A few days ago, the tech section of Google news page was full of articles about certain additions to the Google Assistant for all supported Android devices.
Here is what we found after a quick check. The ‘Ok Google’ call-sign required multiple attempts to wake it up. After manual initiation, it then refused to perform the function, stating the device was locked though the phone was not. Further attempts came back with the same result.
The same issue was noticed with Microsoft’s Cortana. Apple’s Siri sometimes gives out weird responses to users.
Amazon’s Alexa is not in India yet, so nothing can be said about it. As for Samsung’s Bixby, it hasn’t started talking in English yet.
The point of a voice assistant on a mobile device is to make life easier. It was conceptualised to free the finger.
It was supposed to be an extension of your hands when you don’t feel like navigating through hundreds of apps. It was supposed to type in messages and send it to someone while you were doing something else.
However, invoking a voice assistant means a person has to practice English the way computers understand, which is accented, and that is not easy for an Indian user.
Frequently, the assistants record a different version of your spoken message. It needs internet’s assistance to open an app on a particular device, which shouldn’t happen as it is a smartphone’s resident smart assistant. And if it’s Google Assistant, it will occasionally decide to be disobedient and do nothing.
A voice assistant on a mobile device should try to be a companion to the user. Modern smartphones have exceptionally powerful hardware, especially when you consider flagships like Samsung’s Galaxy S8, HTC U11 and Apple’s iPhone 7. They have intelligent sensors that can detect even the slightest of movements anywhere in the world.
So, a voice assistant has to be compatible with the hardware.
It should take messages and send them to WhatsApp contacts when asked to do so. It should be able to recognise a particular voice and unlock the device. It should also be smart enough to analyse the surrounding and adjust its voice detection accordingly.
But voice assistants, at least for the Indian user, are falling short of expectation. That is also why people seldom take their help here. Are they an unnecessary bloatware on smartphones?
