Apple has started selling its new HomeView smart speaker, a 7-inch square-with-rounded-corners screen equipped with a built-in camera. It pairs with your iPhone or iPad to offer personalized content from your email or text messages, using facial recognition to identify each family member.
But in a video report, one Wall Street Journal reviewer discovered an issue while testing its smart home feature:
WSJ REVIEWER: I've spent the last few years turning my home into a smart home that I can boss around with Siri. A smart lock, a special garage door opener, motorized shades, even a Raspberry Pi in my basement hooked up to my router that lets non-HomeKit devices from Ring and Nest work with Siri. It was all going well, the smart home controller of my dreams even. But then...
Reviewer: Open the garage door.
Siri: Sorry, I can't help with that on this device. Please use the Home app.
Reviewer: Siri, you have the Home app, and you're called the HomeView. Open the garage.
Siri: Sorry, I can't help with that on this device.
Reviewer: Open the smart wifi garage.
Siri: Sorry, I can't help with that on this device. Please use the Home app...
WSJ REVIEWER: Apple explained the for security reasons, Siri won't unlock your doors or open the garage through the HomeView using voice commands. You can only tap the screen to unlock them. The concern is that someone could shout a command from outside and gain access to your house.
This security concern doesn't make much sense to me. This thing can recognize my face, confirm it's me, and pull up all sorts of information from my phone. But it can't recognize me enough to open my garage? Finally I got Siri itself to explain this top-security measure.
Siri: For security reasons, I can't unlock your door or open your garage from this device. Because anyone nearby can speak to a shared speaker.
Reviewer:But I'm looking at you! You see my face, and you hear my voice!
Siri: I understand. But I don't have a camera to see you. And voice recognition alone isn't secure enough for unlocking your home.
Reviewer: You don't have a camera?
Siri: That's right. This device doesn't have a camera, so I can't see you. I can only hear your voice, which is why I need you to use your iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock the door.
Reviewer:I see, Siri. You're gaslighting me.
An Apple spokesperson said they'd send out a software update next month that would let HomeView
unlock garage doors and other door locks once it's recognized a user. (And Apple said the update would also fix Siri's hallucination about not having a built-in camera.)
In the end, the speakers sounded good, and the reviewer appreciated how Apple's HomeView didn't have ads on its screeh like the Amazon Echo Show. But the reviewer said the device's built-in Siri voice assistant was "about as reliable as a Magic 8 Ball... And the frustration is so real. Sometimes Siri just doesn't get the voice recognition right... Oftentimes, other devices in the room think I'm talking to their Siri... And sometimes Siris just talk to each."
iPhone: Siri is built into your device, so you don't need to download...
HomeView: Downloading support for Siri.
iPhone: To download the Apple Support app, open the App Store on your device, search for Apple Support, and tap get or the download icon. I've installed support.
Reviewer (muttering): Honestly could cry. This might be a first — crying.
Iphone: I'm software. So I don't have feelings. But it sounds like you're going through a difficult moment. It can really help to talk to someone you trust, like a friend, family member, or a professional who can support you".
They complained that sometimes Siri "is just slow, or it gets stuck thinking and thinking and thinking." (It took three minutes to answer their young son's question "What's 10 times 40?")
They concluded HomeView's facial recognition feature works well, and so does its smart home functionality (especially when they fix its door-unlocking next month). But its built-in Siri AI is "not great." It's gotten better this year, and the reviewer found it "genuinely useful for some things on their iPhone. "But Apple still has a Siri problem. And on a device that's supposed to be the intelligent center of your home, that's a big problem."
It reminded the reviewer of another new first-generation Apple product, the iPhone Duo: "good hardware waiting for the software to catch up."
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