[patryn20]

While I'm aware anecdote is not the same as data, I really feel that the smart home experience vis-a-vis Alexa is getting worse. It no longer recognizes simple voice commands. Third party integrations constantly need to be reset ("I'm sorry, I can't find that." or "If you want to use SiriusXM, please open Alexa on your phone."). Randomly swaps responses between devices across the house whereas it would always respond with the nearest device in the past. Etc. Etc. Etc.

It's the same sort of things that keeps happening with maps programs, smartphones, and basically any modern tech with software updates. No one can leave well enough alone. They have to put their fingerprints on it in order to advance their careers, so everyone mucks around and breaks things and calls it an improvement.

Frankly I'm just tired of expensive devices getting worse with every single software update.

[reaperducer]

All of these pointless upgrades that make things worse just make me use fewer features, do less exploring of what's possible, and I end up giving up on a product/company.

I used to be able to say to my watch, "Hey, Siri, where is my wife?" And I'd be shown a map. Now when I ask, it says I have to open the app on my iPhone. If I could use my phone, I wouldn't ask my watch!

I can have my Groceries list showing on my watch and say, "Hey, Siri, add 'peanuts' to my Groceries list" and she'll respond with, "You don't have a list called 'Groceries,' but I can create one for you."

I haven't tried since the iOS 12 release a few days ago. Hopefully it got fixed, but I don't even feel like trying anymore.

I've lost so much faith in Siri and similar technologies that the only thing I use it for anymore is once a day: "Hey, Siri, turn off the lights." And even then then there's a 5% chance of her responding, "Here are some web sites about 'turn off the lights.'"

[bronco21016]

I’ve noticed Siri has gotten worse on my watch as well. It’s basically impossible to use Siri to send a message on it now. I get the ‘what would you like me to send?’ prompt and then it doesn’t hear me at all. Really hoping the iOS 12 focus on Siri has fixed some of these issues.

[billforsternz]

Pointless updates really are a scourge of modern tech. I wish there was some googleable concept to focus and unite user rage. I don't think the culprits even recognize there's a problem.

[wildrhythms]

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. Do you think these kinds of 'updates' belong in the category of feature creep, or do they deserve some new category?

[billforsternz]

I was more thinking about updates that don't actually advertise their purpose - no new features at all (unless you do some forensic analysis I suppose). So that can't be feature creep on the surface. But no doubt it would be possible to define a whole taxonomy within the class of 'updates considered harmful' that includes feature creep updates.

I must admit the ones that really get to me are Windows updates that for some reason best known to the devil himself seem to be postponed until I actually need to use the computer. Or those ones where you've just done a fresh install (say) only for the system to proudly announce that it's downloading updates, then installing updates, then working on updates, then (finally) announcing it needs to reboot (okay) and then just when you think maybe it's time you can use the system - no - checking for updates - and finding new ones! Just kill me please.

[mrsteveman1]

> I must admit the ones that really get to me are Windows updates that for some reason best known to the devil himself seem to be postponed until I actually need to use the computer.

This is the one thing that's becoming really infuriating lately, not only Windows but even macOS.

It's not just updates either (which macOS does pretty well), but a more general problem that the OS routinely interferes with what I need the machine to do and wastes the CPU/RAM/SSD/Network resources I need while I'm using it.

For example, updating caches/indexes requiring it to read/write the system drive heavily, running various kinds of maintenance and pinning the CPU to 100% for several minutes, or taking up all available bandwidth to do things that frequently did not need to be done at all.

Apple's iCloud Photo Library did the last one all the time until I disabled it. If you delete a large file and free up local drive space, it will almost immediately start using all available internet bandwidth to download and cache photos and videos from iCloud to fill up that space again.

Just yesterday, I discovered that Microsoft has either intentionally pushed everyone to use the "balanced" power plan or just broke the ability to select "high performance" in control panel. I had to open the group policy editor just to put it back it on high performance, because it was not possible to do it anywhere else.

