# Alexa vs Siri and Google Assistant!



## Someone Nameless (Jul 12, 2009)

Apple fan here with MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, iPhone 7 plus, and Apple Watch.  Siri is always available.  What advantages would I have over this with an Echo?


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I don't have any apple thingies, but don't you have to either turn them on, or press a button? The Echo is always on, always in the same spot so I wouldn't have to hunt down my phone. Like when I am elbow deep in some prep bowl and need to add something to a list, or get a conversion on a measurement. 

I have the google thingie on my phone that I could in theory turn on to respond to my voice like Siri/Alexa does. But then my battery will run down, I'd have to have my phone very near me. The Echo can hear me quite a distance away and it will  never run out of batteries as its plugged in.


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## WDR (Jan 8, 2014)

I use Siri all the time to do oddball searches or check the spelling on some obscure word---kind of hard to look up the spelling of a word when you know how it is pronounced but not how its spelled. So, speaking it to Siri usually results in the correct spelling. I have Siri set up so it is listening when my iPhone is plugged into power. Otherwise, I have to press the home button to get it to listen.

My nephew has the Amazon Echo, and it seems to work pretty well. Though, it was hilarious witnessing the chaos when he and his wife had a disagreement over which music track to play for a holiday dinner.

Where I give the score to Apple is you have to start the session with the trigger "Hey, Siri!" This avoids any accidental activations. Part of the humor for what happened at my nephew's home is that Alexa was responding all through their "discussion". That's problematic, especially if the Echo thinks you just ordered something. Before Christmas, there was a news report about a little girl saying, "Alexa, I wish you could play doll house with me!" and the Echo submitted an order for a $120 doll house. The parents found out only when the dollhouse was delivered. Of course, the story didn't end there. The local Los Angelos news station did a report on the event, and the newscaster said, "Alexa, order a doll house..." and that resulted in about a dozen families' Echoes ordering doll houses. (Yes, i laughed my ass off!)

It was right after that humorous news report that I witnessed the interaction between my nephew, his wife, and Alexa that I realized just how touchy the thing can be. The other side is that the Echo/Alexa system is very dynamic and responsive.

I would suggest you check the settings and make sure that Alexa cannot order something when you ask for it. At least, until you are used to how it works. Remember that it is always listening---like a child or the NSA....


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

My GS has Siri and seems to work well for him.

I have Alexa on an Echo Dot and my tablets. She's not on my phone, although the app is. I can't (as far as I know) talk to Alexa through my phone. 

Yes, she's very sensitive. A few weeks ago I couldn't get her to understand what I wanted and I told her she was stupid. She responded, "That's not very nice." Guess I hurt her feelings.

To put something on my shopping list, I can say, "Alexa, add salt to my shopping list." Or I can say, "Alexa, I need salt" and she'll put it on my shopping list. But if it's something that Amazon sells and I say I "need" it, Alexa will tell me about it and ask if I want to order it from Amazon.


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## Someone Nameless (Jul 12, 2009)

These are very interesting!  I can raise my arm with my Apple Watch and say "hey Siri, add salt to my shopping list" and it will add it to my notes on my phone.  I can also say "hey Siri, set a timer for 5 minutes" and it doesn't it.

Thankfully I can't say "hey Siri, I wish I had a dollhouse" and have one delivered.    That's funny.

I should probably stick with Siri.


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

Just like with the Fire TVs, you can lock the voice ordering on the Echo so it asks for a passcode to confirm any order.  We had to do that at our house after I accidentally ordered some stuff when the Echo was in my husband's account (tied to his card instead of mine).
I also get a kick out of having the smart outlets and the thermostat tied to the Echo.  "Alexa, set upstairs to 75 degees."  "Alexa, turn on living room."
I don't use Apple devices so I don't know what's out there in the way of smart home stuff, but if you are happy with Siri, check to see what they have available.
We now have an Echo or Dot in 6 different rooms in the house.  It also seems like the newer Dots have more sensitive microphones - that is, they can hear me better if there is also background noise.


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## WDR (Jan 8, 2014)

Someone Nameless said:


> ...I can also say "hey Siri, set a timer for 5 minutes" and it doesn't it.


The proper phrase that triggers the timer is to say, "##-minute countdown," or, "Give me a ##-minute countdown." Siri will respond with, "Okay, ## minutes and counting."

I tripped over this little quirk myself a long time ago and was stunned that I couldn't start a simple countdown via Siri. Through some testing, I finally figured out that Siri doesn't know what a _timer_ is, but does know what a _countdown_ is.

