Marco Arment

Siri-26 also broke my common "Turn on/off Outside lights” command.

It now asks, "Which room?” and makes me choose from a list, one of which — the one I obviously want, and worked without confirmation for years — is named "Outside”.
https://social.lol/@keenan/114801484115645305

Jul 5 at 4:59pmIvory for Mac
Show threadChris PepperJul 5
@marcoarment Siri has been doing that to me for months.
Show threadJimJul 5
@marcoarment my personal “favorite” is when I tell Siri to play something on a HomePod and it tells me *from that speaker* it can’t find a speaker with that name.
Show threadJérômeJul 5

@jimdab @marcoarment hey siri turn off/turn on tv.

I can’t find any tv. As the Apple TV has been on the same network and same name for years.

Show threadHeals Jul 5
@marcoarment Siri is just aiming high after Alexa - “Alexa turn off the corner light”, “There are multiple devices named light. Ceiling light and corner light, which one do you want?”
Show threadBest Wishes, TheJesusFishJul 5
@marcoarment What happens in Glasshole stays in Glasshole
Show threadBuckJul 5
@marcoarment I swear this stuff changes on the fly on some server side somewhere. I used to be able to say "set the heat to 70" and it would set my Thermostat to Heat to 70 ... as of the other day, it now sets it to 70 on the A/C side instead. 🤬
Show threadDaniel LuzJul 5

@marcoarment When Overcast added support for shortcuts, I created a “Play Overcast” shortcut to use with Siri. It was pretty nice.

Then, an OS update or two later, they changed input priorities, such that anything starting with “play” would go to the music player. No big deal, I just renamed it to “Overcast”.

But another update or two later, Siri lost the smarts of not replying when an action produces audio. Today still, if I say “Hey Siri, Overcast” I’ll hear a second of a podcast, before Siri cancels it to helpfully say “Done.”

Show threadKeenanJul 5
@marcoarment iOS 26 refers to the number of times you have to request Siri to do something for it to get it right.
Show threadDavid AnsonJul 5
@marcoarment Apple Music has a playlist called “Living in the Library“. Asking Siri to play it will fail because it says there aren’t any speakers in the library in Home.app.
Show threadRandom ParticipationJul 5

@marcoarment Just wait 47 minutes and it will work again. But you only have 17 minutes and 12 seconds before it again suddenly stops working.

Siri’s reliability is that it’s unreliable.

Show threadJon MullinsJul 5
@marcoarment yeah I’ve had the same thing pop up but I found saying Action -> Target -> Location works better. It definitely needs to be fixed but I’m about one more “For how long?” response from going full Google home when asking Siri to change thermostat.
Show threadNick FosterJul 6

@marcoarment they’ve been monkeying with something for the last year, despite the fact that new Siri hasn’t officially rolled out

My brother in law’s name, which I have said to Siri for years, is now misspelled every time. And also the “learn how to say this person’s name” is gone/broken.

Siri is rapidly approaching useless for me, and I’ve used Siri many times a day, every day, for over 10 years

Show threadGoose MedoriJul 6
@marcoarment I'm not on iOS 26 and yet Siri is somehow dumber for me as well. I tell it to "Add milk to the Costco list" and it adds an item to my inbox called "Milk to the Costco"
Show threadLimey_Tank6d ago
@marcoarment
Show threadScott Kropog6d ago
@marcoarment Well, I’ve been using SmartThings and Alexa for all of my 100+ smart home devices for many years now, and I don’t think I’ll switch anytime soon. Sorry Apple.
Show threadrnDoug4d ago

@marcoarment
Siri is like if Cortana had a kid and repeatedly dropped it on its head.

I found Home Assistant and have never looked back.