I only noticed that little change because I was capturing data from a satellite passing overhead, which is not something that you can just arbitrarily delay or slow down, and right then Windows decided to reduce the maximum CPU speed to 0.49Ghz, completely ruining the data. That's not even a "real time" task, it doesn't specifically require low latency just high performance. Ordinarily that machine can handle it just fine, as long as the OS isn't actively crippling the hardware or trying to do other pointless, resource intensive tasks at the same time.

[shaan7]

I'm really happy that you prefixed that with "Pointless". Updates are not a problem. Wrongly done updates are.

[jumelles]

The other day I asked Alexa: "What day is the 28th?" I wanted to know about the next upcoming 28th later this month. Alexa told me what day August 28th was. I asked: "What day is September 28th?" I was told I have no calendar events that day. "Alexa, what day of the week is September 28th?"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

[Terretta]

More anecdata — my wife and Alexa got along only about half the time at launch, and a few years later it’s down to 1/4 or less.

Meanwhile, HomePod Siri understands her 9/10.

Every room has both, both are able to manage all devices, and Alexa was here first. Because of comprehension challenge, Alexa has been abandoned, now the only time Alexa wakes up is for TV mentions.

Note, not talking about syntax, talking about whether the words she said are what the device says she said.

Also agree about wrong devices in wrong rooms answering. Used to work, now doesn’t.

[reaperducer]

my wife and Alexa got along only about half the time at launch, and a few years later it’s down to 1/4 or less.

My wife has the almost identical problem with Siri. She has a very slight northern plains accent, but it's enough to confound Siri about 25% of the time.

It's worse with Microsoft's horrible "Blue & Me" system. That thing understands her only 5% of the time. She gave up on using it.

Siri understands what I say almost all the time, but only rarely knows what to do with the questions or commands I speak.

Except for one app: Reminders. For some reason, Siri has a hard time when I add things to Reminders lists. I have a Groceries list with about 30 items on it that are bad Siri misinterpretations of things that I want to buy, and I have no idea what they're supposed to be.

Things currently on my Groceries list that, thanks to Siri, that I have no idea what they are but keep them anyway just in case I figure them out later: Canned pills, Maybe to la, Bicycle, Not what I said, North, Raisin berry, Frog nodes, Special, Compound dirt.

[toyg]

I've read the same about Google Home. I have one and use it very little, but the related forums are full of "X used work and now it doesn't, wtf?!?".

"Upgraditis" has become a scourge.

[lostlogin]

> I really feel that the smart home experience vis-a-vis Alexa is getting worse.

To add a counter point, a week ago my 7 year old daughter had a great time asking one for various types of joke (“Alexa, tell me a bird joke”) at a pace only a primary school child can. It worked really well.

> I’m tired of expensive devices getting worse with every single software update.

Replying to you from an iPhone 8 that reloads the page 9 times before I’m allowed to see it, crashes every 10 minutes and has deleted all my photo albums. Yay iOS 12.

[WalterBright]

Skype seems to have recently lost the ability to have a text chat window open during a voice call. It doesn't do notifications on the icon in the task bar anymore, either. Sigh.

[munchbunny]

I'm on the latest version and I seem to still be able to chat on a voice/video call at the same time? Are you talking about chatting with people you're not on a call with?

[WalterBright]

I'm text chatting with someone. Then I initiate a Skype call with them. The text window disappears, the window goes blue, and there's no way to text and talk.

I clicked on everything on the screen, no text window. There is a balloon icon with lines in it, I thought "aha, the text chat window!" Sure enough, it opens the text chat window, and hangs up the call.

Arrgghhhh.

Microsoft has installed numerous Skype updates. I can't find any usability improvements. Things are just shuffled around, and/or broken.

I've been using Skype for 10+ years, and am about ready to abandon it for Slack.

[faitswulff]

I feel like Google Assistant has also gotten worse lately. I used to tell it to "navigate to the library" and it would handle it just fine. Now it asks "which 'the'?" like an idiot.

[empath75]

I turned off all the Alexa stuff a few months ago because I was tired of just randomly triggering all the time. It went off 10 times more when we weren’t trying to use it that it did when we were.