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Speaktoit Releases iOS App to Compete with Siri

By | February 11, 2012 | 1 comment
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There have been quite a few apps seeking to de-throne Siri, like Evi, the much talked about iOS and Android personal assistant app that was released back in mid-January, only to receive a slew of negative reviews.

As of today, there’s a new Siri competitor in the App Store, the Speaktoit Assistant. Developer Speaktoit originally designed this app for Android, but recently ported it to iOS as well. The company markets Speaktoit as “a virtual buddy for your iPhone or iPod, that uses natural language technology to answer questions, find information, and connect you with web services.”

I guess Speaktoit didn’t get the memo that states all personal assistant apps must have short, catchy names. Speaktoit Assistant is a bit of a mouthful. However, you can choose a cartoonish-looking avatar to represent your assistant, while Siri’s visage remains a mystery to us. Personally, I’d rather speak to my phone than to a cartoon.

This app isn’t a direct clone of Siri, but it does offer many of the same features. It is, after all, an app that allows you to talk to a “buddy,” who will perform tasks for you. While Siri only works on the iPhone 4S, Speaktoit will run on the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4, giving those users an alternative assistant.

The app does a few things Siri cannot, such as searching maps outside of the United States and updating your social network statuses on Facebook and Twitter. The app creators also claim to add new functionality more often and that Speaktoit is more conversational, but I can’t confirm that since I haven’t had a chance to test the application.

So far, based on App Store reviews, it looks like Speaktoit is not going to be the Siri alternative that it wants to be. Users are complaining that Speaktoit isn’t great at understanding speech or answering easy questions.

Still, it may have potential as an alternative for people who can’t access Siri on their older devices, and future updates could improve the quality of the app. If you want to check it out for yourself, Speaktoit Assistant can be downloaded in the App Store for $1.99. If you wait until Valentine’s Day, you can snag a free copy if you’re one of the first 100,000 to download the app.

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About Juli: Contact me via Twitter: @julipuli

  • Dave

    1. The avatars actually do have short catchy names. The female default is Sam.
    2. You can put any avatar on the screen, not just a cartoon caricature.
    3. On the fly status updates are a major flaw in Siri, and one reason I started using this app.
    4. It understands speech just as well as Siri does, in my use anyway. The app uses the Nuance engine for STT.
    5. Tasks that I need performed include finding a bank, a specific eatery, my location, updating Facebook, and sending a text to my wife. I had no problems with these.
    6. Issues that I do have include: iMessage integration, word wrapping of input, stray last name insertion into SMS, deleting history, and changing associated apps.

    All in all, it’s an iterative process, and I expect SpeakToIt will have Sam, and her counterparts, working well in due time.