Hey Siri, you are still behind Alexa and Google Assistant – Apple digital assistant is better in iOS 14, but it’s not there yet
- With iOS 14, Siri gets a much-needed redesign that includes improved real audio answers and fewer directions to links users have to look up online
- However, it still lags behind its competitors Alexa and Google Assistant in these key areas, even if it does have a better look
This year, Siri will tout a “completely new look”, with “over 20x more facts than just three years ago”. Yes, Apple actually says this, on the promo page for the iOS 14 upgrade, which has traditionally been made available in September. (We first met Siri way back in October 2011, on the iPhone 4s.)
I downloaded iOS14 this week from Apple’s Beta site to give it a spin and engage in that great parlour game of asking Siri (and Alexa and the Google Assistant) multiple questions, to see if I could stump her.
I’d say Siri actually answered questions about 20 per cent more satisfyingly than it did the last time I played this game. And it has a nice new cosmetic look. But it still lags its competitors in many key places.
In my tests, I got fewer of the “Here’s what I found on the Web” cop-out answers (ones Google and Amazon could read back to me, but Siri wouldn’t) and some new features, most notably the ability to dictate a text and have your audio version in someone’s inbox instead of just written words.