“Earlier this week, Google finally put the Google Assistant onto iPhones,” Chris Mills writes for BGR. “For the first time, Apple fanboys can use Google’s AI to perform a bunch of tricks, but much more importantly, it means we can finally have a Google Assistant vs Siri showdown.”
“This isn’t a fair fight on several counts: Google’s been doing AI for much longer and has more data to mine; but Siri’s also the built-in AI, which gives her access to far more of the iPhone’s functions,” Mills writes. “But despite blatant Apple favoritism for Siri, Google Assistant can still pull a bunch of tricks that Siri can only dream of.”
“The first feature you’re likely to notice is that you can type questions to Google Assistant. If, like me, you’d never be seen dead talking to your phone in public, this is a genuinely game-changing feature,” Mills writes. “Another of Google’s neat features is that it remembers what you’re talking about. For example, you can ask “Who directed Batman Begins,” and then immediately follow up with ‘show me pictures of him,’ and it’ll bring up images of Christopher Nolan. It goes a long way towards making the Google Assistant feel like a real person…”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple protects the user’s privacy. Google obviously doesn’t care much, if anything, about that. That’s why things like Assistant or Google Photos are more capable. It’s also why smart people don’t use them.
As we wrote earlier this week:
Not integrated into iOS, Google’s privacy-trampling Siri knockoff will never be widely adopted on iPhone as a standalone app.
“Hey, Google, can you stop tracking me for the NSA?”
“Sorry, next to ad tracking, that’s my primary purpose.”
SEE ALSO:
Alphabet to push Google Assistant to iPhone as standalone app via Apple’s App Store – May 16, 2017
Edward Snowden: No matter what, do not use Google’s new Allo messenger app – September 23, 2016
Google to pay $5.5 million for sneaking around Apple’s privacy settings to collect user data – August 31, 2016
Apple takes a swing at privacy-tampling, personal data-guzzling rivals like Google – September 29, 2015
Apple reinvents the privacy policy – September 29, 2015
Apple selling targeted ads, but their new privacy policies shows they think different about tracking – September 29, 2015
Apple: Hey Siri and Live Photos data stays only on your device to ensure privacy – September 12, 2015
Apple issues iPhone manifesto; blasts Android’s lack of updates, lack of privacy, rampant malware – August 10, 2015
Edward Snowden supports Apple’s stance on customer privacy – June 17, 2015
Mossberg: Apple’s latest product is privacy – June 12, 2015
Apple looks to be building an alternative to the Google-branded, hand-over-your-privacy ‘Internet Experience’ – June 11, 2015
Understanding Apple and privacy – June 8, 2015
Edward Snowden: Apple is a privacy pioneer – June 5, 2015
Edward Snowden’s privacy tips: ‘Get rid of Dropbox,” avoid Facebook and Google – October 13, 2014
Apple CEO Tim Cook ups privacy to new level, takes direct swipe at Google – September 18, 2014
A message from Tim Cook about Apple’s commitment to your privacy – September 18, 2014
Apple will no longer unlock most iPhones, iPads for police, even with search warrants – September 18, 2014
Agree MDN. Do not use Google if you care about your privacy. I do not care what additional features a Google product has. I trust Apple. Have no trust at all in Google.
Having said that I do not want a Siri standalone assistant in my house.
Oh for kicks…
First!!!
(As in all that First Post nonsense from a few years ago.).
Apple, under Cook, doesn’t spend money unless its directly related to income. Or that’s how it seems. So yes to a new iPhone or a new iPad. But no to all the enabling software which they have to provide for free.
On the Mac mail is ancient, numbers pathetic, pages so dumbed down that we all use Word for real work. No proper backup solution and do forth.
Same on the iPhone. All the focus is on hardware.
My iPhone address runs a lot of non-Apple apps. Maps, fore example just doesn’t work on Europe and google maps is a must have. There is no Apple equivalent to google translate. I use more nonapple apps now than Apple apps. Bits I like but there are android equivalents. iCloud is useless for work if you need to store all project files in one place. I use onedrive.
I’m not using Apple apps. Why would I pay double the price to run those apps on an Apple product.
I moved to Apple in 2002.
I always thought that a lack of culture would limit Apple who never seem to have appreciated the the second movement of Beethoven’s fifth piano concerto is not a song.
It’s time to move back. I have no confidence in this company any more. They just haven’t got a clue.
Bye bye please, let the door hit you in the A__.
I agree about Google, but some of us use a Mac/iPhone for personal and a Windows 10 notebook for work. Classic “Personal vs Work” senario. If I need some files on my iCloud to use on my work issues Win 10 notebook, using iCloud on the web just sucks. Recently, I have had sync issues with iCloud that I have escalated to the Senior Engineer at Apple support without a fix. So, there is a “cross platform” issue. iWork is pretty useless for real work. Using a personal OneDrive on a work issued notebook is a no no. The only option for cross function capability is to use Google Drive. IMO, you have to use what makes you the most productive and friction free. So, the Google offering is great for a sales guy for research and documentation supplemented along with Office 365. Again, the goal is to work fast, efficient and productive. AI and cross functional software like Google and Microsoft makes that happen, today.
After all this time you would think Siri would at least match Google Assistant in context of followup questions/requests since it doesn’t really conflict with privacy. The way Siri runs it’s like the Web before Session objects were available.
The second “neat feature” (i.e. context persistence) has been a feature of Siri for Apple TV since Apple TV 4 was released almost two years ago.
Strange that Siri would give different results for the same user account on different devices.
When I asked SIRI what he looks like as a follow up to the correct answer for “Who directed Batman Begins?”, SIRI immediately opened Apple Music and offered to play the song “Dude Looks Like a Lady.”