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Apple |OT|

What Apple Products do You have?

  • Mac

    Votes: 394 64.0%

  • iPad

    Votes: 446 72.4%

  • iPhone

    Votes: 535 86.9%

  • Watch

    Votes: 368 59.7%

  • Airpods

    Votes: 405 65.7%

  • AppleTV

    Votes: 308 50.0%

  • None: The Dark World

    Votes: 25 4.1%
  • Total voters
    616
SeanM

SeanM

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,430
USA
dallow_bg said:
I can see that being super frustrating, dang.
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Yeah it's extremely frustrating, I'll be sitting at my desk with my iPhone literally one foot away from me, and the HomePod that is in the other room will almost always get assigned to my Siri request even though it knows that it can't actually perform the task.

Q: "Get me directions to Mary's house."
A: "I can't help with directions here. Sorry about that."

Q: "Call Sarah" / "FaceTime Gail"
A: "I wish I could, but I can't help you make calls on HomePod."

Q: "Do I have any new voice mail?"
A: "I wish I could, but I can't help you with voice mails on HomePod."

Q: "Who stars in the TV show Arrow?"
A: "I can't get info on TV shows on HomePod. Sorry about that."

Q: "Launch Apollo"
A: "I can't open apps here, sorry about that."

Q: "What's on my calendar for tonight?"
A: "I wish I could, but I can't access your calendar here."

Q: "Show me my photos from yesterday."
A: "I can't search for Photos here, sorry about that."

Q: "Search the web for polar bears."
A: "Sorry, I can't search the web here."

(In all of these examples I was making a request to my iPhone which was sitting right on my desk. The iPhone screen lights up briefly as it's listening to my "Hey Siri" command, but it's the HomePod that always answers - and always fails horribly at the job).

It's bad enough that there's such a huge feature discrepancy between two Siri-capable devices, but right now it makes no effort to "pass along" your command to a device that can actually perform the task. Like with my driving directions example, I would've expected the HomePod to send a push notification to my iPhone with traffic information and directions, but no - it does nothing.

Normally I am pretty lenient towards first-gen products but this is a shockingly bad user experience. I'm not sure if the Siri team had any input at all on this product because I'm baffled as to how it shipped in this state.
 

Deleted member 22476

Account closed at user request
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
5,858
It really feels like the HomePod was a market-driven creation (feeling the need to have a foothold in smart speakers/AI assistants in the home given they were on the order of four or five years behind the Echo) rather than a product-driven one as is usually Apple's approach. Usually when Apple is late to a market it comes with the best solution available; no one can honestly make that case here.

It doesn't feel like a confident move from beginning to end. I'd hope the software continually improves as it goes along but as it stands it's just not a useful product for most people.
 
eyeball_kid

eyeball_kid

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,235
Stolen Sheep said:
It really feels like the HomePod was a market-driven creation (feeling the need to have a foothold in smart speakers/AI assistants in the home given they were on the order of four or five years behind the Echo) rather than a product-driven one as is usually Apple's approach. Usually when Apple is late to a market it comes with the best solution available; no one can honestly make that case here.

It doesn't feel like a confident move from beginning to end. I'd hope the software continually improves as it goes along but as it stands it's just not a useful product for most people.
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They were supposedly working on it for six years, so I don't think it was driven by Amazon, though they may have stepped up their release schedule as the Echo started to steal the show.

What I don't understand is why Siri feels stuck in a state from five years ago. What is the team working on? Why is it that I ask Siri to make an appointment with someone at a company, the Calendar event still doesn't attach the location for the company in my address book? Those kinds of things are low-hanging fruit and yet Siri still feels so dumb when it comes to contextual awareness and using all the info it has available.

