MAJOR IPHONE 4S DESIGN FLAW: No voice commands at all without Siri Network

**gzumba** · 10-15-2011, 11:45 PM

For those of you who who are among the many lucky new 4S owners such as myself, we have experience our first network crash denying Siri access. With this network issue, it is clear that the current beta Siri has a major design flaw: even basic voice commands depend upon this network connection. So even voice dialing is controlled centrally. This renders the phone relatively disabled compared to earlier models.

Not only does the network crash point out the vulnerability of cloud computing, a major issue in itself, but it means zero functionability when you don't have a 3G connection (can't run on EDGE). And forget about roaming internationally and using these features, unless you pay exorbitant fees just to voice dial.

What do others here think?

Here is a good source:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1252342

**gzumba** · 10-16-2011, 12:03 AM

Well, at least it is not all that bad. There is still "voice control" function if you disable Siri in the general settings menu.

"If network is down and you still want voice control, just go in to siri settings and turn it off. This will bring back the old voice controls when you hold down the home button. Then just turn siri back on when you want to use it again."

(Page 3 of link from previous post)

But still, Siri is amazing but currently fragile. And it won't work at EDGE speed.

**Heatseeker123** · 10-16-2011, 12:17 AM

Originally Posted by gzumba

This renders the phone relatively disabled compared to earlier models.

Are you going a little overboard? I haven't picked up my 4S yet, but how does it render the entire phone relatively disabled like I quoted above? Isn't Siri mostly about convenience? Unless I'm missing something, I'd just have to schedule meetings, set reminders, check the weather, do Google searches, call someone, etc, the old fashioned way (with my fingers) instead of my voice if Siri is offline. That doesn't mean the phone is disabled if Siri isn't there.

**wellduh11** · 10-16-2011, 12:59 AM

Originally Posted by Heatseeker123

Are you going a little overboard? I haven't picked up my 4S yet, but how does it render the entire phone relatively disabled like I quoted above? Isn't Siri mostly about convenience? Unless I'm missing something, I'd just have to schedule meetings, set reminders, check the weather, do Google searches, call someone, etc, the old fashioned way (with my fingers) instead of my voice if Siri is offline. That doesn't mean the phone is disabled if Siri isn't there.

I gather from his second post that when Siri goes down, which it did tonight, you can't use the basic voice commands that were on the older versions without going into settings and turning off Siri.

While certainly not the end of the world by any means, some people use the voice commands a lot, especially when driving.

**sectime** · 10-16-2011, 01:04 AM

Let us remember that Siri is BETA. Anybody else getting bored with hyper ventilating MAJOR flaw posts? You
Mean loss of functionality with no network like a cordless phone with no power to base station? Well DUH

**gzumba** · 10-16-2011, 03:31 AM

Originally Posted by sectime

Let us remember that Siri is BETA. Anybody else getting bored with hyper ventilating MAJOR flaw posts? You
Mean loss of functionality with no network like a cordless phone with no power to base station? Well DUH

Actually, Siri's network may crash frequently, even if you have a connection to the internet. Lots of people lost connection to Siri but otherwise had free access to the web. I think Siri and the seamless voice activation feature is one of the most significant reasons people would upgrade from an iPhone 4 to an iPhone 4S. The stability of the Siri server is therefore critical to the intrinsic value of the upgrade. I for one am getting spoiled by Siri -- when it works. It is a completely different user experience. I would not be so concerned if it only stopped working when there was no connection to the Internet.

**Jack_L** · 10-16-2011, 04:04 AM

About a month ago, Apple had more money in the bank than the U.S. federal government. I sorta expect if Siri becomes chronically overtaxed (no pun intended) Apple will address the situation.

Right now, with the "newness" of of the iP4S, everybody and their brother with an iP4S is asking Siri really stupid questions just to see what it will respond with.

Given time, when the novelty wears off, Siri demand will decrease sharply, and then a REAL demand level will become evident and I expect, if needed, the fix will be arranged.

My take.

**Nuclearjack** · 10-16-2011, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by gzumba

but it means zero functionability when you don't have a 3G connection (can't run on EDGE).

So glad I read this post. I live an hour away from the nearest 3G area.

I wonder if the nearby Rogers Kiosk tells customers buying the Iphone 4S that they cant use Siri unless they drive an hour....

**mbranscum** · 10-16-2011, 11:05 AM

OMG I might have to manually dial a phone number!!!!!!!!

**notrhj** · 10-16-2011, 08:55 PM

Voice commands are still there if Siri is turned off.

I think there will be a bunch of changes / fixes schedule in the next release from Beta to GA

**samc** · 10-16-2011, 09:44 PM

Originally Posted by mbranscum

OMG I might have to manually dial a phone number!!!!!!!!

LOL. As said it's beta guys so calm the F down. Next people will want the phone to turn itself on without touching the power button.

**ceredon** · 10-16-2011, 10:35 PM

Being network dependant isn't a design flaw. The amount of compute power required for the advanced speech analysis/recognition is exactly why the Nuance API is server based. Unless we want to drag a phone the size of a laptop around with us, current capabilities require offloading the recognition. The flaw, if any, IMO would be that if no suitable network connection is available, it should automatically switch to the basic onboard speech recognition. Having to manually enable/disable based on conditions is not very Apple like in this case.

The load problems experienced so far might give some credence to the speculation of some that the beta was limited to iP4S only in order to limit the initial load while the work on their scaling requirements.

**Doolie** · 10-17-2011, 12:18 AM

Originally Posted by gzumba

For those of you who who are among the many lucky new 4S owners such as myself, we have experience our first network crash denying Siri access. With this network issue, it is clear that the current beta Siri has a major design flaw: even basic voice commands depend upon this network connection. So even voice dialing is controlled centrally. This renders the phone relatively disabled compared to earlier models.

Not only does the network crash point out the vulnerability of cloud computing, a major issue in itself, but it means zero functionability when you don't have a 3G connection (can't run on EDGE). And forget about roaming internationally and using these features, unless you pay exorbitant fees just to voice dial.

What do others here think?

Here is a good source:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1252342

Have you noticed Safari web browser and the YouTube video app also won't work without data? Oops, neither will the Facebook app.

**Nuclearjack** · 10-17-2011, 07:01 AM

I dont own a lot of apple products. The iphone is in fact my first one. but do they normally hype and sell products with beta software?

funny thing is I went to the apple website to see if its really called beta. But Im Canadian so I went to the Canadian apple. they dont mention Siri there..

On the US version I see that it says in small print at the bottom "Siri is available in Beta only on iPhone 4S and requires Internet access. Siri may not be available in all languages or in all areas, and features may vary by area. Cellular data charges may apply."

Maybe they should update that to say that Siri needs wifi or a 3G conection as edge wont work.