I'm curious to how well this feature work. Can you send navigation info to the system? I'm assuming you can call and text as well as some other information that Siri usually allows you to do but what about functions in the car? How well do they work? Haven't been able to find any real information on real world usage.

 

I've only used the eyes free feature a few times, and I'm not sure how to activate it from the car. When I've done it I just use my phone to activate Siri then a screen comes up in the car that says "smartphone" and I just give it a normal command as I would with Siri. I honestly don't see the use in it that much, maybe I'm not doing it right though. From what I've seen it's just Siri through Bluetooth.

 

From my little testing, it seems like it's just Siri via bluetooth. To activate Siri via the car and not from the phone, hold down the talk button on the steering wheel for about 2-3 seconds and Siri will activate.

 

I have my iPhone connected via bluetooth and iPod connected to the USB port. There isn't a Siri button or activation in the menus, so I'm certain it'll only work when the phone is plugged to the USB port. I've tried holding the command button on the wheel to give a command, and nothing happens.

 

It is supposed to be installed in the car from the factory, and operates via bluetooth not USB. After you iPhone has been paired try holding the "talk" button on the steering wheel for two seconds (a long press). Siri should then be channeled through the cars microphone and speakers.

It is interesting that it is completely missing from the Navigation Manual.

 

It's on page 25 of the navigation manual.

Bill

 

I find the Siri Eyes Free to be VERY useful to quickly send text messages to people without distraction while I am driving. My iPhone stays in my pocket (connected by Bluetooth, and not the USB).
By activating the "Siri" function on the steering wheel, I can say "send a text to Joe Smith"- Siri will respond with "What do you want to text to Joe Smith?"- and then I can dictate for a while- and my text will be read back to me to confirm before sending it. It is like 95% accurate, and certainly a lot better than taking out my phone and typing texts. You can even command the system to read back text replies, and send further texts.

In addition, you can also easily activate other Siri functions like asking about the weather, or have Siri read you local movie times, etc. over the car's speakers.
It's very cool.

 

I go back and forth from using Siri eyes free to just Siri itself. If you have iOS 8 and your iPhone is plugged into power just say "hey Siri" and then it will take commands without any touches.

Bill

 

Good to read this discussion. I'm about ready to ditch my G-Note3 for a new phone. One of the most frustrating things about the canned text responses that the system has is that there's no way to edit/add a response that you can personalize.


Being able to reply to a text message somewhat seals the deal for me.

 

Siri eyes free is the one reason I am thinking of ditching my Nexus for an iphone. The are some compatibility issues with upgraded iphone 5s that are being worked on.

 

Thanks
I'll have to try this, it sounds very useful. I wish Siri eyes free would interface with the NAV as I'm finding that entering a destination is tedious compared to other systems I've used.

 

Ya, Acura won't give us nav integration with siri because they'd prefer you subscribe to a premium Acuralink level. Sucky.


I will say that once you get used to it, the car's built in voice recognition for addresses isn't too bad. Just hit the voice button once, say ADDRESS, wait, then hit the button again, then say the whole thing (e.g. 2405 west 81st street... Portland Washington"), then wait again. It actually works fairly well, except that it won't work during the first 2-3 minutes of driving while the system is still booting up.


The main frustration I continue to have with it is that you cannot do even basic searches for specific locations. So if you want to find something like the nearest 5 guys burgers, you would have to actually use your phone in your hand. Aside from the car's pitiful category search "find nearest restaurant," I can't see that there is any way at all to find specific locations.

 

I'll say this at every opportunity possible. That only works on US models, not Canadian models. We have to spell out the street and city letter by letter, but can say the street number.

Please do this test for me and let me know the results. After ADDRESS say "1 King St East Toronto Ontario" and see it finds the address.

 

I love the Siri Eyes Free feature. I use it all the time. My phone is paired via Bluetooth, and my car's audio source is also Bluetooth.

I hold down the Voice button on the steering wheel for 2-5 seconds, and Siri activates 90% of the time. It occasionally fails because of software bugs in the iPhone. I consistently solve this by hitting the Sleep button on the iPhone and trying again.

Once Siri is active, I can do anything non-car specific.
"Read my text messages"
"At 7pm remind me to turn on the oven"
"Play music by Beethoven"
"Play my Car Trip Playlist"
"Take me home"

"Take me home" activates Apple Maps, and does voice turn-by-turn directions to my Apple ID's home address. I don't have a Tech package on my TLX, so this command is wonderful. For other addresses, I punch them into my phone before I start driving.

 

My system "boots up" to full functionality within 30 seconds- and I have over 95% success with having my New Jersey addresses pop up absolutely perfectly on my first try simply by saying the "whole thing", as in the experience above.

When I DON'T go through the "voice portal" (by NOT saying 'address' first)- my success rate is significantly poorer, and sometimes (very rarely) I get prompted for letter-by-letter. That method is pathetic, and if that is the only way to do it in Canada by voice- I would be completely frustrated!!!

That being said- with the "test" scenerio above (and using the 'address portal')- when I read the whole Canadian address above- it DID correctly populate the field with "Ontario"; it gave me three choices to select "Toronto" (it was choice #1), and for the street address- it did not present King Street as a choice at all, but rather it gave me "Kingsley, Kingsway, Kingston, Kingsmere, Kingswood, and Trinity" to pick from a list.

It DEFINITELY was a much more burdensome process than what is typical for local searches in New Jersey- and it ultimately didn't find the street by voice anyway.

Sorry for the info, but I hope it helps somehow!

 

Better to say "find nearest fast food" - that would be faster than just restaurant. There's also find nearest Pizza, or American Restaurant (or Californian even....?). But I'll agree it is ludicrous to not have full address voice recognition, just because it has French (and spanish) too. We also are stuck with a female voice.....not that that is a problem, but I believe you have a choice in the US.

 

The ridiculous thing about the boot up time is that I generally want to input directions immediately upon entering my car, or at least soon after I leave. It sucks to have to get in and either sit there waiting (better to keep the car quiet when using voice) or plan to input the voice address several blocks down the road from my house after it has booted up. Voice or not, this takes button presses and attention, it's not like I have these addresses memorized, I'm usually copying them from my iphone. I'd rather not have to use it while driving, and it's just generally frustrating to have to deal with telling the car an address when the Bluetooth link to my phone SHOULD be easily capable of carrying that google maps info.

 

Simply put, Siri integration means the phone accesses the car's speakers and microphone. Siri can't display anything on the car's screens or integrate with any other car functions, she just sounds louder, that's all.


Honestly, louder-Siri isn't a whole lot more useful than regular Siri. The only benefit is the steering wheel button, which as you said, works about 90% of the time. This, and Pandora integration, represent the current apex of tech integration in luxury cars for 2015...

 

Can someone on this thread test "hey siri" function. You have to turn it on under the siri settings on ios 8. Once you phone is plugged into power it will listen for you to say "hey siri" and automatically activate siri. I want to know what happens and how the TLX will react.

 

One big advantage to using "siri eyes free" (by pressing and holding the steering wheel button) rather than just using "hey siri", is that when you press the steering wheel button- not only does it activate the siri function, but it automatically mutes whatever audio you have playing, and turns down the a/c fan while you are speaking commands. Less cabin noise = greater chance of siri understanding you when you speak.

During cold winter mornings (with the defroster blowing)- the "one-touch" feature to make the cabin quiet makes things easier; also, being able to leave my phone in my pocket is a plus.

So, I vote for "eyes free" over "hey siri"!