We keep getting questions from people we know who are switching to Apple and who have previously used Amazon’s or Google’s language assistants because they think they are doing something wrong with Siri. It is often surprising that Siri does not react as expected or gives a different answer depending on how the question is worded.
Since we now only use Siri to set a timer or play radio stations, we set about trying the standard questions that we have been asking since 2017 and iOS 11 again over the weekend.
Siri is approaching the level of Google Assist in 2017
What can be positively stated: the control on the iPhone has become better. The system now opens the “1LIVE” radio app without hesitation and recognizes the number in the name. Siri can now translate into other languages on demand. So the distance to the Google Assistant from 2017 has shrunk a bit.
Siri still doesn’t like two languages at the same time
However, there was no improvement in other areas, such as the use of German and the use of English band and song titles. So Siri still often turns “Beastie Boys” into “Beast die Boys”. This is sometimes very exhausting when controlling the music.
Siri delivers an above-average number of wrong answers
However, what shocked us a bit is that many functions that worked correctly under iOS 14 no longer work. This includes, for example, follow-up questions. So when after the question “Who is Donald Trump?” the question follows “How old is he?” you did get the answer on older versions. On iOS 15 you get a window with “the result of a web search”. Kinda weird.
Worse still, Siri now gives incorrect answers to requests. The question about the Federal Chancellor under iOS 14 only provided a Wikipedia entry for the general definition – at least not wrong, that also happens under iOS 15. The precise question “Who is Chancellor of Germany?” (asked in German) however, Siri answers with Frank-Walter Steinmeier. However, he is the Federal President, not the Federal Chancellor. So be careful here.
Also, if you ask about the release date of Sabotage by the Beastie Boys, you will now get an incorrect answer. If the song was previously recognized and assigned the correct year before, now the year the band was founded is displayed. The date that Siri shows when you ask about the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany is also completely wrong. Instead of 1949 you get the year 843, which is clearly too early and refers to the Treaty of Verdun.
Siri is still good for simple tasks
So Siri is still not on the same level as other conversation assistants. Anyone who has a current BMW will find that their system is already better than using Siri for certain tasks. This is somewhat disappointing. Siri still hasn’t reached the precision or scope of Google’s Assistant in 2022 – which wouldn’t be so bad, after all we get significantly more data protection with Siri.
However, why Siri has to regress and now also gives completely wrong answers that were previously answered correctly is questionable. This explains the fact that many people only use Siri to control their home automation and to listen to music. Too much manual verification is currently required for important questions answered by Siri.
