Perception will follow tangible results. If Siri is dramatically improved, perception will eventually catch up. It may take a bit of time, but it will happen. Look what Hyundia and Kia were able to do with their long lackluster brands.
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Should Apple Kill Siri and Start Over?
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It needs to be much more stable and work offline way more than it currently does.
In CarPlay, asking my Siri to play a song I purchased and is in my music app fails if I don't have signal. That shouldn't be a thing in this day and age.
In CarPlay, asking my Siri to play a song I purchased and is in my music app fails if I don't have signal. That shouldn't be a thing in this day and age.
Are people just expecting too much from Siri?
I use Siri mainly for stuff like turning on and adjusting homekit accessories, setting timers, simple reminders, and so on. It works 98% of the time, and the other 2% is simply because it didn't hear me well due to noise in the environment or Bluetooth issues.
I think the problem is people want their computers to think for them, which almost never goes well. And believe me, using "AI" isn't going to make it much better. It'll seem better but make far more mistakes.
I use Siri mainly for stuff like turning on and adjusting homekit accessories, setting timers, simple reminders, and so on. It works 98% of the time, and the other 2% is simply because it didn't hear me well due to noise in the environment or Bluetooth issues.
I think the problem is people want their computers to think for them, which almost never goes well. And believe me, using "AI" isn't going to make it much better. It'll seem better but make far more mistakes.
As someone with a spouse named Sherry, I am definitely in favor of renaming Siri! Although there have been a few rare instances where Siri answers a question directed at my wife -- and I thereby learn of a previously unknown (to me) Siri capability.
With as much as AI is going to have access to every single thing we type and everywhere we move our mouse and probably to watch and hear us use our computers, Siri could be an amazing companion IF it is used to automate what you do on your computer. If it can actually do some of the work for you, like you describe how you want files named and it figures it out kind of stuff. Do repetitive tasks on all open documents, then it's great. If its going to tell me what the weather is and some sports scores, its a waste of space. The problem with Apple is that they spend a lot of time showing off a new thing and then hardly updating it as competitors quickly outdo what it does. But actually doing something useful with it requires a lot of investment and commitment from Apple which they are slow as molasses to do on their own software. Flash and some substance when it's new, and mostly flash and little substance when it's not. With Siri, they need to go or get off the pot. But AI is the perfect way to enhance it if it can outdo GPT by automating your work, not just doing the typical GPT stuff.
Never used Siri. Really don’t get the appeal anyone has for Siri or Alexa or Cortaza or whatever.
I mean, I guess if Siri was as powerful as Jarvis in Iron Man, I might find a use for it…but I would also have a lot of privacy concerns with that too…I mean if Jarvis got hacked, you would really be in deep trouble…
I mean, I guess if Siri was as powerful as Jarvis in Iron Man, I might find a use for it…but I would also have a lot of privacy concerns with that too…I mean if Jarvis got hacked, you would really be in deep trouble…
I don't know if they need to murder her, but they definitely need to roll out a more advanced alternative for newer devices.
- He probably bought eight HomePods because he had a use for eight HomePods.
- I would say he either hoped that Siri would improve overtime or bought HomePods before he knew how frustrating it would be on a day-to-day basis.
- I agree that the Internet is a mess when comments like these make all kinds of assumptions about an individual’s needs and perspectives, and then calls them an idiot.
I'd be happy of the damn thing would trigger my HomeKit scenes properly. it worked so much better in 2017, which is sad. and its terrible at playing the music ya ask for no matter how detailed the request at times.
We love our Hyundai, and it still feels weird to say that because of the brand. But it's totally true their quality and perception has come a long way. Our next car is likely to be Kia or Hyundai as well.
Absolutely. It legitimately has somehow gotten WORSE over the last 5 or 6 years. It’s mind-boggling that it still exists in its current state.![]()
Few features have promised to revolutionize the way we interact with our Apple devices as much as Siri, the company's ubiquitous virtual assistant. Launched in 2011, Siri was introduced as heralding a new era in human-computer interaction, offering an intuitive voice-controlled interface for accessing information, scheduling appointments, sending messages, and much more. The vision was grand: A personal assistant in your pocket, capable of understanding and acting upon a wide array of voice commands with ease and accuracy. So what happened?