One of those silly little quirks that came about because the programmers didn't think there would be that many people asking for a 'timer' as much as a 'countdown.'


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## WDR (Jan 8, 2014)

Andra said:


> Just like with the Fire TVs, you can lock the voice ordering on the Echo so it asks for a passcode to confirm any order. We had to do that at our house after I accidentally ordered some stuff when the Echo was in my husband's account (tied to his card instead of mine).
> I also get a kick out of having the smart outlets and the thermostat tied to the Echo. "Alexa, set upstairs to 75 degees." "Alexa, turn on living room."
> I don't use Apple devices so I don't know what's out there in the way of smart home stuff, but if you are happy with Siri, check to see what they have available.
> We now have an Echo or Dot in 6 different rooms in the house. It also seems like the newer Dots have more sensitive microphones - that is, they can hear me better if there is also background noise.


On the Apple side, any home automation products that use Apple's HomeKit can be triggered via voice commands to Siri. I use Z-wave components in my home automation and I have a computer running them, not a dedicated hub unit. If the hub is HomeKit compatible, then it will work with Siri. For my situation, if I used a Mac Mini instead of a Raspberry Pi to run my house, I could probably access the HomeKit functions. A project for another day. if I use Lowe's Iris base station, then it would be compatible with Amazon's Alexa.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

WDR said:


> The proper phrase that triggers the timer is to say, "##-minute countdown," or, "Give me a ##-minute countdown." Siri will respond with, "Okay, ## minutes and counting."
> 
> I tripped over this little quirk myself a long time ago and was stunned that I couldn't start a simple countdown via Siri. Through some testing, I finally figured out that Siri doesn't know what a _timer_ is, but does know what a _countdown_ is.
> 
> One of those silly little quirks that came about because the programmers didn't think there would be that many people asking for a 'timer' as much as a 'countdown.'


I just asked my iPhone 6 "Hey Siri, set a 5 minute timer" and it did it. I think I've always been able to do this.

The OP may have meant "hey Siri, set a timer for 5 minutes" and it *does* it. It makes more grammatical sense.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I have a standard test that I ask of all of the personal assistant devices/apps such as the Amazon Echo, Siri, various Android apps, etc. 
"Convert 40 miles per gallon to liters per 100 km."
The Amazon echo doesn't understand the question. At least Siri understands the question, but pulls up a webpage listing places I can go to get conversion information. Not very helpful. Most Android apps didn't understand the question, either.

Last week I installed Google Assistant (GA) on my iPhone 6 and asked it to do the conversion. It instantly gave me the correct answer: 5.88 liters per 100 km.

I realize that this is only one data point, I need to do more exhaustive testing. But I take it as a good sign.

I have one of the original Echoes and a Dot. The Echo really doesn't do a very good job of background noise rejection, frequently I have to mute the TV in order for it to understand me (it's two feet away on a table beside my chair).

Siri doesn't yet connect to my home automation devices, but the Echo/Dot does. Siri could even control my home entertainment system if I could ever get around to getting the hub controller.

Just tried this: "When is the next Doctor Who episode on?"
Siri: "Hmm. Let me check the iTunes store for that." Then it offers to set up family sharing.
Echo: "Sorry, I'm not sure."
Google Assistant: "May 27, 2017: The Pyramid at the End of the World." This is correct.

And this: "When does the Tour de France start?"
Siri: "I didn't find anything for "*"" Tried this several times, same result.
Echo: It told me it was in progress (it isn't) and gave me the start and end dates for last year's race.
Google Assistant: "2017 Tour de France will begin on Saturday, July 1, and ends on Saturday, July 23." Correct.

I think we have a winner. Too bad the Assistant on the iPhone requires you to launch an app. I'm going to assume that the Google Assistant is the same software that the Google Home device runs. If it weren't for Google Home not supporting my home automation system, I'd buy one.
I'll obviously be using the GA a lot more in the future on my iPhone/iPad.

But if I had to choose between Siri and Echo for home use, I'd go with Echo, as it is always on and controls my lights and fans, and Siri is on only when my iPhone is plugged in (I think later iPhones can be set to always be on, but that doesn't help _me_).

Mike


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## Someone Nameless (Jul 12, 2009)

Mike D. aka jmiked said:


> I just asked my iPhone 6 "Hey Siri, set a 5 minute timer" and it did it. I think I've always been able to do this.
> 
> The OP may have meant "hey Siri, set a timer for 5 minutes" and it *does* it. It makes more grammatical sense.


