It is hard to imagine a world without technology. Virtually all aspects of life have been transformed with technology. As ICs get smaller, batteries become efficient and software become smarter, technology has ushered in digital sidekicks that perform most tasks bringing in speed and convenience to mundane activities.
As brands launched their own versions of digital assistants, loyal customers waged online battles claiming superiority. While the basic functions of most digital assistants were more or less the same, some scored better than the others in certain functions, while others outperformed elsewhere. We help users to rest their case by pitting Siri Vs Google Assistant.
Here’s the low down on the best between the two popular brands.
1) Depth of information
When it comes to posing questions, Google Assistant steals a march over Siri. This is understandable considering the search engines access to most of the traffic on the internet. With algorithms that help users find answers to questions on the browser, it is not difficult to understand how Google Assistant leverages this access to powerful search engine tools to offer quick responses to questions. This makes it a more reliable option if you are looking for answer and insights. You can be sure that you will get the most accurate information here.
2) Compatibility
This is the all important question that you need to ask yourself. If you are an Apple lover, with the iconic logo adorning your devices, then it would be a good idea to go for Siri as it works best within its ecosystem. While Google Assistant is compatible with both the platforms, the experience is a bit different. You will find it seamless to use a Siri on iOS devices. And Siri does not work elsewhere, so its basically two different platforms that you are looking at. If you an Android user, then Google Assistant will be the only choice, between the two.
3) Natural language processing
The idea of having a device for convenience is to make things simpler and less complicated. This effectively means that you would certainly not want to spend time training yourself to shoot out commands that the assistant understands.
You would certainly want one that understands you. In other words you would love to give directions in a natural manner, in a language that you use conversationally. Here it is Google Assistant that walks away with the trophy. It understand your language easily and you do not have to actually take time to frame your commands in machine friendly context.
4) Playback options
Here it is Siri that takes the honours. This may have a lot to do with the fact that the iOS devices are famous for the music experience. Here the experience is a lot better when it comes to accessing the library and playing your most favourite tunes, including playing back songs on commands that are contextual. While Google Assistant has greater flexibility when it comes to being contextually aware, Siri scores on the music front, being able to do it faster and with equally, if not more contextual commands.
5) Pioneer to grouped commands
While Siri introduced a new feature ‘Shortcuts’, it was regarded as an attempt to match the features of Google Assistant and others. However, Siri was the forerunner in this with the versatile ‘Scenes’ feature. This offered users the power to direct one single command which would then proceed to get all devices execute the command. This gave it a head start over the rest of the digital assistants. This feature was upgraded in Google Assistant with additional options that gave it more traction than Siri, which probably prompted Apple to come out with the Shortcuts feature. However, despite the inclusion of the new feature, Google Assistant took the lead with the inclusion of more features.
6) Ease of Commanding
For instance, when it came to setting of alarms, both fared equally well. Well almost, actually. The setting of alarm were more or less the same. However, when it comes to cancelling of alarms, Google Assistant clearly had the lead here. This was because of the ability of the latter to understand simple language commands.
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With Siri it takes a sharp command to get the work done. This is the obstacle that prevents Siri from performing tasks easily. Google Assistant seemed to intuitively understand the commands. The use of AI in search has certainly helped the developers to put together a far more intelligent device than the others in the market.
7) Ability to take questions
When it came to the ability to take questions, it was Google Assistant that outran the entire opposition. As various studies that have been undertaken to determine the better of the digital assistants, typically threw questions at the devices. The speed of the response and the quality of the response indicated the ability to the assistants to process the information. Across all metrics, it was Google Assistant that performed better.
Contextually aware and throwing responses in the fastest possible time, it was Google’s baby that outdid Siri. Though Siri had responded to all the questions, the time taken and the need for framing the questions in a particular manner robbed it of it shine. When it came to accuracy, Siri was as good as Google Assistant, provided the device understood the question.
The jury’s take
Google Assistant scores over Siri, mostly by virtue of its association, and by extension, the access to the substantial search engine algorithms and AI. Siri, despite having an array of stunning features that work wonderfully on iOS devices, is limited to the closed iOS, and is handicapped by limited access to search engine algorithms and AI.
Despite coming a close second in the race among digital assistants, it is fair to conclude with finality that Google Assistant is the leader of the pack, and unless the others come up with something spectacular that changes the convenience levels, the narrative will remain unchanged. Google Assistant rules, and is by far the most enterprising of the two.