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xx22

macrumors regular
Oct 1, 2017
195
132
I want to catch the male (censored by the Ministry of Political Correctness) Siri and punch its nose! He kept calling me "beautiful"! Seriously. Yeah, and also he was totally useless, just a f'g wise ass!
 

McScooby

macrumors 65816
Oct 15, 2005
1,238
777
The Paps of Glenn Close, Scotland.
Something defo has changed with it. Before when you used to swear at it, Siri would say something like 'Oh, my' & do nothing - case in point - Using it with Hue. I ask it to turn lights on / turn on kitchen lights & get nothing, I rephrase it as turn the ***** lights on, works 1st time!:D
Then again, maybe this is what :apple: mean as localised settings ie Scottish!:eek:
 

RonFromOregon

macrumors regular
Jul 16, 2008
114
83
The only useful thing I can get Siri to do is set an alarm. She rarely gets anything else right. Alexa is vastly better.
 

xx22

macrumors regular
Oct 1, 2017
195
132
Something defo has changed with it. Before when you used to swear at it, Siri would say something like 'Oh, my' & do nothing - case in point - Using it with Hue. I ask it to turn lights on / turn on kitchen lights & get nothing, I rephrase it as turn the ***** lights on, works 1st time!:D
Then again, maybe this is what :apple: mean as localised settings ie Scottish!:eek:


I was probably talking too politely to the little Siri punk and that's why he was taking liberties with me.
 

AnthonyG6

macrumors regular
Sep 13, 2017
205
203
Siri just seems to have gotten worse with every update. I remember when it was first launched you could say something like "I'm feeling horny" and it would suggest local escort agencies giving their location, distance and would offer to call them as well! ;) Now it just doesn't understand any of this context.
 

Bawstun

Suspended
Jun 25, 2009
2,374
2,999
Siri is a joke, basically abandonware.

This. They don’t care about Siri and never truly have. It’s a placeholder AI just so Apple can say they have one. Every other major company’s is lightyears ahead of Siri.
 
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Kal-037

macrumors 68020
I don’t think you understand what it would take for Siri to be a legitimate competitor. Unless Apple changes it’s philosophy on privacy, it won’t and can’t happen. Amazon and Google use significantly more private information about you and your history in order to gain context. AI requires data, significant amounts. Browsing, search, purchase, email, Youtube, etc, history is all used.

In a narrow scope of use Siri is very good (setting reminders, sending text, calls, making appointments, things within iOS).

Yes I don’t fully understand as I’m not full fledge programmer, but I do know more than you might think. ;) Not all my posts are thought through with exact calculations, sometimes I post what I want without thinking of every detail. Anyway I don’t think making Siri smarter or better would require her to spy on us. Why would she need to spy and send Apple info to learn our habits or preferences?
That task of learning about us can be built into her just like iOS already uses suggestions based on what programs we use most, where we travel, and who we contact most. Why would it require sending data to Apple to make a sound of an animal if asked, to joke, to interact if given more data to use. It already uses bing to look up information, and the built in GPS can be tracked by parents, the government, Apple, and cell carriers.
It’d be difficult but I’m not saying Siri should be a clone, she DOES need to be better though, and it wouldn’t put our privacy in jeopardy.


Kallum.
 
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barjam

macrumors 6502
Jul 4, 2010
385
186
I honestly don't think Alexa is any better, we have the video one and it is misses as often as Siri does. Siri does fine for the handful of things I use her for but she isn't great.
 

ectospheno

macrumors regular
Sep 19, 2005
219
240
Siri is very picky about how you phrase your request. If you stick with the format siri suggests when you ask what it can do then you make out ok. You can't get remotely creative with your choice of words.
 
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djlythium

macrumors 65816
Jun 11, 2014
1,134
1,587
My latest interaction:

Me: “Remind me 20 minutes before my dentist appointment this morning.”

Siri: “OK, I’ll remind you to ‘My dentist appointment this morning.’ When would you like to be reminded?”

For context, my dentist appointment was set on my calendar.

SMH. Really, Apple?! Siri can already read and write to the Cal! How’d it mess this up?!
 

mrochester

macrumors 601
Feb 8, 2009
4,503
2,417
My latest interaction:

Me: “Remind me 20 minutes before my dentist appointment this morning.”

Siri: “OK, I’ll remind you to ‘My dentist appointment this morning.’ When would you like to be reminded?”

For context, my dentist appointment was set on my calendar.

SMH. Really, Apple?! Siri can already read and write to the Cal! How’d it mess this up?!

Can any other assistant do that?
 

djlythium

macrumors 65816
Jun 11, 2014
1,134
1,587
Can any other assistant do that?
That’s a good point. I don’t know because I don’t use any other DA, but I think so? I feel like I’ve heard DAs do similar stuff (not, obviously, this exact thing).

If I weren’t so paranoid about Google or Amazon’s Orwellian tactics, I’d try it.

In the end, though, it doesn’t matter to me if other DAs can or cannot do what I asked. The fact that Siri couldn’t read out the context correctly, despite her machine learning algorithms, makes it stupid, and adds to the long line of realistic ‘should-be-able-to’s.
 

jacbec

macrumors newbie
Feb 16, 2013
12
2
Siri just seems to have gotten worse with every update. I remember when it was first launched you could say something like "I'm feeling horny" and it would suggest local escort agencies giving their location, distance and would offer to call them as well! ;) Now it just doesn't understand any of this context.
[doublepost=1520976817][/doublepost]Siri is so bad, I recently started using Echo and Alexa is miles ahead in my voice recognitions. Steve Jobs where are you! Wish Elon Musk would join Apple.
 

skillwill

macrumors 6502
Feb 12, 2008
480
660
I'd say the "in iOS 11" in your title is pretty superfluous. Where doesn't it suck?

