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It's also far more invasive in nearly every case. It's not that Apple doesn't care about Siri, it's just that Apple is working under the unbreakable rule that S

It's also far more invasive in nearly every case. It's not that Apple doesn't care about Siri, it's just that Apple is working under the unbreakable rule that Siri can't send private info to Apple in order to function and so all processing needs to be done on the device. Amazon hasn't given itself this limitation so it sends data and recordings to itself every time Alexa is invoked. Apple knows it's in a worse position now but they're betting that it's the better position to be in for the long term.

rmorey 5y ago
While your sentiment that Apple operates under far stricter privacy protections is totally correct (in my estimation) in fact until the latest version of iOS Siri absolutely did rely on sending audio data over the network for dictation and processing. Case in point, it has always been possible to use Siri to turn on Airplane Mode, but until iOS 15 it was not possible to use it to turn it off (which they included in a demo at WWDC this year to somewhat humorous effect if you were paying attention)
- dkonofalski 5y ago
  That's not entirely accurate. You have the option of sending that audio data to Apple for processing (which is set during the setup for new iPhones and was a preference set when the update was released). It's completely optional and does affect what options are available through Siri and which ones aren't. Additionally, you have the option to change this setting after the fact and changing it deletes all the voice data stored on Apple's servers. You do have to trust that Apple is doing what they say when you choose to do that but it's not a requirement.
  - rmorey 5y ago
    I just grabbed my partner's iPhone (ios 14), turned on airplane mode. Trigger Siri and it says not available without an internet connection. Try it for yourself, prior to iOS 15 Siri simply does not work without a network connection.
  - rmorey 5y ago
    I think the option you're thinking of refers to whether or not to allow Apple access to your data for training purposes, not the normal use of the feature.
  - rmorey 5y ago
    John Gruber discusses this with Apple execs here, they explicitly call it out: https://youtu.be/-SzbucgATjA?t=2174 https://youtu.be/-SzbucgATjA?t=2174

rmorey 5y ago

While your sentiment that Apple operates under far stricter privacy protections is totally correct (in my estimation) in fact until the latest version of iOS Siri absolutely did rely on sending audio data over the network for dictation and processing. Case in point, it has always been possible to use Siri to turn on Airplane Mode, but until iOS 15 it was not possible to use it to turn it off (which they included in a demo at WWDC this year to somewhat humorous effect if you were paying attention)

dkonofalski 5y ago
That's not entirely accurate. You have the option of sending that audio data to Apple for processing (which is set during the setup for new iPhones and was a preference set when the update was released). It's completely optional and does affect what options are available through Siri and which ones aren't. Additionally, you have the option to change this setting after the fact and changing it deletes all the voice data stored on Apple's servers. You do have to trust that Apple is doing what they say when you choose to do that but it's not a requirement.
- rmorey 5y ago
  I just grabbed my partner's iPhone (ios 14), turned on airplane mode. Trigger Siri and it says not available without an internet connection. Try it for yourself, prior to iOS 15 Siri simply does not work without a network connection.
- rmorey 5y ago
  I think the option you're thinking of refers to whether or not to allow Apple access to your data for training purposes, not the normal use of the feature.
- rmorey 5y ago
  John Gruber discusses this with Apple execs here, they explicitly call it out: https://youtu.be/-SzbucgATjA?t=2174 https://youtu.be/-SzbucgATjA?t=2174