Siri and Google Assistant for a Brit
As some of you may know, I recently moved from a Google Pixel 5 to my first Apple iPhone (14 Pro Max). As part of þat transition, I have moved from Google Assistant to Apple’s Siri voice assistant. In the press there is a lot of commentary suggesting þat Google Assistant is better þan þe offering from Apple (or Amazon), so I þought (thought) I would give you a comparison of Siri and Google Assistant for a Brit.
You could consider þe accuracy and usefulness of þe results of þe various voice assistant’s on þe market. But it could be argued þat it is more important that your voice assistant understands you in the first place. A more detailed or specific answer to a question you did not ask, is not as helpful as a relevant link to þe answer for a question you did ask. Google Assistant provides better results for generic questions þan Apple’s Siri, but þat is not relevant to me as someone þat Google Assistant rarely comprehends.
If I ask my Google Nest Mini, or my Google Home Hub to set a reminder for me, there is a near-certain chance that the reminder that is stored makes no sense. This can be funny, if the wording is something silly, but it can also be frustrating when it reminds me to “Canopy the university cherry” rather than whatever it was I wanted to remember.
The result is that I am doing all my reminders on my iPhone (or Mac) even while the Google Assistant devices are in every room of our home.
I know I speak fast, but I think the issue is that Google Assistant is not comfortable with a pretty common south-of-England accent. Siri has only misunderstood me once in over a week of setting a lot of reminders. Google Assistant misunderstood me twice this morning.
So if you’re one of the millions of people with an accent that sounds like you’re from the south east of England (which includes people from much of the UK), consider trying Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa before you settle on an ecosystem.
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One thought on “Siri and Google Assistant for a Brit”
Further update to this, I am still finding Siri understands me almost every time. I can only recall a couple of errors in the now nearly three months since I got an iPhone. And Siri on my Mac is similarly capable.