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Android’s fake Siri apps: Laughable at best

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 · 11:26 am · 37 Comments

“When we first introduced the Siri clone Iris, I figured that would be the last of the outright Siri-alikes,” John Biggs reports for TechCrunch. “I was wrong. Programmers are taking advantage of less experienced users and creating apps that are downright insulting to the average intelligence.”

Biggs writes, “Whether you believe these apps should exist on the Android Market or not, its clear that there are enough new users out there who will fall for some of the oldest software tricks in the book. A word of advice: if it’s called ‘Siri’ and it runs on Android, it’s probably not real.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: How smart can you be if you’ve settled for a pretend iPhone in the first place? A pretend Siri would seem to be perfectly acceptable to those with such low or no standards.

Related article:
Fake Siri apps hit Android Market, highlight Google’s app problem – December 30, 2011

Categories: News

Tags: android, artificial intelligence, ios, iPhone 4S, personal assistant, Siri, voice control, voice recognition

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Comment Feed

37 Comments

John Doe

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 11:36 am · Reply

A fake Siri may be perfectly acceptable to those with such low or no standards, but it only serves to perpetuate an incorrect notion that Apple products are sub-par. By insinuating that these hacks are ‘official’ Apple Siri ports to the Android platform, it only weakens Apple’s brand.
Derek Currie

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 11:38 am · Reply

“Programmers are taking advantage of less experienced users and creating apps that are downright insulting to the average intelligence.”

Nothing new here.
*cough* Windows *cough* Android *cough*
Jubei

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 11:43 am · Reply

Should read some of the comments from Android fanatical idiots. They truly believe its just as good as Siri!
Mike

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 12:24 pm · Reply

Siri is not that great. It doesn’t work most of the time on the first try. By the time it’s finally recognized what I want to do, I could have done it manually. Text dictation on the other hand, is VERY good.
- Rorschach
  
  Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 12:36 pm · Reply
  
  It’s still in Beta.
  - iJah420
    
    Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - 1:30 am · Reply
    
    Yup.
- LordRobin
  
  Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 1:24 pm · Reply
  
  It doesn’t work most of the time on the first try.
  
  It does for me. Maybe you shouldn’t talk with your mouth full.
  
  I regularly have Siri set alarms for me. Much quicker than dealing with the little dials to set the time. I have also used it to find the nearest gas station, and to do web searches. One of those web searches involved a proper noun I figured Siri wouldn’t recognize, but it did.
  
  On the other hand, one of the most promoted features of Siri, making phone calls, is a waste of time unless you don’t have access to the phone. The “Favorites” function in the phone app lets me call my friend and relatives with a couple of taps, much more quickly than talking to Siri. And really, if you can’t bothered to touch the phone to make a call, you’re in one of two situations:
  
  – You’re driving and really shouldn’t be using the phone anyway (though of course everyone does).
  – You’re jogging or biking, and are a rude a-hole who can’t be bothered to take a break to make the call so you’re not huffing and puffing into the microphone.
  
  ——RM
squiggles

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 12:44 pm · Reply

Is this the same Android market that is currently selling an official “Suri” app for $1.99?

Anyone with half a brain should realize that an app you download for $1.99 is not going to be the official offspring of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.
montex

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 12:49 pm · Reply

The first time I used Siri, I asked “where am I and how do I get home?” and it showed me my location, my house and the route I always take to get there. Not bad for a machine that has never heard my voice before.
janeshepard

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 1:04 pm · Reply

I upgraded to iPhone 4S just two days ago. Siri amazed me by working right out of the box, unlike the original Siri app which needed training for my voice. This, the real, Siri understands what I want better than my own sister does (and no, Sis is not simple).
Izune

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 1:24 pm · Reply

I’ve used Siri twice at the Apple store. The first time it got almost nothing right and the second time it was one hundred percent correct. Is it learning?
- LordRobin
  
  Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 1:30 pm · Reply
  
  When you make claims like this, it would be helpful to include what your query was.
  
