatic effect, or we'll consult google via voice to clarify something, like the population of the Philippines, for example.
- jacobwilliamroy 7y ago
  Has the introduction of voice commands to the home had a statistically significant effect on how many arguments you have with your wife? Does she use it as much as you do?
  - hadlock 7y ago
    No correlation between additional arguments, it's usually politics or public policy or similar; she does actually use it about as much as I do. I would say 75%, which seems especially high even though she's not big in to technology. She's actually been pushing to get a voice control node "home mini" installed in the bedroom for quite a while, and wants a nest thermostat for the next place we move into.
- TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
  I had voice control set up for the house lights for a few months, and went back to having a manual remote clicker in most of the house and a PIR switch in the pantry. For me at least, button pushing has a lower cognitive load than talking at something.
Pxtl 7y ago
On my bicycle where my phone is in my pocket I'm relying 100% on voice commands via a Bluetooth headset. Also, I find appointments much faster to create in voice than in the app. So tedious and clicky.
jacobwilliamroy 7y ago
Not sure if you consider this "use": I reconfigure my friend's alexa occasionally to make it do unhelpful things.
briandear 7y ago
I use it all the time, especially on HomePod. I also use it with Watch to send messages. In the car, I use it for directions. Don’t use it on my Mac though, spotlight is just too fast.
pmarreck 7y ago
I use Alexa at home pretty frequently and Siri on my iOS devices pretty frequently. Examples include "add <item> to my shopping list", "turn my bedroom lights off/on", "what is the weather today/tomorrow" and "set a 4 minute 15 second egg timer" (for my poached eggs every morning)
tjohns 7y ago
Absolutely! I use Google Assistant to control my home automation (mostly lights and TV), check commute times when leaving for work, play NPR, and occasional Wikipedia lookups that don't warrant pulling a phone out. I also use the Leidos Flight Service skill (voice app) to get a quick preview of the weather before driving to the airport to fly a plane, if I'm not in front of a computer. Of course, I'll pull out a tablet and do a more in-depth briefing at the airport before actually flying... but it's a great way to check nearby METARs and TAFs while on a commute.
charles_f 7y ago
I actually used Cortana on my Android phone. (Disclaimer - I work for MSFT). The main reason why I don't use Google assistant instead is the total unease with having Google listen to me 24/7. Cortana's not too bad for the simple stuff like getting the outlook of the day or setting up geofenced reminders (remind me to unload the washing machine when I come back home). Anything more complex absolutely fails 100% of the time, with this ridiculous behavior most assistants have to default to "here is what I found on the web". Why on earth would I want you to search for what I asked you to do? Wouldn't I ask you to search on the web if I wanted you to search on the web? I think that's the downfall of most voice assistants I've tried. Discoverability is poor, which wouldn't be a problem if the feature set was not limited to the basics. That being said it also loses a lot of its appeal by requiring a physical activation (either clicking on the app or on my headsets button), since Google removed the possibility for alternative voice assistants to do that. Compared to "hey siri", that schnucks.
- hakfoo 7y ago
  For something hosted on a phone, I think they could improve the feel of privacy just by discarding the wake-word concept. This also allows them to cut out the passive listening hardware (saving money) or software load (saving battery life and CPU overhead) If you have the phone in your hands anyway, it's not that outlandish to have a button you press to engage Siri/Cortana/etc. This also avoids annoying/embarrassing accidental triggers. The only thing I ever used Cortana for (back in the Windows Phone 8 days) was the geofenced stuff-- "take the perishable items out of the car when you get home". Absurd thought: With enough data mining, not having the assistant's features discoverable could become itself a feature: Sifting through a billion requests and where it falls back to web requests could expose "desire paths"-- the specific functionality consumers expect a voice-assistant to provide but wouldn't necessarily know to ask for on a marketing survey.
  - charles_f 7y ago
    Right, but when you're in the car through or cooking, or bathing your kid, activating it via voice is a real saver.
Intermernet 7y ago
I use Google Assistant all the time in Android Auto. It's actually remarkably brilliant... Until it isn't and becomes either humorous or frustrating depending on the situation.
perlgeek 7y ago
I've heard some of my colleagues use the "remind me when I get home to..." feature. I also sometimes use the voice input to google search on mobile, though I guess that doesn't count as a full-blown assistant.
jotm 7y ago
I played with it when you could replace the godawful "OK Google" phrase with your own. It was pretty useless. I'm never saying "OK Google". Siri, Cortana, etc are a bit better but why not let people personalize that? Gotta remind people who owns them?
- Bjartr 7y ago
  "hotword" detection is done in special recognition hardware so as to not incur latency to the cloud, which is where the rest of the voice recognition gets done. You can't change the hotword, or can only choose between a few, because that's what's baked into the chip on the device.
  - jotm 7y ago
    Yeah, only problem is you could in fact, change it. And then they removed that feature, long before it ran on a separate low power IC. That's for Android phones. I'm actually not sure they run it from a separate IC anyway, like the iPhones.
jinushaun 7y ago
Almost everyone I know owns either a Google Home or an Echo. Mostly for checking the weather, playing music and turning on/off lights
rcarmo 7y ago
I use Siri extensively with HomeKit, and have an Echo in my office for development. Siri talks to a dozen lights, sockets and sensors about the house, but I don't trust Alexa with access to more than a couple (essentially my office lights) since their security model sucks compared to Apple's (Google's isn't much better, IMHO). For instance, I was forced to open my Plex server to the outside to get Alexa to play music on my office speakers, which is borderline insane (I set up another Plex server on a VM with my "work" music).
swader999 7y ago
Just my youngest who doesn't like typing yet.

Jill_the_Pill 7y ago

nobody: --- Cortana: Tell me what you would like to do. Me: Uninstall Cortana permanently, thoroughly and forever. Cortana: I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.

fortran77 7y ago

Hello! I use Cortana. Nice to meet you!