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So I have not used Alexa (and never used Google Assistant) in a long time. So maybe both of them have improved this situation. But one of the things I was most

So I have not used Alexa (and never used Google Assistant) in a long time. So maybe both of them have improved this situation. But one of the things I was most impressed about Siri on the HomePod is it seemed to take context (not sure if that is the right word in this case...) into account more often. For example: On Alexa regardless of if I asked "how cold is it", "what is the temperature", "is it raining", "what is the weather"... etc etc etc. It would always say the same long weather response. On my HomePod if I ask "How cold is it" I get "I don't find that particularly cold, it is cloudy and 72 degrees". If I ask "what is the temperature" I get "its 72 degrees right now". If I ask "is it raining" "no, I don't think its raining right now". Then finally if I ask what the weather is I get the full thing. Does Siri lack a lot of smarts to ask random questions and give the answer? yes, But I found when I switched to HomePod the things I normally do (like weather, timers, and similar) Siri did better. Like I said, maybe Alexa has gotten better about this. But that is my experience. So for me Siri was better for my use cases. Home commands could use a lot of work, but that seems like an issue that no one has figured out how to make it actually better than flicking a light switch (outside of remote stuff).

criddell 4y ago
I'm slowly learning to hate my Echo because of how Amazon so often tries to suggest more things I can do ("By the way..."). All I want is for it to tell me the time, weather, do timers, add stuff to my grocery app, and tell me if the Leafs won or lost yesterday. I bought a HomePod to see if it could do everything I need and oddly enough, the Echo does a better job integrating with my iOS-based grocery list (AnyList). With the Echo, I can say "Alexa, add eggs" and it will either add eggs to AnyList or tell me if eggs are already on my list. With Siri I have to say something like "Hey Siri, using AnyList, add eggs to my grocery list".
- secabeen 4y ago
  Curse her out. Say "Alexa, STFU" every time she hits you with a "By the way..." It seems to help; I get BTW messages quite rarely compared to other users.
- nharada 4y ago
  It's so annoying. Even worse is it's started adding "ads" for other Amazon products like shopping, etc.
  - phs318u 4y ago
    Shocking. /s
- reaperducer 4y ago
  Seems that the solution to your problem could come if Apple gives you the option of choosing a default list app. I use the built-in Lists app, so I just say, "Hey, Siri, add ginger ale to my groceries list." Hopefully alternate defaults will come, the way iOS is slowly embracing alternate defaults for other functions. That said, about 50% of the time when I say, "Hey, Siri, add sandwich bread to my groceries list," she responds, "OK, I've added those two things to your list."
  - gumby 4y ago
    > I use the built-in Lists app Do you mean the reminders app or another one?
    - reaperducer 4y ago
      You're right — It's Reminders. I think in an old version of iPhone OS or OSX it was called "Lists." That must be what I remembered.
      - gumby 4y ago
        Because it's called "reminders" it never occurred to me to us it that way. Were it named "lists" I probably would have. Thanks.
xattt 4y ago
Siri weather responses are somewhat egocentrism. They often don’t take into account what might be comfortable in one locale isn’t what is comfortable in another. A -5° Centigrade winter daytime temp might be completely normal and expected in my area. However, Siri will love to tell you, like a long-lost distant relative from tropical climes, about how terrible and how uncomfortable it is.
- MikePlacid 4y ago
  Our beloved temperature was -25° Centigrade. Because schools were closed and we could go skiing instead.
- reaperducer 4y ago
  However, Siri will love to tell you, like a long-lost distant relative from tropical climes, about how terrible and how uncomfortable it is. Maybe it's regional. Siri used to do that to me, too, which was annoying. But she stopped offering opinions on the weather about two years ago.
- xattt 4y ago
  Egocentrism should have been geocentric!
- gumby 4y ago
  Siri was designed in Cupertino, apparently the center of the universe.
mattnewton 4y ago
> Does Siri lack a lot of smarts to ask random questions and give the answer? yes, But I found when I switched to HomePod the things I normally do (like weather, timers, and similar) Siri did better Disclaimer- I have never worked on Siri and don’t know. But this smacks of “hard coding” the common cases, something that apple is much more likely to do than google or some of the other big tech companies because of how poorly it scales. For me this is not evidence at all that Apple has caught up in the ML space, just that they have good enough speech to text and better UX people willing to invest in identifying and manually outlining a lot of cases.

criddell 4y ago

I'm slowly learning to hate my Echo because of how Amazon so often tries to suggest more things I can do ("By the way..."). All I want is for it to tell me the time, weather, do timers, add stuff to my grocery app, and tell me if the Leafs won or lost yesterday. I bought a HomePod to see if it could do everything I need and oddly enough, the Echo does a better job integrating with my iOS-based grocery list (AnyList). With the Echo, I can say "Alexa, add eggs" and it will either add eggs to AnyList or tell me if eggs are already on my list. With Siri I have to say something like "Hey Siri, using AnyList, add eggs to my grocery list".

secabeen 4y ago
Curse her out. Say "Alexa, STFU" every time she hits you with a "By the way..." It seems to help; I get BTW messages quite rarely compared to other users.
nharada 4y ago
It's so annoying. Even worse is it's started adding "ads" for other Amazon products like shopping, etc.
- phs318u 4y ago
  Shocking. /s
reaperducer 4y ago
Seems that the solution to your problem could come if Apple gives you the option of choosing a default list app. I use the built-in Lists app, so I just say, "Hey, Siri, add ginger ale to my groceries list." Hopefully alternate defaults will come, the way iOS is slowly embracing alternate defaults for other functions. That said, about 50% of the time when I say, "Hey, Siri, add sandwich bread to my groceries list," she responds, "OK, I've added those two things to your list."
- gumby 4y ago
  > I use the built-in Lists app Do you mean the reminders app or another one?
  - reaperducer 4y ago
    You're right — It's Reminders. I think in an old version of iPhone OS or OSX it was called "Lists." That must be what I remembered.
    - gumby 4y ago
      Because it's called "reminders" it never occurred to me to us it that way. Were it named "lists" I probably would have. Thanks.

xattt 4y ago

Siri weather responses are somewhat egocentrism. They often don’t take into account what might be comfortable in one locale isn’t what is comfortable in another. A -5° Centigrade winter daytime temp might be completely normal and expected in my area. However, Siri will love to tell you, like a long-lost distant relative from tropical climes, about how terrible and how uncomfortable it is.

MikePlacid 4y ago
Our beloved temperature was -25° Centigrade. Because schools were closed and we could go skiing instead.
reaperducer 4y ago
However, Siri will love to tell you, like a long-lost distant relative from tropical climes, about how terrible and how uncomfortable it is. Maybe it's regional. Siri used to do that to me, too, which was annoying. But she stopped offering opinions on the weather about two years ago.
xattt 4y ago
Egocentrism should have been geocentric!
gumby 4y ago
Siri was designed in Cupertino, apparently the center of the universe.

mattnewton 4y ago

> Does Siri lack a lot of smarts to ask random questions and give the answer? yes, But I found when I switched to HomePod the things I normally do (like weather, timers, and similar) Siri did better Disclaimer- I have never worked on Siri and don’t know. But this smacks of “hard coding” the common cases, something that apple is much more likely to do than google or some of the other big tech companies because of how poorly it scales. For me this is not evidence at all that Apple has caught up in the ML space, just that they have good enough speech to text and better UX people willing to invest in identifying and manually outlining a lot of cases.