I love my android phone, but I have to admit, I get a little jealous when I see my friends chatting it up with Siri on their iPhones. While the real Siri competitor is going to be Google Now coming soon later this year, there are quite a few voice assistants already on the market that will ease your Siri induced envy.
See all 4 photos Skyvi can find local businesses and help you navigate to them. Source: Choxy
Skyvi
Skyvi is my personal favorite android voice assistant currently available on the market. Although she cannot add events to my calendar or set my alarm, she is witty and fun to converse with. She also offers many convenient features.
It is important to use the settings feature to fully appreciate this application. There are many options to help mold your Skyvi experience to fit your needs. The SMS Countdown Timer allows you to manually send outgoing texts through Skyvi. I find this function helpful because I can approve my text messages before they are sent. Sometimes Skyvi can make mistakes and you don't want to send weird messages to your friends. (Or maybe you do?!) If you would rather Skyvi send the texts without you pressing a button, you can set the countdown speed to either 5 or 10 seconds. Skyvi can also speak incoming texts which can be extremely helpful when you are unable to look at your phone, e.g., when you are driving.
Skyvi loves social networking! You can add your Facebook and Twitter accounts to Skyvi. This enables you to post status updates with your voice as well as have Skyvi read new updates to you.
Skyvi will check the local weather for you as well as find local businesses. She can even tell you how far away the moon is! Skyvi is updated frequently and I believe that this application will keep getting better and better over time.
Try her out, and while you are at it ask her to tell you about her favorite food.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Free | Unable to add events to calendar |
| Checks local weather | Unable to set alarm |
| Read/Reply text messages | Doesn't always understand user |
| Gets directions | Unable to open apps |
| Has personality | |
| Tells jokes | |
| Learns your name | |
| Checks Facebook/Twitter | |
| Answers general questions | |
| Has hands-free mode |
See all 4 photos Skyvi has personality and often replies with witty remarks. Source: Choxy
See all 4 photos Eva may not tell jokes, but she has a lot of other useful features. Source: Choxy
Eva - Virtual Assistant
Eva has so many features that it is impossible to cover them all. Eva is perfect for you if you want a virtual assistant that will make your life easier rather than someone to chat with. She comes with a full online manual to help make her more user-friendly. This application has a lot of possibilities, but you need to have the time to read her manual in order to have the best possible experience with her.
I recommend installing the free trial version before purchasing the $10.00 app. There is a bit of a learning curve with using Eva. There are a multitude of settings that you can modify to help Eva better suit you. For example, if her vacant stare starts to creep you out, you can turn her picture off. She has a lot of features as well that you will want to play around with as you get the hang of the application, e.g, setting up a wake up phrase.
Eva's response time to speech recognition seems slower than that of other applications. You have to first wait for the speak bubble to turn green before you can begin talking. After speaking to Eva, she always lists a variety of different possible interpretations. She then picks the most likely interpretation from the list. While it is nice that she wants to make sure she is translating the user correctly, this process seems to take longer than other virtual assistants. As she begins to learn your voice though, she will have less and less interpretations to choose from and begin to be much quicker with her responses.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Free trial for a month | Price: $10.00 |
| Location based reminders | Response time |
| Wake up phrase | Lacks personality |
| Open applications | Can activate from pocket |
| Read/Reply Text Messages | Learning curve |
| Activate by shaking phone | |
| Activate by holding device to ear | |
| Opens emails | |
| Silent Mode | |
| Integrates Facebook | |
| Set Alarm | |
| Loads web pages/bookmarks | |
| Add events to calendar | |
| Call someone | |
| Can change contact data | |
| Answers general questions | |
| Create journal entries | |
| Create expense reports | |
| Gets "smarter" as you use it | |
| Gets directions | |
| Checks local weather | |
| Male version - Evan |
See all 4 photos Vlingo can answer general questions. Source: Choxy
Vlingo Virtual Assistant
Vlingo Virtual Assistant has a quick response time and speech recognition is impressive. It tends to go straight to google when it doesn't know the answer to a question though. For example, asking "What is the weather like today?" will transfer you to a google search page. This tendency to turn many requests into a google search can begin to get annoying.
Vlingo does not automatically read back its answers (unless you are in "InCar" mode). Vlingo's response will be displayed on the screen and you must press "Read" for the response to be read audibly back to you.
Vlingo's greatest feature is its "InCar" mode. This mode allows hands-free capabilities such as calling contacts, sending text messages, checking messages and Emails, and getting directions. While is lacks the wit of Skyvi and the features of Eva, Vlingo's remarkable speech recognition makes its hands-free features stand out above the rest.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Free | Unable to check weather |
| Send text messages | Unable to set alarm |
| Call someone | Lacks personality |
| Find businesses | Unable to add events to calendar |
| Search | |
| Update social networks | |
| InCar mode | |
| Answer general questions | |
| Opens Apps | |
| Gets Directions | |
| Hear incoming messages | |
| Twitter/Facebook Integration |
If you want your best friend in your pocket, Skyvi is the app for you. If you are looking for a personal assistant to help you manage your life, Eva may be your best option. If your main focus is on hands-free capabilities while driving, Vlingo would suit you well. Each application is worth trying as they all have their own set of positives and negatives.
No matter which option you choose, each app will make you feel important enough to have a personal assistant to boss around. Now, if only we could download our own J.A.R.V.I.S...
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