Yes, sorry that was either an autocorrect or a typo. When I tell Siri to set a timer for 5 minutes, it DOES!


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## Someone Nameless (Jul 12, 2009)

Thank you for that detailed information.  I'm going to install Google Assistant on my iPhone now.


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Is Google Assistant available for Android phones? I'm not seeing it listed in Play Store.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

HappyGuy said:


> Is Google Assistant available for Android phones? I'm not seeing it listed in Play Store.


It is. You can set it to listen to your voice at any time. You have to train it first a bit with voice training and there are some different settings. You can do it while driving, without touching the phone. I haven't played with it in a while but it does work. I don't know how I started it, I have it on my home button when I hold it down. I think I assigned in there. Its part of google. Just open the google app and you can go to settings and voice. Then it brings another tutorial where you train the voice. I can't recall if there was a different way to get to it. Its been a while.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

HappyGuy said:


> Is Google Assistant available for Android phones? I'm not seeing it listed in Play Store.


Neither did I. It may have to come with a phone that it works on.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

It will be on all android phones.

http://www.androidcentral.com/google-assistant

If you long press your home button, or icon it comes up if its there. Marshmallow or Nougat. I don't really know what updates those are and my phone is going on 2 years now. I have a zenfone laser that was unlocked. So I assume I am on whatever the newest is. 
I think a few weeks ago I got some popup and that is how I know its on the long press home button now. It says my phone has 6.0.1. But I don't know what candy that would be.


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## readingril (Oct 29, 2010)

You're on Marshmallow Atunah.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history

When my phone updated to Nougat a couple of weeks ago it gave me a quick tutorial about how to use Google Assistant. I know I had access to it before, but I hadn't really used it. When I long press on the Google search bar - I get articles regarding my recent searches, doesn't matter if it's on my desktop, tablet, phone, smoke signal since they're all one connected account.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

readingril said:


> You're on Marshmallow Atunah.
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history


Hah, thanks. I don't get this naming stuff, but oh well. As long as my stuff works. Looks like mine stopped at Marshmallow then if Nougat came out in August last year and there is already a new one named. Wait, looks like they are doing away with the munchies? just "O"?
I bought my phone in November 2015, but I am pretty sure I been getting some updates over the last year and so.


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## readingril (Oct 29, 2010)

Looks like O is to be announced. I vote for Oreos!


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Doesn't look like my phone will get past Marshmallow. Not much with "O". Oreos is about the only thing I can think off too.


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## readingril (Oct 29, 2010)

I think Google Assistant should be added to the subject line since it's taken over the thread.


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## Someone Nameless (Jul 12, 2009)

readingril said:


> I think Google Assistant should be added to the subject line since it's taken over the thread.


Done!


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## readingril (Oct 29, 2010)

LOL! with thanks.

I do use Google Assistant when I get in the car leaving work to ask about my drive home. The number of minutes she gives me for the ride lets me know if I'm getting on the Beltway or taking backroads!


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Oh, I found it. It was already listed in my apps listing - Voice Search. Hmmm ... seems like it works pretty well. Will have to play around with it a bit to see if I use it much.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

HappyGuy said:


> Oh, I found it. It was already listed in my apps listing - Voice Search.


It's not exactly the same. Voice Search (VA) is the precursor of Google Assistant (GA). GA has a few (not many) things that Voice Assistant won't do. VA has been around for years. Google has rebranded it and put out press releases to call attention to it, and it's working.


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## ShinyTop (Apr 25, 2016)

Got an Amazon Echo in last week. It worked fine for a while then quit responding. Appeared to be turning off listening before I could finish what I was saying, you know, kind of like a wife. j/k

Anyway, was about to ship it back when I found a number for Amazon tech support. Got a tech support fellow that English was not in his top ten languages. After about 15 minutes of identifying myself and think of taking a xanax we finally got to my issue. He asked me to give a command.

Turned out I was using Alexus instead of Alexa. Now the Echo is working perfectly. Got to start taking the sedative before I call.

I told my son about it and he sent me this link for SNL take on Echo and seniors. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvT_gqs5ETk


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Hmmmm ... still searching then, I guess. I wonder if I could ask Google Search to find Google Assistant?


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Its not a separate thing or app to find on my phone. Its part of google. Google app. Its just there when you hold the home button. If the phone has it already.


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