![Should-Apple-Kill-Siri-Feature.jpg]()
Enthusiasm for Siri has undeniably waned in the intervening years. Despite regular updates and improvements from Apple, Siri has struggled to keep pace with its advancing rivals, and in an era of generative AI chatbots and large language models, Siri's failings have only been magnified. Issues ranging from misinterpreted commands to limited contextual understanding have not only hindered Siri's usability but have also led to an almost universal perception of the virtual assistant as a source of user frustration rather than assistance. This persistent underperformance begs the question: Is it time for Apple to kill Siri and start over?
Siri's Birth Pangs
Siri's conceptual roots at Apple can be traced back to the company's early exploration of human-computer interaction. Thirty years ago, Apple commissioned a group of employees to create a video showing how in the future humans might interact with computers using spoken language. The video, known as "Knowledge Navigator," featured a professor chatting with a virtual assistant to perform everyday tasks and academic research. In one of the tasks, the professor asks the assistant to search for a five-year-old publication. The assistant pulls up an article dated 2006, suggesting the video is supposed to be set in September 2011.
The video was criticized at the time for being an unrealistic portrayal of the capacities of a virtual assistant in the foreseeable future. Yet the demonstration inspired developers Adam Cheyer, Dag Kittlaus, and Tom Gruber, who began AI research on virtual assistants at SRI International, a DARPA-funded research laboratory in Menlo Park, California. Their work would result in a spin-out called Siri, named by Kittlaus after a co-worker in Norway. (Siri is short for Sigrid, which has its origins in Old Norse for words meaning "victory" and "beautiful".)
In February 2010, Kittlaus launched Siri as an app on Apple's App Store. Steve Jobs soon began playing with the app and was impressed with how it allowed the user to search the internet by voice. A few weeks later, Apple acquired the start-up. Siri's AI backend was in place, while its voice recognition technology would be supplied by Nuance Communications. Apple subsequently released its Siri virtual assistant (in beta) for the iPhone 4S in October 2011, just one month later than the fictional future in which Knowledge Navigator had been originally envisioned.
Fiction vs. Reality
Apple marketed Siri as more than just a tool — it was your intelligent assistant ready to help with a variety of tasks. Whether setting reminders, sending texts, making phone calls, or finding information online, Siri aimed to streamline it all with a simple voice command. There was nothing like it at the time and the initial results were impressive, but the underlying promise was that Siri would not only understand you but also learn from you, becoming more efficient and personalized over time.
![siri-phil-schiller.jpeg]()
Regular iOS updates in the intervening years have worked towards making Siri more effective and realizing its original promise. Whenever a new iOS feature comes along, Apple usually ensures that it works with Siri, and these days it can be used to identify songs, get driving directions, send money via Apple Pay, and control HomeKit products, to name just a few of its skills. In 2021, Apple announced that Siri would work offline by default – whenever possible, it would process user requests on-device, with the same quality of server-based speech recognition.
![siri-iphone-4s-examples.jpg]()
However, even now, the assistant that was supposed to understand context and grow with the user still faces significant challenges with context, understanding, and integration, regardless of whether it pings Apple's servers or processes requests locally. Many Apple device owners often say it struggles with even basic commands. Indeed, many users believe that, at least in some areas, Siri's abilities have gotten worse over time, especially since the release of iOS 17.
Michael Tsai's blog has done a good job of recording users' more recent frustrations with Siri. Here are just a handful of serial issues some users have recently reported:
The list could go on. But has Siri really gotten more stupid? Could most issues be put down to fringe use cases, or over-expectations in a brave new world of chatbots powered by immensely resource-heavy large-language models? Consider what Walt Mossberg said in 2016, writing for The Verge:
- Setting timers instead of alarms.
- Bungling music requests (even for purchases that Siri has local access to).
- Delayed responses over fast data connections.
- Nonsense responses to conversion requests.
- Creating notes instead of reminders.
- Acknowledging requests without acting on them.
- Overwrought punctuation when dictating.
- Inability to consistently control smart devices.
