4 ms·

Sending back my iPhone 4S. Siri is useless outside the US.

16 points by jwilson511 15y ago

JeremyBanks 15y ago
With many previous Apple product launches, the product wouldn't even be available outside of the US for several months. They're adding international and non-English support for Siri's features over the next year. I'd rather have the phone already than wait for that. Where was that warning on the iPhone information page? They seem to be fixing this: Siri isn't even listed on the Canadian iPhone site anymore, though it was at launch. It is still on the Australian site, however.
obvio171 15y ago
Being the killer feature on the upgrade, I definitely agree they should've made it clearer that they don't support non-US addresses. I don't expect Yelp recommendations and other such things to work, but maps and routes is something that's pretty well developed in a huge part of the world and already works on the normal Maps app.
Steko 15y ago
"beta"
- foobarbazetc 15y ago
  Then don't sell it.
- faizanaziz 15y ago
  This is something unexpected... Why can't a BETA product that can search in a map in a place not search in another place. Are you suggesting that making a Google maps search is different in USA and Australia and even if so, all jwilson511 is saying is please mention it somewhere before someone purchases the product. Thanks for the advice
kylec 15y ago
So let me get this straight, this guy spent hundreds of dollars just for Siri's location-based recommendations? Don't get me wrong I'm a bit underwhelmed with the iPhone 4S, but it strikes me as extremely capricious to decide to spend hundreds of dollars and get one of the first ones to suddenly turn around because you can't get Yelp reviews with Siri.
- jwilson511 15y ago
  It's not just that you can't get yelp reviews. You can't search for business, locations or maps.
johnbatch 15y ago
It does say "Siri may not be available in all languages or in all areas, and features may vary by area." at http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/siri.html http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/siri.html
- jwilson511 15y ago
  That's misleading in itself. The language makes it sound like there's only a small or minor limitation. It's not that is "may not be available", it's that it "is NOT available for most features outside of the US".
ugh 15y ago
I’m confused. Is search for locations really the only useful feature Siri offers? Might it be that the guy is ever so slightly exaggerating? What Apple has screwed up are the non-US english language webpages. They list features Siri doesn’t support. The German webpage really only lists what Siri supports: http://www.apple.com/de/iphone/features/siri.html http://www.apple.com/de/iphone/features/siri.html Still, it’s minor issue.
olliej 15y ago
I just set Siri to use australian english rather than US english and it had no difficulty understanding me. (I'm an NZer living stateside so I can't really comment on any other issues)
warmfuzzykitten 15y ago
Ok, keeping mine because it works very well in the US. Hopefully, we're now at the center of an outward-expanding wave that will eventually result in everyone speaking to their phones instead of poking at them. I have always been deeply skeptical about voice-to-text. Dragon? Too many errors. No way. But in just a couple of days I got used to dictating text messages. It's like voicemail people actually listen to! Who knows how many other applications will be transformed. If I'm driving down the road and want a pizza, I guess it would be swell to tell Siri and have her come back with 23 pizza joints in the vicinity (I listened to my son do this and more) but trying to find stuff just doesn't come up that often in my life. What I really need is an assistant to help me remember the things I already know, like what I want to do tomorrow and what I've got to do. This is the area I'm hoping not to be disappointed in. But that's tomorrow. Today, reveling in all the things I can do I couldn't before.
cageyjames 15y ago
Don't troll that you're sending your iPhone back in the title and then hem and haw in the comments that you might keep it around. What's the Austrailian translation for drama queen?

16 points by jwilson511 15y ago

With many previous Apple product launches, the product wouldn't even be available outside of the US for several months. They're adding international and non-English support for Siri's features over the next year. I'd rather have the phone already than wait for that. Where was that warning on the iPhone information page? They seem to be fixing this: Siri isn't even listed on the Canadian iPhone site anymore, though it was at launch. It is still on the Australian site, however.

obvio171 15y ago

Being the killer feature on the upgrade, I definitely agree they should've made it clearer that they don't support non-US addresses. I don't expect Yelp recommendations and other such things to work, but maps and routes is something that's pretty well developed in a huge part of the world and already works on the normal Maps app.

Steko 15y ago

"beta"

foobarbazetc 15y ago
Then don't sell it.
faizanaziz 15y ago
This is something unexpected... Why can't a BETA product that can search in a map in a place not search in another place. Are you suggesting that making a Google maps search is different in USA and Australia and even if so, all jwilson511 is saying is please mention it somewhere before someone purchases the product. Thanks for the advice

kylec 15y ago

So let me get this straight, this guy spent hundreds of dollars just for Siri's location-based recommendations? Don't get me wrong I'm a bit underwhelmed with the iPhone 4S, but it strikes me as extremely capricious to decide to spend hundreds of dollars and get one of the first ones to suddenly turn around because you can't get Yelp reviews with Siri.

jwilson511 15y ago
It's not just that you can't get yelp reviews. You can't search for business, locations or maps.

johnbatch 15y ago

It does say "Siri may not be available in all languages or in all areas, and features may vary by area." at http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/siri.html http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/siri.html

jwilson511 15y ago
That's misleading in itself. The language makes it sound like there's only a small or minor limitation. It's not that is "may not be available", it's that it "is NOT available for most features outside of the US".

ugh 15y ago

I’m confused. Is search for locations really the only useful feature Siri offers? Might it be that the guy is ever so slightly exaggerating? What Apple has screwed up are the non-US english language webpages. They list features Siri doesn’t support. The German webpage really only lists what Siri supports: http://www.apple.com/de/iphone/features/siri.html http://www.apple.com/de/iphone/features/siri.html Still, it’s minor issue.

olliej 15y ago

I just set Siri to use australian english rather than US english and it had no difficulty understanding me. (I'm an NZer living stateside so I can't really comment on any other issues)

warmfuzzykitten 15y ago

Ok, keeping mine because it works very well in the US. Hopefully, we're now at the center of an outward-expanding wave that will eventually result in everyone speaking to their phones instead of poking at them. I have always been deeply skeptical about voice-to-text. Dragon? Too many errors. No way. But in just a couple of days I got used to dictating text messages. It's like voicemail people actually listen to! Who knows how many other applications will be transformed. If I'm driving down the road and want a pizza, I guess it would be swell to tell Siri and have her come back with 23 pizza joints in the vicinity (I listened to my son do this and more) but trying to find stuff just doesn't come up that often in my life. What I really need is an assistant to help me remember the things I already know, like what I want to do tomorrow and what I've got to do. This is the area I'm hoping not to be disappointed in. But that's tomorrow. Today, reveling in all the things I can do I couldn't before.

cageyjames 15y ago

Don't troll that you're sending your iPhone back in the title and then hem and haw in the comments that you might keep it around. What's the Austrailian translation for drama queen?