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Hound launches on iOS as a formidable personal assistant competitor to Siri

Hound (Featured Image)

Hound, a voice search application from the creators behind SoundHound, has been released today for iOS. Hound’s application focuses on bringing users quick, accurate voice driven search results in a way I only wish Siri could. Implementing Google Now-style cards, Hound’s interface is direct and to the point. Users are presented with a list of similar topics they can search for, and even given examples of the complex queries Hound can handle.

Since Siri’s beginning, users have always wanted a little more out of the virtual assistant. Unfortunately, as time has progressed, the assistant has seen only small updates here and there to its usability and speed. With the recent desire and reports that Siri will move to the Mac, more and more companies are sprouting up to compete directly on iOS. While Siri may have beat out Google Now and Cortana in a user satisfaction survey, there is no doubt that these alternatives are looking to fill any gaps Siri may have.

Hound is Siri’s latest competitor. Hound’s UI is simplistic and reminiscent of Google Search‘s UI. A single button draws attention at the bottom-center of the view, inviting users to tap it and ask any questions they may have. Including an opt-out voice activation feature, users can jump into asking questions simply by proclaiming ‘Ok Hound’.

Hound delivers on a multitude of search results. Everything from weather, to hotel locations, and even nutritional facts. The granularity of otherwise intense inquiries is where Hound really shines. For example, a user can ask,”Show me Asian restaurants nearby, but not Korean or Japanese, that are open after 8PM.” Siri, asks what type of restaurant I would like, Japanese, Korean, or Asian. Hound shows me all nearby Asian restaurants excluding Korean, Japanese, and sushi bars. This subtle difference in inquiry and response makes Hound feel very much like the search/personal assistant I imagined Siri could be.

While I love the abilities that Hound possesses, it is quite difficult to get onboard using it instead of Siri. iOS doesn’t currently provide a way to set third-party apps as default in lieu of its own. This makes the experience of unlocking the device, finding the app, and then launching it a bit more cumbersome.

Our own Stephen Hall took an in-depth look at Hound’s original Android beta last June, and wrote about its first public release today. Although his video pits Google Now and Hound beta head to head on Android, the search results on iOS should match up similarly.

Hound is available for free in the App Store and is compatible with the iPhone and iPad.

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Comments

  1. Nothing you have to load as a stand-alone app can ever be a formidable comparison against what’s baked system-wide into the OS.

    • chrisl84 - 8 years ago

      Wrong….half those stand-alone apps are only as good as they are because they stole features from 3rd party apps.

      • chrisl84 - 8 years ago

        *half those system-wide apps

    • Smigit - 8 years ago

      Can’t say I agree. If we are talking OS in general, that’d mean IE is and always has been the best browser to run on Windows which most would likely say isn’t the case not or at least wasn’t for periods over the past 15 years.

      In regards to this app on iOS, it is at a severe disadvantage since there won’t be hands free support. That said, there’s a lot Siri can’t do so if your request falls into that category and is rendering Siri close to useless, then this may still trump it despite it being less elegant to engage the app.

      If iOS was to open up and allow hands free commands and lock screen support for third part apps, there’s a good chance third party solutions would be as practical as Siri. It’s really an iOS limitation but and not a solid rule about first party OS apps.

    • Jason Caputo - 8 years ago

      Being baked into the OS only gives some advantages. In this case, convenience, the ability to use Siri by long pressing the home button. But if Siri’s search results are not as useful as Hound’s, its convenience advantage may not be enough. Who wants “easy to pull up” incorrect / incomplete answers?

    • Jamison.IO (@Jamison_IO) - 8 years ago

      *unless that baked in OS app is as pathetically inept as Siri.

  2. dcj001 - 8 years ago

    “A singul button draws attention”

    Singul???????

  3. BuffyzDead (@BuffyzDead) - 8 years ago

    My main concern is where do all these inquiries go to?
    Will I have to share all my contacts, their email address, my email address, locations, etc, …..and then will I be spammed?

    I’ll take a wait and see approach

    PS
    It’s the sole reason I will never use Google Now.
    Privacy concerns.

    • Greg Barbosa - 8 years ago

      Agreed.

    • Libby Lib - 8 years ago

      I too am Google averse, but you can opt out of it having access to your contacts and or location if you wish. I was amazed at the quick response time to questions and their accuracy.