I hate Siri, can she win me back in iOS 9?

John Flud

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Just to clarify, this thread was to see if others dealt with this issue, and more importantly to see if anybody had heard from the rumor mills about things apple is doing to improve siri. not simply to just bash siri. Naturally I having had negative experiences with it don't have much nice to say about it and I've detailed the issues I'm having here. but that's not the point of the thread. the point of the thread is primarily to see what apple might be doing about it and thus improve siri.


and some stuff seems beyond explanation. I get why siri might confuse the word walking with rocking for instance. but confusing the word how with the word read? that defies any explanation.

at this point in the game I've no intention of using siri, as it's quicker to do things manually instead of constantly having to correct siri. I will occasionally test it to see if it's improving, and keep an eye out for rumors about what apple might be doing and may use it in the future though.
 

John Flud

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I see you edited your posts and actually gave some pretty good info. Thanks! (also to everybody else too)

I'm also glad you acknowledge that you're not trying to be mean. because that's kinda how I originally took your first post to me though I wasn't going to take the bait.

apple might be late but that don't mean they can't catch up and I'm rooting for them.
 

Honey Beagle

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google has apparently in the past few months upped their speech recognition game and it almost always understand me now. I can open my google app and ask it questions and it verbally gives me answers. Siri still almost always misunderstands me and not just a little bit. completely off base. below is an example. look at the screenshots below. read the question in the google app. its what I asked. then look at what siri thought I said. now over all I like the iphone best and since I got the google app, I've no interest in switching platforms, in fact I'm getting the 6S plus, be up tonight to preorder it. so this isn't meant to bash apple.

my question: has anybody else had this issue and if so have any of you seen improvements in iOS 9 with regard to Siri?

View attachment 91158View attachment 91159

Siri is a complete joke. Answers questions like correctly 1% of the time.
 

MrMars

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My beef is Siri's voice quality or lack of. I would think Apple would do something to improve her voice quality. My interaction with Siri was mostly through voice directions on Apple Maps. I switched some time ago to Google Maps who's navigation and voice quality is superior. A little disappointed the Siri voice didn't improve in iOS 9 because I always prefer to stick with Apple native apps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

scruffypig

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I'm aware you have an accent, clearly, and if you have a speech impediment (possible, given the characteristics of your speech), then how can you fault Google? Maybe learn to speek better, and then check?

When you said "When's Daylight Savings Time?" it's not out of the realm of possibility that other voice recognition services would interpret that as Wednesday Savings Time" It sounded quite a bit like that.

Additionally, you have a muffled quality to your voice that can trick some speech recognition services.

Apple does voice to text locally, IIRC, which means Siri is bound to have a much higher failure rate when interpreting speech compared to Google Now or Cortana - that's not to mention both Google and Microsoft simply have better tech and more experience at this than Apple.

Whether people where you're from understand you find doesn't matter:

1. Your manner of elocution is common in the area where you're from. Speech characteristics tend to vary by geography, and within a geographical region people tend to share certain characteristics. This makes it easier for them to understand other people in the area that have similar bad speech, since they're accustomed to it. What you hear from yourself, is not what we hear, and it's definitely not what Siri hears.

2. You're speaking to a computer that is hearing you through a microphone, not human ears. Additionally, certain characteristics of your voice - like the muffled quality of it - may or may not be exacerbated by your environment (i.e. noise, even small amounts) or the fact that it's being interpreted through a microphone. This is never going to be a 1:1 reproduction of your real voice, and resulting quality is almost never in your favor. There have bene phones that have put special emphasis on the quality of their Microphones, but those ran Windows hone 8.x (Lumia 920 and variants) and Android (Note 3); not iOS. Apple likes their profit margins. I think the iPhone 6[+] till only has a Mono Microphone?

The fact that you can communicate fine with people where you're from is not suprising - at all. There are people from Louisiana that you would laugh at if they spoke to you - some I can barely understand (I am not a foreigner to this). My roommate is from NH and people are drive thrus routinely need him to repeat himself - his accent isn't nearly as thick as your and his voice is clearer.

But half the people I know, I know for sure would have some serious issues understanding much of what you said in that video. Your Accent is incredibly thick, your manner of elocution would be foreign to them, and the muffled quality of your voice would throw them off as it tends to change the tone of certain vowels as and some consonant sounds to run into each other/blend - this tends to make words sound very different to other people (like a foreigner with a very thick accent trying to speak English).

I'm not really trying to be mean, just trying to explain what the "issue" is.

Microsoft and Google got huge head starts on Apple in harvesting voice data. Microsoft has been doing it in Windows Phone since 2010 and in Windows Mobile since years before then. Google did it with Google 411 and in Android, among other things. They collected all the voices. The flawless ones, the bad ones. Those lacking accents and those with a plethora of it. Almost every type of vocal quality, stutter, impediment, etc.

And they do the voice processing in the cloud a lot as well, which gives them a huge lead on Siri in Accuracy even when the input quality is not so good.

You are spot on. I agree.
 

scruffypig

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My beef is Siri's voice quality or lack of. I would think Apple would do something to improve her voice quality. My interaction with Siri was mostly through voice directions on Apple Maps. I switched some time ago to Google Maps who's navigation and voice quality is superior. A little disappointed the Siri voice didn't improve in iOS 9 because I always prefer to stick with Apple native apps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Are you using the male Siri or female Siri voice?
 

scruffypig

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I see you edited your posts and actually gave some pretty good info. Thanks! (also to everybody else too)

I'm also glad you acknowledge that you're not trying to be mean. because that's kinda how I originally took your first post to me though I wasn't going to take the bait.

apple might be late but that don't mean they can't catch up and I'm rooting for them.

I don't usually have a problem with Siri, though I sometimes do, and I have spent 10 years in broadcast news. I find Cortana with Windows Phone 10, sometimes just misses the mark entirely. That Google jingle after every spoken request reminds me of those old Nick at Night promos they used to air constantly, so I feel that an episode of The Jefferson's is coming up next.
 

Spencerdl

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Since I no longer have to be plugged in or push the home button on my 6s Plus, Siri has become a very good assistant and I find myself using her more than ever before. I'm afraid that I've become a lazy smartphone user.....just like the average boss.


Sent from my iPhone 6s Plus using Tapatalk
 

Spencerdl

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I'm using Siri on a regular basis (everyday), is anyone else enjoying the "new" Siri since your iPhone 6s/6s plus no longer have to be plugged in for responses.
 

Frehley

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I'm using Siri on a regular basis (everyday), is anyone else enjoying the "new" Siri since your iPhone 6s/6s plus no longer have to be plugged in for responses.

I'm loving using Siri more now also...without it having to be plugged in is great and makes it (her) so much more functional!
 

gpo1956

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My experience with Siri has been hit and miss. I would say it works flawlessly30%-40% of the time. The rest of the time it fails miserably. Google Voice RARELY misses. I really hate that due to the intergration possibilities.
 

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