Before Apple bought it, Siri w... Click here to read rest of article
Article Link: Should Apple Kill Siri and Start Over?
Honestly it’s astonishing that it has languished for so long. What’s going on there? What has Apple been so focused on that they can’t improve a 13 year old product? And why is it less useful than it used to be?
Oh yes I'm a few months ahead of the Twitterati thoughtleadership this time 
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...dc.2415432/page-3?post=32831362#post-32831362
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...dc.2415432/page-3?post=32831362#post-32831362
Who cares about what it's called, if they kill and rebuild or just build over and fix it!
Just make the iOS assistant work! That's it!
Just make the iOS assistant work! That's it!
Asking Siri to turn on a light and then it starts playing a song instead. I mean, does this not happen to Tim and Phil and all these execs as well? I sure hope so.
Truly yes however I think Apple has no profit from maintenance of Siri and really doesn’t care about it. 😔
For me Siri is getting better, maybe users have unrealistically expectations. It could be better yes, for basic task is very useful, for more detailed task or as a ChatBot ”ask me everything” Siri is not the right tool (maybe it doesn’t need to be used that way anyway).
Siri is know name changing it would be a mess for many, maybe.
I don’t know what the future will bring for Siri, but I’m sure whiners will whine in any case, both is Siri 2.0 is miserable but also if it is groundbreaking.
Siri is know name changing it would be a mess for many, maybe.
I don’t know what the future will bring for Siri, but I’m sure whiners will whine in any case, both is Siri 2.0 is miserable but also if it is groundbreaking.
Don’t care to much for it hardly use it at all it should just go join Cortana in the virtual assistant retirement home🤣😂
Siri is OK for: dictation, getting the weather, changing the volume, creating a reminder, creating an event and that’s about it. It probably works 90% of the time for me, unless there is any complexity to the request. It fails most of the time at playing the music or podcast I want. It doesn’t learn between requests and usually fails miserably at refinements of requests. Over time I use it less and less because while it often does work the failures are just too frustrating.
I don’t know what Apple should do, but Siri is so bad that I just don’t care anymore. I don’t look forward to any new version they might have because they have conditioned me to expect it to be worthless.
I don’t know what Apple should do, but Siri is so bad that I just don’t care anymore. I don’t look forward to any new version they might have because they have conditioned me to expect it to be worthless.
As far as I'm concerned, she's been dead forever.
First thing I do after installing an app on my iPhone or iPad is turn off all its Siri connections. Speaking of which, Apple could make it easy to do so across the device with a single switch. Instead, it forces users to jump through hoops for each and every app. Stop shoving Siri down our throats, Cupertino!
First thing I do after installing an app on my iPhone or iPad is turn off all its Siri connections. Speaking of which, Apple could make it easy to do so across the device with a single switch. Instead, it forces users to jump through hoops for each and every app. Stop shoving Siri down our throats, Cupertino!
Siri+
While I fully understand the call for a "new tool, new name" approach, there is too much brand equity in "Siri."
The average tech user (my mom) doesn't have as adverse an opinion of Siri as those in the MR niche. I think talking about the "all new Siri" or "Siri+" could be enough - if the user experience is truly new/revolutionary. It can't be iterative. If it is, I'd neither change the name nor hype the newness.
Apple has a massive opportunity here to make a much needed splash about a truly [more] useful Siri. While I'm not exceedingly confident, I am hoping they can make it happen. We'll know a lot more in a few months.
While I fully understand the call for a "new tool, new name" approach, there is too much brand equity in "Siri."
The average tech user (my mom) doesn't have as adverse an opinion of Siri as those in the MR niche. I think talking about the "all new Siri" or "Siri+" could be enough - if the user experience is truly new/revolutionary. It can't be iterative. If it is, I'd neither change the name nor hype the newness.
Apple has a massive opportunity here to make a much needed splash about a truly [more] useful Siri. While I'm not exceedingly confident, I am hoping they can make it happen. We'll know a lot more in a few months.
YES. A thousand times yes. If I set it on HomePod to respond to MY voice then stop trying to respond to the TV! And AppleWatch Siri needs to stop bugging me when I’m not even talking to the watch. I DON’T talk to the watch. Rarely.