I honestly think they need to look for a new CEO that is a real product person. Tim is great at some things, but he's not a product guy and doesn't have that vision. No one can replace Steve, but they need to find someone who can at least play the same sport. My feeling is Apple is not really Apple without that kind of product person at the top. Someone who has some vision and someone who really gets user experience.
 
dem

dem

Banned
Nov 3, 2017
900
Siri has been a shit show for a few years now and there is really no excuse for it. The amount that they've been surpassed by is straight up embarassing.


iOS has been a shit show for a few years as well.. but I've tried to ignore it. The bugs are getting hard to ignore now though... so props to them for at least recognizing that.


Homepod is a great device for advancing speaker technology... and a horrible product. It really highlights some big problems that exist in the walled garden.

AirPods are amazing for the most part though... So thumbs up there.
 
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SeanM

SeanM

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,430
USA
Stolen Sheep said:
It really feels like the HomePod was a market-driven creation (feeling the need to have a foothold in smart speakers/AI assistants in the home given they were on the order of four or five years behind the Echo) rather than a product-driven one as is usually Apple's approach. Usually when Apple is late to a market it comes with the best solution available; no one can honestly make that case here.

It doesn't feel like a confident move from beginning to end. I'd hope the software continually improves as it goes along but as it stands it's just not a useful product for most people.
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It's a shame because hardware-wise, the HomePod is actually a very good product. Design is nice, sound quality is very impressive, the mic is super good. But the software / Siri experience is just embarrassingly bad and the more you use it, the more you realize Apple is years behind the competition.

I'm hoping with Apple (supposedly) taking this year off in terms of huge features, they'll put a big focus towards refining and improving the Siri experience.
 
MisterHero

MisterHero

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,934
I have an iPhone 7 Plus. I have Auto-brightness turned off but it keeps changing randomly. Is there a fix to this problem?

It really sucks when I'm playing games on it and the screen dims.
 
Teggy

Teggy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,892
The HomePod microphone is crazy. I basically have to whisper right into my iPhone for Hey Siri to not get picked up halfway across the room.
 
Kimchi_Breath

Kimchi_Breath

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,068
How are everyone's AirPod batteries holding up? Bought mine March of last year and I'm losing almost 10% battery in 15 mins. This is on a full charge and after re-pairing.

Think I might need to see a Genius before my one year warranty expires.
 

SecondNature

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,158
Want to buy iPAD for mom who just would use it to watch Youtube/movies.

Just get the 2017 iPad, right? No need for a pro?
 
Norwegian_Imposter

Norwegian_Imposter

Circumventing a ban with an alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,757
The good thing is the speaker sounds amazing. Apple can always now boost Siri's abilities in patches and I hope they do even if they do what some people have said and push the appropriate tasks to the right device so calendar from HomePod to iPhone or Apple Watch or both. That would be amazing but for my music I am very happy. :)
 
Brian McDoogle

Brian McDoogle

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,927
Guys, YouTube for Apple TV is fine. It could be better, but it's not as bad as people say...

*gets the update finally*

Holy crap, this is garbage! Like, yikes.
 
maximumzero

maximumzero

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,924
New Orleans, LA
Speaking of parents and technology, I think I'm gonna ask my sister if she wants to go 50/50 on an iMac to replace my parents' circa-2008 Acer desktop. Just gotta sit on my hands and wait for Best Buy to put 'em back on sale.
 

Deleted member 22476

Account closed at user request
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
5,858
maximumzero said:
Speaking of parents and technology, I think I'm gonna ask my sister if she wants to go 50/50 on an iMac to replace my parents' circa-2008 Acer desktop. Just gotta sit on my hands and wait for Best Buy to put 'em back on sale.
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This is interesting. Do you expect your parents will handle the culture shock of switching to MacOS? I'm a developer and switching to MacOS still messes with my mental model at times.
 
maximumzero

maximumzero

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,924
New Orleans, LA
Stolen Sheep said:
This is interesting. Do you expect your parents will handle the culture shock of switching to MacOS? I'm a developer and switching to MacOS still messes with my mental model at times.
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For the handful of things they do (Web Browsing, E-Mail...) I think it's similar enough that it's going to be fine.

Plus my father will finally have a decent photo program to use with his digital camera.
 
