Can Google Assistant beat Siri on iPhone? Let’s find out!

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Virtual Assistant
Which is better? Google Assistant or Siri... check out the battle in today's video.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Google Assistant for iOS was released at Google’s latest I/O event. Having never tried it (being an Apple fanboy and all) I thought it was only fair to put the two virtual assistants head to head.

There’s still a lot Google needs to fix such as being able to open apps other than it’s own. But check out the head to head battle in my video below.

When it comes to asking Google Assistant questions such as ‘Who is’ or ‘What is’, it tends to deliver a more definitive answer than Siri. Siri tends to be more likely to reply to a question with a link to a webpage, whereas Google Assistant will read out some of the information from the webpage it’s linking to. For example, asking “Who is Steve Jobs” Siri will reply with Apple’s memorial page where Google Assistant will read the first lines of his bio from Wikipedia.

Siri does however have a bit more of a fun element to it. It’s witty answers and ability to rap trumps the Google Assistant’s cover of Happy Birthday. Even when it comes to asking jokes, Siri answers with a quip about Apple itself. Google Assistant reads a joke you’d expect to hear at a playground, although the delivery is better.

Tasks such as setting reminders, starting timers and such are pretty even between the two virtual assistants, so if that’s your main use for them;- then either are a perfect fit.

Siri is still going to be better at opening apps as it’s more integrated and iOS apps have access to the Siri API. But Google Assistant is likely to get better with this as updates are released.

I’m personally going to be sticking with Siri. Google Assistant tends to understand my accent a little less, requires me to tap on call when I ask it to call someone and I’ve also found it crash once or twice. Siri has become second nature to me, especially when I’m in the car thanks to CarPlay.

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