Siri in iOS 15 vs Google Assistant in Android 12: Has Apple Bridged The Gap?

BY Sanuj Bhatia

Published 13 Jun 2021

siri in iOS 15 vs Google Assistant in Android 12

Apple introduced iOS 15 with a lot of improvements to its Siri virtual assistant. The new features like offline support, on-device speech recognition, on-device personalization, and others make the virtual assistant from Apple quite compelling. But does the new Siri in iOS 15 come close to the industry-leading Google Assistant in Android 12?

YouTuber In Depth Reviews ran a test on his Pixel 4a running Android 12 Beta and an iPhone 12 running iOS 15 Beta 1. Google Assistant already works offline, has had ‘context’ conversations for quite some time now. The YouTuber ran the same tests on both the devices, comparing new features of Siri to Google Assistant.

Offline Support: Siri vs Google Assistant

Apple is finally utilizing the powerful neural core of newer iPhones. Siri can now work offline on all iPhones with an A12 Bionic chip or above. In the offline support test, Siri and Google Assistant on par with each other. Both the virtual assistants were able to perform all the actions asked.

Obviously, Pixel 4a is years behind iPhone 12 in terms of CPU performance, so that lag was there. Though both the assistants were able to perform all the asked tasks.

Sharing and Contacts Screen

When it came to sharing and contacts screen, Siri did perform a little bit better. Siri was able to accurately share the location ‘To My Other Number’ whereas Google Assistant failed to do so.

In the speed test, both the assistants had to perform 14 tasks. Google Assistant finished all the tasks in 1 minute and 6 seconds, and Siri finished 12 out of 14 in 1 minute and 8 seconds. Siri failed to increase the device’s brightness and in creating a note. The time difference isn’t much, and one has to keep in mind that Siri has to be ‘woken up’ by touching the screen after every command.

Maintaining Context 

Siri miserably failed in maintaining the context. Even though Apple claims that “Siri is even better at maintaining context between requests” on iOS 15, it was only able to answer one follow-up question. The assistant from Apple will surely improve in the upcoming betas, however, right now, it isn’t able to maintain context.

Eager to give iOS 15’s new Siri a try? You can download and install iOS 15 Beta 1 on your iPhone right now.

Personally, I prefer Siri over Google Assistant. Siri is able to perform some tasks that even the Assistant cannot such as canceling all the alarms. Do you prefer Google Assistant or Apple’s Siri? Which one do you like? Why do you prefer it over the other? Let us know in the comments section below!