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_Connor t1_j1vb1yo wrote

Does anyone actually use these? I've been on iPhone since 3GS and I have literally never used Siri.

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anoldradical t1_j1wbg38 wrote

Constantly. I use Google Assistant dozens of times every single day. Set timer, how old is whoever, what's this times that, turn off the christmas lights, where's my phone, shuffle my thumbs up playlist, play thunderstorm sounds, set the alarm for 6am, call Cuyahoga Falls Home Depot, navigate to the Mentor Branch, remind me to order triple squares at 6pm, remind me to get milk next time I'm at Giant Eagle, which president's were assassinated in office, what's the market cap of Microsoft, set the ecobee to 71 degrees, turn off the fan, what's the forecast for the day, what time does Acme close?

I could go on and on and on. I do most of these things without interacting with the phone in any way. In fact, most of the time, it's sitting on the piano or something and not even near me.

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lebastss t1_j1xcvsa wrote

It gets even better with pixel buds. I never realized how useful ai can be until I switched from apple

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Lithl t1_j1xeq5f wrote

Timers, lights (it's a high tech Clapper, lol), and controlling the video stream to my TV (next episode, fast forward, etc.) are the three things I use most often with Assistant. I've got a Google Home for it, so no pulling out my phone and hands free (great when I'm using timers for cooking).

I also use Assistant's call screening, but I don't think there's any AI involved with that, just playing a recorded message to the caller and voice-to-text for their response (unless they hang up, which they usually do).

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Ghstfce t1_j1wcisg wrote

I use the Google Assistant all the time. Setting timers, starting navigation when I hop on my motorcycle, setting reminders for things, having my phone call/text someone when my hands aren't free. My daughter uses the Google Home Max all the time, getting facts on the "animal of the day", getting it to play music for dance parties, hell, she even used it to "call Santa": it was "Santa" and he asked her questions to choose one thing or the other and they "wrote a song together" based on her answers.

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dracovich t1_j1w04aw wrote

I think it's usefulness is completely oversold, it's nice to hvae the wireless smart home capabilities but tbh i much prefer to just use buttons on my phone to control my lights/ac, rather than talking to a speaker.

It's nice when driving etc though, like i'm in a foreign country now and earlier needed to find a gas station, i could just ask it to plot a route to the nearest gas station.

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kimonczikonos t1_j1w3b5t wrote

That or set up alarm, i think most useful feature is to set reminder about email. If you are in mail app ask Siri to remind your about email, it will pop up at your desired time.

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verrius t1_j1we476 wrote

I have a couple of smart devices, and a couple of the features are useful. Being able to shout "where's my phone?!" and have it start just ringing is super convenient. Being able to set quick timers, especially when I'm cooking, and don't have a free hand is nice. And I've set up one smart light switch in my garage; the switch is in a spot that's not near any doors (its technically over a workbench), and its difficult for my wife to reach, so adding voice controls to it makes it actually useful.

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Profitsofdooom t1_j1xhvqc wrote

So many devices in my house can be controlled with Google Assistant that I've also started using it for other things.

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