This is Technology Bytes, episode 102 for February 16th, 2025.
Technology Bytes is a microcast where I share brief bytes on interesting technology.
Enjoy, and here we go.
So I’ve talked about Siri before in my microcast and probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 plus some episodes ago.
But I feel like with the push that Apple has given to Apple intelligence, that Siri has come back into the news lately.
And people are again, putting that system through its paces to see if Siri is better or worse or indifferent to how it was before.
And many are saying that Siri is even getting worse now that Apple intelligence is out and, and some of it lies in the fact that Siri used to say, here’s what I found on the web for you.
And now Siri tries to give you an answer, which I guess is apparently mostly wrong.
Um, I think they did a Superbowl test and she didn’t know who won the, she, Siri didn’t know who won the Superbowls.
And, and so I know, and if you listen back, you’ll hear me say that, you know, I’m not a super fan of Siri, although I use Siri on a regular basis.
And I will tell you about that in a minute, but I, I do feel that Siri needs to be improved and improved a lot.
I feel like Siri is not all that useful unless you just decide, I’m only going to do what I know Siri has the capability to do, and I think that’s kind of where I live, so I don’t struggle with Siri’s capabilities because I don’t try to push the envelope, I use what I know is available, I use what I know will work well, and that is pretty much the extent.
So I said that I use Siri all the time and I do, um, on a regular basis, I use Siri.
I, I talk to my watch, I talk to my phone, I, I talk to my computer and I use Siri to do things, but it’s actually pretty limited.
Um, and yet I use a lot in that limitation.
So I have a smart house.
I’ve gone over that before in different, um, podcasts on, on this channel or whatever you call it, um, in my technology bites microcast, and so I have lots of lights and door locks and switches and other things, and so I tell Siri to operate those devices on the regular and it works every single time.
If it didn’t work, it’s probably because I was in a position where Siri didn’t hear me, which is weird because I’ve got phones and a watch and air, uh, you know, the, the, um, AirPod mini, what are they called anyway, the speakers all over the place, and so Siri works very well in that environment and does all the things that I want Siri to do for me.
I also use Siri to listen to music.
And so when I am in the car, I’ll hit the, the speaker button and, and say, I want to listen to this type of music or that type of music, or I wanted to listen to this or a podcast or pause or fast forward, and that works, like I said, every single time, and so I have limited my use of that intelligent assistant to what I know the capabilities are.
And because of that, my experience is good, but I recognize that there’s much more I would like to do with Siri if it were possible.
So I think I’ve talked about this topic before as well, and probably very recently, but I’m really anticipating the beta release of iOS 18.4 and all the other operating systems that that comes with.
I generally don’t run betas on my home pods, but with this new beta in 18.4, I think I’m going to be very tempted to do that.
And the reason is because people are saying, and those who pontificate on what Apple’s about to do are saying that Siri is going to get much more intelligent in this next release.
It’s weird that it’s just going to happen.
What in a moment of time and just a flip of a switch, but Apple knows so much about my life because of what I put on my iPhone or any other devices, calendars and to-do lists and shopping lists and whatever else.
I mean, it’s, it’s all there.
And so this context use is available and I’ve often wondered why Apple hasn’t made their intelligent assistant be able to know all that information about me and become that much more useful.
And apparently in 18.4 beta one, and then in 18.4, when it releases to the public, that is supposed to be coming.
So I recognize because I run betas that it’s probably not going to be really good to start, but I know they have to improve it to release it to the public in 18.4.
And if it is true, then the recognition of who I am, what I do, how I do it, when I do it, what’s available informationally from my Apple devices should make Siri that much more intelligent and that much more useful.
And I’m really looking forward to seeing if that actually happens.
And I’m going to have to read some information, figure out, okay, so this is how you use that.
This is the capability.
This is what Siri knows about you.
These, all these things I’m going to have to spend some time so that I can test the beta properly and then provide feedback.
I like to try to do that, that I just don’t run the betas because it’s the latest.
Okay.
Yeah, that’s why I do it.
But in that I do try to give Apple feedback when things don’t work the way I think they should.
So we’ll see what happens.
Nobody is under the umbrella of Siri being excellent.
That just does not exist as a thought.
I like the activity that I do with that intelligent assistant because I only do what I’m, I know will be successful and I’m looking forward to being able to do that much more.
Well, that is all I have for today.
If you have comments, suggestions, or questions, you can send them to technologybytesatmerigfamily.com.
As always, I want to thank you for listening to the Technology Bytes microcast, and I look forward to the next time we are together taking another bite of technology.