  Siri works great for me, but I use it mainly for three things:
  
  – “Set an alarm for [blank]”
  – “Where’s the nearest [blank]”
  – “Search the web for [blank]”
  
  When I’ve asked it for the answers to questions, I’ve had worse results. The most frustrating was “How far is it from Washington DC to Baltimore?” I asked the question in many ways, “How far is it”, “What’s the distance”, etc. Each time, Siri understood my words but didn’t answer the question. Instead, she gave me directions from my current location to DC. When I switched the cities around in the question, she apologized that she couldn’t give me directions.
  
  ——RM
  - izune
    
    Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 6:39 pm · Reply
    
    Here is more detail. It did not understand 90 percent of my words and obviously gave back useless info the first time. The second time it did not miss one word and gave me great info each time. I did not gain or lose an accent between the first attempt in Nov and the second in Dec.
Ballmer's left nut

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 1:42 pm · Reply

I don’t have Siri on my iPhone 4, nor quite frankly would I want it. To me Siri is just a gimmick to sell an otherwise unremarkable and indistinguishable 4S that quite frankly moved Aplle backwards in the technology stakes.
- kingmel
  
  Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - 12:33 am · Reply
  
  Bullshit
Ballmer's left nut

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 1:43 pm · Reply

I don’t have Siri on my iPhone 4, nor quite frankly would I want it. To me Siri is just a gimmick to sell an otherwise unremarkable and indistinguishable 4S that quite frankly moved Apple backwards in the technology stakes.
- Zeke
  
  Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 2:07 pm · Reply
  
  This line is becoming tedious even without double posting. Go get an Android phone and quit griping.
  - Tessellator
    
    Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 4:41 pm · Reply
    
    BLN is (likely) just hitting middle age and is embarrassed to wear reading glasses to properly correct his vision. So he wants bigger phone and to have everyone else suffer (with one of those huge monstrosities like the Samdung in those insipid commercials)
    
    No thanks BLN the iPhone is more than big enough for anyone with normal vision (and or those with enough self assurance to correct their vision if it needs correcting.)
- AAPLGuy
  
  Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 2:37 pm · Reply
  
  Yes, we know. You let us know at every opportunity. As Zeke said go buy an Android phone.
- DMac
  
  Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 3:27 pm · Reply
  
  Wow! A missed opportunity to add “small-screened” to your standard list of gripes about the 4S. I love mine, including Siri, both the “interactive” and dictation functions. And I’ll likely get an iPhone 5 when they come out too. Meanwhile, I have no problem with the fact that passersby can’t tell which model I have just by looking. I don’t get the iPhone to show off, I get it to have the best device on the market and for its amazing functionality!
- kingmel
  
  Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - 12:33 am · Reply
  
  Bullshit twice
clyde2801

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 1:45 pm · Reply

I guess the real proof of the pudding will be when Majel comes out for android.

And if the iPad3 has Siri, and it’s not released for the 2nd generation, it’ll be proof that the marketing department is calling the shots at one infinite loop. At least, if you recently bought an android tablet, there’s a chance you may get Majel. iPad 2 owners will doubtlessly be encouraged to buy the new version to get Siri.

I hope I’ll be wrong, but I sincerely doubt it.
Unfettered

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 1:59 pm · Reply

Me: Eliza, remind me to pick up my dry cleaning when I leave work.