Guppeth

Guppeth

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,817
Sheffield, UK
maximumzero said:
For the handful of things they do (Web Browsing, E-Mail...) I think it's similar enough that it's going to be fine.

Plus my father will finally have a decent photo program to use with his digital camera.
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I had to lock the dock for my parents because they constantly dragged apps off the dock and lost them, and couldn't remember how to get them. It's not an option by default but you can use Terminal to lock it. https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/how-to-lock-mac-dock They are particularly tech illiterate and have reached the age where their eyes just glaze over if you try to teach them.

Do they want a desktop? It'd be good for photo editing but it's so inconvenient coming from a laptop. My parent would rebel and keep using the Acer.
 
Antony

Antony

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,684
PlayStation Home
Hmmm so I'm in the U.K. and Apple Pay Cash popped up on my phone and watch earlier.
I'm unable to activate it but surely a sign that it's not far off from releasing here...?
 
SpillYerBeans

SpillYerBeans

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,205
I don't use Siri often on my phone but today I wanted to know when the Nashville Predators played next and she gave me the score from a game last year. I then asked to show me what NHL games are being played today and again she showed me the Predators score from last year. Here I was considering getting a Homepod but Siri is absolute dog shit.
 
killertofu

killertofu

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
897
Is there an actual virus/malware check for the Mac I could look into? Computer has been sloooow as hell and more recently I'm getting pop ups everytime iI use chrome
 
hateradio

hateradio

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,750
welcome, nowhere
My work is offering a new 2016 iPad Pro 9.7" for about $300. I looked and the newest 10.5" is $650.

Is it a decent deal given that it's from 2016? Is that extra bit of room and the 120hz worth double the cost? :p

They also have the 5th gen version with Verizon support for $350.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 134

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,411
hateradio said:
My work is offering a new 2016 iPad Pro 9.7" for about $300. I looked and the newest 10.5" is $650.

Is it a decent deal given that it's from 2016? Is that extra bit of room and the 120hz worth double the cost? :p

They also have the 5th gen version with Verizon support for $350.
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It's a good deal but that iPad will feel ancient very soon. I suspect iPad will get a reboot iPhone X style.
 

Leon123

Banned
Dec 10, 2017
327
Well, I've had my HomePod for a week and it's just been sent back.
The sound is definite not as great as the media makes it out to be and Siri and services are beyond a joke.
I can't believe this launched with no ability to sync to my account calendar, notes etc.
I've heard that Apple first hardware launch's are public betas but this is nothing more than a speaker that connects to your services.
I read feel that' Apples lack of data collection will hurt their AI services.
This should not have launched.
 
Ambitious

Ambitious

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,339
Ambitious said:
In the Photos app, a picture that's over two years old suddenly showed up at the bottom of my list, i.e. as a new picture.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯


edit: Only on my phone, not on my Mac. On the phone, the total number of pictures in the library is also bigger by one. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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And on my Mac, the Mail app suddenly shows an email from September 2017 in my inbox, which I had archived immediately back then. It does not show up on my phone. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
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Vuze

Vuze

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,186
I came across our old iPhone 4 (black) and 4S (white) and the back colors look sooo much better than what they did with the 8/X. That deep black and super bright white... yum.
 
Selbran

Selbran

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,570
Finally got my iPhone 7 back after sending it in for a screen repair because I dropped it. They also replaced a bunch of other things which I felt was kind of weird but the new battery life is incredible.
 
GAMEPROFF

GAMEPROFF

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,586
Germany
Man, you have to give your phone away for two weeks now when you want to get your battery replaced. Have to pay 10€ additionally to have it repaired in only two hours.
 
Kikuchiyosuke

Kikuchiyosuke

Member
Jan 11, 2018
107
Once I put some songs on my Apple Watch, can I delete/remove the same songs on my iPhone? Or would doing that remove the songs on the watch as well?
 
sibarraz

sibarraz

Prophet of Regret - One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
18,106
Is the iPhone SE worthy today?

I don't have the money to buy anything more expensive than that
 
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