Getting Siri's voice-recognition capabilities on your phone just became a possibility for Android users and a bit less expensive for iPhone users. Meet Evi -- a $.99 app for iPhones and free for Android. For such a nominal price, don't expect Evi to be on par with Siri. There are some major differences with Evi as opposed to the quick and integrated Siri. Evi will not schedule meetings on your calendar or let you dictate text messages. But for functions like finding local shops, restaurants and general information, it's pretty helpful.
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I asked Evi: "What time is it, Evi?" and it thought I said, "What time is it TV?". Messages such as "Just a mo'" appeared on the screen to let me know it was thinking and then it said, "I'm having trouble getting a response from my servers." Yes, it was noticeably slower than Siri.
Other times it would say, "I don't know right now -- try asking again next week." I asked, "Can you set my alarm for 9 p.m.?" even though Evi is not synced with the other apps like Siri is, it said it hasn't learned to do that yet.
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Could it be possible that True Knowledge, the company behind Evi, will integrate the app with its operating system's other functions in the future? Check out the company's video below introducing Evi.
The voice sounds a lot like Siri, although some reviewers have said the voice sounds annoying. Yes, it thinks too long and sometimes right after you state your query it says it is not getting a response from the servers, but then, your answer appears.
But even as I write this, I keep wanting to call this app Siri because it's quite similar. However, Apple's assistant still comes out in the lead compared to Evi [Link to app store].
For as many people who use Siri for making appointments and scheduling calls, there are also many who enjoy the depth of knowledge and wit Siri contains. Ask Siri to "tell me about the Civil War" and it directs me to a related link. Ask Evi the same question and you get a brief encyclopedia response including the dates and a small photo.
Siri also has built-in cleverness. Just to play around with Evi and find out if any sassy answers were built into this app, I asked, "What's my name?" and it responded, "Who are you? Surely you know the answer to that one already." I asked Evi other absurd questions like, What should I eat for dinner?" and it pointed me to a website for an olive tapenade recipe.
If you want a bare-bones Siri with some frequent hiccups -- but a .99 cent or free price tag -- Evi is a good option for now.
What do you think about Evi? Have you used it? How does it compare to Siri? Tell us in the comments.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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