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MiamiC70

Suspended
Original poster
Oct 16, 2011
416
156
Things Siri still can't do after 8 years and 6 iOS releases!

Why can't I use Siri to stop an an alarm that is has gone off?

Why can't I use Siri to turn off bedtime alarms?

Why can't Siri just do what I tell it to do without repeating what i just asked it to do or telling me what it's going to do or has just done? **** and just do it! Alexa has a quite mode?
 

Pilot Jones

macrumors 6502a
Oct 2, 2020
891
1,674
Because its terrible. I love Apple, but Siri is probably their greatest failure in the post-iPhone era.

They had such a massive head start on every other voice assistant but they really left it half-baked and only make minimal improvements every year. Pretty sad.
 

StumpyBloke

macrumors 603
Apr 21, 2012
5,415
6,001
England
Couldn’t agree more. Siri is an embarrassment. It cannot be relied on, notwithstanding how useless it it anyway. The amount of times mine says ‘on it, just a sec, mmm there appears to be a problem’ is, well, every day without fail! I despise it. It is absolutely unacceptable with Apple’s genuinely unlimited resources that is still the biggest pile for **** it always has been!
 

Zazoh

macrumors 68000
Jan 4, 2009
1,510
1,114
San Antonio, Texas
Use Google assistant for a few min. Especially in conversation mode where you can keep it going with contextual responses and once you you Siri again your dislike will turn to hatred.

It is criminal the amount of effort Apple has not put into making it better. It is really great at figuring out what song I want. Anything else it fails. It is one of those things you can tell senior management doesn’t use.

But have you heard, they have 5G and Verizon, Verizon 5G and now 7 models spaced $80 or so bucks apart? I have a smart home, if I go back to google my wife will be pissed, but it worked so well.
 
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bunce66

macrumors member
Aug 13, 2008
93
187
I haven't even tried using Siri in years. Turned it off since it wastes RAM and battery and it's just a worthless gimmick feature.
 
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7thson

macrumors 65816
May 13, 2012
1,371
1,482
Six Rivers, CA
Today I asked Siri what time the election office closes and was given suggestions of laundry mats to patronize. Good times.
But seriously, and the above is true, why can’t I have an offline Siri that can set timers and alarms and appointments? I wouldn’t mind if it used 5,10,15gb, heck 20gb of storage! I want it to work, seemingly more than Apple does.
Also, why can’t I download offline maps in Apple Maps for...wait for it... offline navigation? Why do I need to use a 3rd party app to navigate with when offline when Apple Maps is the default? Does Apple really think most of us rarely venture outside of cellular and WiFi signals?
I could go on about how Apple chose to use inferior modems and doesn’t really offer anything pro in their “Pro” models but I’d be digressing. Siri sucks and Apple doesn’t care. Incremental UI improvements are sufficient for now, it seems.
Also, wah! I know I’m just telling the wind not to blow.
 

yeye11

macrumors newbie
Jun 29, 2020
11
24
Like I said before. To get Siri to google level needs to mine your data. I’m okay with siri being handicapped for my privacy.

Privacy is not an issue. There are so many things that could be done by siri with just on device processing. No need to hide apple shortcomings behind privacy.


Just use Siri on Apple Watch then. ?

My siri on aw is not even able to set an alarm for my phone (no issues setting an alarm for watch). That's very sad actually.
 

MacCheetah3

macrumors 68020
Nov 14, 2003
2,149
1,116
Central MN
Use Google assistant for a few min. Especially in conversation mode where you can keep it going with contextual responses and once you you Siri again your dislike will turn to hatred.
I vaguely recall Dragon Go had this type of capability, though can’t find a reference, and isn’t/wasn’t Siri powered by Nuance’s speech engine?
 

I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
34,333
24,081
Gotta be in it to win it
On your pixel, can you use google assistant to stop an alarm? And how much interaction has to happen and is the interaction worse than just touching the screen?
 
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Zazoh

macrumors 68000
Jan 4, 2009
1,510
1,114
San Antonio, Texas
On your pixel, can you use google assistant to stop an alarm? And how much interaction has to happen and is the interaction worse than just touching the screen?

I use hands free in kitchen a lot, rubbing spices on a slab of meat and an alarm goes off, I don't want to touch my phone. Oddly, works with timers. I am a developer, I picture the Siri team jacking around in the office, not really doing much. Because nobody at Apple cares. I only say this because the other two assistants I have experience with, are LIGHT years ahead. (Google and Amazon)

I don't buy the privacy thing others have mentioned. They can't get out of their own way. I have a Shared shopping list with my fam. Siri is more impressed with itself that it can recognize the voice, then what is being asked of.

Siri, add chocolate cookies to the shopping list.

Okay, BRIAN, I have added those things to your shopping list.

Sure enough, there are then two things on the list.

I know - I know, first world problems. But if they canceled what they had and started over, it wouldn't hurt my feelings.
 

ignatius345

macrumors 604
Aug 20, 2015
7,024
11,557
The only way I can use Siri without getting infuriated is by managing my expectations. Really simple stuff works ok, but the minute it starts getting complicated, I just skip it because I know I'm going to start yelling at the damn thing in short order because it's so stupid.

I honestly wouldn't mind if they pulled an Apple Maps on this and started over. Maps has gained massive ground (literally) in recent years, despite how embarrassingly bad it was at first. Could they pull this off with Siri? Buy up a bunch of AI startups, whatever it takes to make a privacy-forward and competent Siri. I feel like a TRILLION DOLLAR company should be able to handle this.
 

MiamiC70

Suspended
Original poster
Oct 16, 2011
416
156
Privacy is not an issue. There are so many things that could be done by siri with just on device processing. No need to hide apple shortcomings behind privacy.

The privacy thing is just an excuse and don't think for a moment Apple cares about anything but making money.


My siri on aw is not even able to set an alarm for my phone (no issues setting an alarm for watch). That's very sad actually.
The whole thing is a disjointed mess.
 

Elisha

macrumors 6502a
Nov 21, 2006
781
504
Because its terrible. I love Apple, but Siri is probably their greatest failure in the post-iPhone era.

They had such a massive head start on every other voice assistant but they really left it half-baked and only make minimal improvements every year. Pretty sad.

They didn't have a head start. Google already had their. They just never marketed it since it was integrated with their search as part of Android.
Apple just decided to give theirs a fancy name and make it a selling point.
I remember the Android folks laughing about it when Siri was first introduced!
 

SirAnthonyHopkins

macrumors 6502a
Sep 29, 2020
946
1,887
My parents have a couple of Alexa devices, and if you ask them "what are today's football headlines", Alexa will tell you "Liverpool beat Ajax 1-0 last night" or something like this. We're in the UK so that's what football means.

If I ask Siri the same question on my HomePod, it says "I've sent what I found to your phone". And it's always NFL stories.

If I was on my phone, I'd look at my phone in the first place! And if I wanted NFL news, I'd live in America!

Yeah Siri is awful. It can't purely be privacy issues, since when you agree to the terms you agree that your recordings will be used to improve Siri.
 
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