The best Siri experience - or at least where I use it most and it's most useful - seems to be the AirPods for me. But maybe that's because you only really need it for very simple things.
 

ddrulez

macrumors regular
Dec 12, 2012
154
132
Germany
I think apple is aware of it but they are 1-2 year behind Google now.
They simply screwed it and had a hard time now to close the gap.
Siri right now can only perform simple tasks like make a phone call or set a timer/alarm clock.
 

cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,154
I don't have much experience with google but between Alexa and Siri they go blow for blow.

This ranges from capability, accuracy of dictation, quality of the answer, etc etc.

For example, on a Saturday night I set a reminder for "tomorrow" however it was 2 am.

Siri "Do you mean later today (which I did) or Monday?"
Alexa "Ok I'll remind you" and sets it for Monday

That is essentially user error but the fact that human error is accounted for is a nice touch.

Or certain information accuracy. For example if you ask the distance to the moon (which varies) you'll get two different answers between Alexa and Siri. Siri is fairly up to date and accurate. Alexa gives you the mean, which isn't what I ask and it doesn't tell me its the mean.

Conversely Alexa is better around the kitchen, recipes, multiple timers (comparing to HomePod), substitute ingredients.

I would say they are as good and suck equally just need to find which one works with you personally better.

But Siri in generally works great for me, the HomePod can pick up me talking normally for distances people would struggle with so for HomeKit its awesome. On iOS it took some training to get my voice down but it works well enough, I use it for making calls, sending messages and getting directions while driving. Plus A LOT of math, it can answer a math question much faster than I can unlock and open the calc app.

I wont deny there is still plenty of room for improvement with Siri. Words that sound similar to other words she'll lean toward the commonly used one which can be very frustrating. Conversely I find it amazing how on iOS its at the point where she only responds to me, no matter how hard someone tries.
 

ddrulez

macrumors regular
Dec 12, 2012
154
132
Germany
A simple but really annoying example why Siri and/or iOS get my nerve is HomeKit: “Turn my living room heather 1 degree up/hotter” Siri can’t do it. Why such a simple task is not possible?
Siri should look into my home devices find the heater, read the temperature and should turn it hotter.

Another example: play song x in my living room/AppleTV. Song starts playing on the device I asked Siri from and not on my Apple TV.
 
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cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,154
A simple but really annoying example why Siri and/or iOS get my nerve is HomeKit: “Turn my living room heather 1 degree up/hotter” Siri can’t do it. Why such a simple task is not possible?
Siri should look into my home devices find the heater, read the temperature and should turn it hotter.

Another example: play song x in my living room/AppleTV. Song starts playing on the device I asked Siri from and not on my Apple TV.

I'm not sure of the layout or type of home you have but maybe try modifying how you are asking. Do you have a heater in your living room or is it a thermostat? Do you have the HomeKit temp control in the Home app named "heater"? That might help, not sure...

The functionality is certainly available.

IMG_3769.PNG IMG_3770.PNG
 

ddrulez

macrumors regular
Dec 12, 2012
154
132
Germany
Oh ok. I tried different spellings and word combinations, finally I got one that worked for the thermostat thanks ;)

edit:
Ok after a few test only one specific word combination is doing something. But it doesn’t set the thermostat 1 higher it sets it 3,5 celsius higher.
I use Elgato Eve products with HomeKit.

I looked into the German Siri commands and there is no example to raise the temperature for 1c either.
https://support.apple.com/de-de/HT208280
 
Last edited:
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cynics

macrumors G4
Jan 8, 2012
11,959
2,154
Oh ok. I tried different spellings and word combinations, finally I got one that worked for the thermostat thanks ;)

While I don’t have a need for it currently it’s unfortunate the AppleTV doesn’t have the Siri from iCloud device like you mentioned.

It looks like it’s possible with a Google Home and Chromecast albeit limitations galore.

I could see some annoyance with it though when you forget to say “...on AppleTV” and now I movie is playing on your phone. Or if a device is playing something else and it changes that.

Personally I would be happy with more “facts” without the need for a google search. I also find it annoying when a place doesn’t have its hours listed, I ask for hours and I get everything but that. First world problems I guess.
 

ddrulez

macrumors regular
Dec 12, 2012
154
132
Germany
My final thought about Siri is. Siri is good enough to be useful but far from intuitive or complete. I use it to make phone calls or set a timer or a alarm in a regular base.

But Siri could be much smarter by now if apple would have develop it with more effort.
 

murdoc2k

macrumors regular
Oct 23, 2009
165
242
Siri has definitely regressed in iOS 11 compared to iOS 10. In iOS 10, I can ask Siri to "send a message to my sister using Whatsapp. Tell her I'm on my way." And it would work perfectly.

In iOS 11, when I use the same command, siri now says "I couldn't find sister in your contact list. Who would you like to send a message to?". As an aside, my sister's contact card has been linked to my contact card as "sister". Siri has also been configured in the settings page to use my contact card information.
 
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