Eliza: Why do you want me to remind me to pick up my dry cleaning when you leave work?
- janeshepard
  
  Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 6:27 pm · Reply
  
  Perfect
Darkness

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 2:00 pm · Reply

Microsoft has a Siri clone too, called Ziggy. I can only guess they’re trying to play off of “Quantum Leap” or something. But it definitely isn’t up to Siri’s level.
coolfactor

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 2:43 pm · Reply

Apple’s brilliance has been giving computers some personality and personal identity. The Mac had it with the “hello”, and the smiling Mac icon. The iMac had it with the “hello again”. OS X has it with the smiling Finder icon. Now the iPhone has it with Siri.
NDK61

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 4:55 pm · Reply

My son bought Siri for his iPhone 4.0 from the App Store.
It was awesome and worked flawlessly.
WAS and WORKED, being the operative terms.
Apple bricked the application for any phone older than the 4s. That, to me, sucks. My son bought and paid for an app that he can no longer use. (He still has the icon) Apple owes him an apology and a refund.
I love ya Apple, but sometimes you suck. I can see you no longer offering it for current 4.0 owners, but existing apps should be grandfathered in.
- janeshepard
  
  Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 6:36 pm · Reply
  
  Sorry for your son’s experience. That also happened to me with my iPhone 3GS. I had come to rely on (the original) Siri for a number of things. One day it no longer worked. I was very cross. I didn’t care about Apple’s reasons for pulling the plug. I had to content myself with waiting until contract renewal time, when I could get a newer iPhone with a more capable Siri. That happened just the other day, and I’m happy again. But, again, you are right: Apple should have offered a refund in this case.
- Zeph
  
  Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 8:54 pm · Reply
  
  Actually, The original Siri for iPhone was free for its entire life on the App Store. No refund required. It would have been nice for Apple to leave the old Siri up and running, but it is a) confusing for customers to have two fairly different services with the same name available for their devices, and b) costly to maintain a network server capable of providing the services that Siri does. Due to the differences in both services, both would have required their own servers and databases, with very little overlap, except in the aspect of speech recognition.
  
  The original Siri offered many services missing from the new version, such as searching for movie times, purchasing tickets, and even movie ratings via RottenTomatoes.
  
  In fact, if you’d like to see just how different the two apps are, check out the Wikipedia entry (with info on both apps) and the Appolicious review and summary.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siri_(Software)
  http://www.appolicious.com/shine/apps/164176-siri-assistant-siri
  - janeshepard
    
    Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 11:57 pm · Reply
    
    Thank you for the reality check, Zeph. I’d forgotten Siri came free—having applied her to life-altering nexuses, I came to see her as a wise older sIster—a Crone. UntIl now a bleeding-heart liberal, I’d assumed that NDK61′s sob story was true. From now on, I’m voting Republican! Go, Mitt!
    - Zeph
      
      Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - 12:13 am · Reply
      
      Ack! Don’t fall into that trap! Instead, vote for a candidate in your local government that is a member of the party you wish to see taken seriously and push for an overhaul of the system. Or move to Canada. Just promise me you’ll never vote Republican, unless the Dems fail to provide a viable candidate.
      
      Also, it’s my birthday (on the east coast) and I’m drunk, so forgive me for being more awesome than usual.
      - janeshepard
        
        Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - 12:31 am · Reply
        
        So, you’d be a Capricorn, right? And a Marathon aficionado?
        
        Zeph
        
        Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - 1:13 am · Reply
        
        Indeed I am! I’ll give you extra credit for the Marathon point. I was actually one of the first people to play Marathon via the Internet back in 2003 when I was in college, thanks to making friends with one of he Aleph One developers during the Usenet days.
    - ndk61
      
      Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - 12:19 am · Reply
      
      So Jane, I misspoke about my son paying for Siri. I thought he paid for it. My bad. Apparently you thought you paid too.
      But like most liberals, you take one item to dispute and ignore the rest.
      - janeshepard
        
        Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - 12:26 am · Reply
        
        You speak truly, I am humble.
        
        Zeph
        
        Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - 12:28 am · Reply
        
        Now let’s hug it out! (I can’t feel my toes!)
kingmel

Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - 12:34 am · Reply

If it’s called ‘Siri’ and it runs on Android, it’s definitely not the real thing. Not only that, but it is illegal.