Voice recognition and speed dial

  • Thread starter Thread starter JimW
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JimW

JimW

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My last car was 2012 Audi, and I loved the voice recognition for making phone calls. The voice recognition in Clarity is pretty bad. Not only do you have to wait for seconds between pushing the voice button and talking, but it seldom seems to get it right. Same problems for voice music search.

I discovered the access to speed dial feature when you press the phone button (left side of steering wheel). I really like this for my frequently called numbers, I can access and dial with a few presses of my left thumb.

It has been many years since I owned a Honda. Are all Honda infotainment systems this bad?
 
Are you using Android auto when you're having issues? For me, Android auto works horrible and if you go to the Google Android auto forums, it's full of people complaining about it.
 
The Honda voice recognition feature is completely separate from Android Auto, and I do not use the OEM system for navigation or other functions in favor of Android Auto. Unlike Jordan ("For me, Android auto works horrible..."), I have found Android Auto to be far superior to anything else out there for voice recognition for all purposes. I have used Android Auto virtually daily in 2 Honda's over a 3-year period, one a 2016 Accord and now in my new 2018 Clarity, and all one needs to do is press the steering wheel button and tell Android Auto where you want to go (whether an address or just a place name (like "directions to 'A&B Automotive'") or if you want to call Dorothy ("call Dorothy mobile") or send her an SMS text ("send text to Dorothy"), or playing music through the vehicle sound system ("play soft jazz music" or "play music by Johan Pachibal"), etc. The voice recognition, at least for me, has been excellent and the responsiveness very fast, and this on a mid-range Android phone connected to the car. (I haven't seen any negative comments at the Google Android Auto forums, probably because my personal experience has been terrific.)
 
Honda voice recong is pretty but. But one thing to keep in mind when using the voice feature of android auto is that voice recognition for AA requires data. The phone can't decipher what you said. It need to send the voice file to google. So if you have bad reception then voice recognition for Android Auto would be horrible.
 
megreyhair said:
Honda voice recong is pretty but. But one thing to keep in mind when using the voice feature of android auto is that voice recognition for AA requires data. The phone can't decipher what you said. It need to send the voice file to google. So if you have bad reception then voice recognition for Android Auto would be horrible.
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Yes, if your phone's data reception is poor, Android Auto's voice recognition might also be poor. I say "might" because I live in a rural area of Central Texas (15 miles one-way to buy a loaf of bread) and haven't experienced this problem yet, at least using T-Mobile's data network. But you are completely right that results may vary with cell phone carriers and data plans, and my previous comment was incomplete. Thanks for commenting further.
 
Texas22Step said:
The Honda voice recognition feature is completely separate from Android Auto, and I do not use the OEM system for navigation or other functions in favor of Android Auto. Unlike Jordan ("For me, Android auto works horrible..."), I have found Android Auto to be far superior to anything else out there for voice recognition for all purposes. I have used Android Auto virtually daily in 2 Honda's over a 3-year period, one a 2016 Accord and now in my new 2018 Clarity, and all one needs to do is press the steering wheel button and tell Android Auto where you want to go (whether an address or just a place name (like "directions to 'A&B Automotive'") or if you want to call Dorothy ("call Dorothy mobile") or send her an SMS text ("send text to Dorothy"), or playing music through the vehicle sound system ("play soft jazz music" or "play music by Johan Pachibal"), etc. The voice recognition, at least for me, has been excellent and the responsiveness very fast, and this on a mid-range Android phone connected to the car. (I haven't seen any negative comments at the Google Android Auto forums, probably because my personal experience has been terrific.)
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Thank you so much for posting this; I had no idea so I tried it today with my crappy Android and it still worked like a charm! I had no idea I could tell my car to text someone. I used to receive the texts through the car but couldn't reply other than the few preprogrammed ones like 'Sorry, I'm driving now' . Now I can drive and tell the car to text someone :-) Thank you thank you thank you!
 
Here is the issue I was referencing.

https://productforums.google.com/fo...er#!msg/android-auto/urEyGdb9tm4/EJXs36iSBgAJ

Android auto almost always says "message" at the beginning of my texts, or I have to repeat myself, etc. It's been very frustrating. Other than texts, it works really well. It's just texts. I'm referencing this just in case anyone else has any issues. There are a couple of solves, you have to turn the audio of the android all the way down and use the dev Google App which now I only have the issues 25% of the time.
 
My complaint was about the built-in Honda voice recognition. For short trips, I usually do not plug my phone into USB. I find AA does a good job of voice recognition, and I use this on longer trips.

I assumed that by 2018, most mainstream auto manufacturers would have solid voice recognition as standard feature - required to be competitive in the market. So I was wondering if Civics, Accords, CRVs, etc. all have this crappy system. Maybe the manufacturers are no longer concerned about their infotainment system performance, assuming that Car Play and AA will take over the user interface.
 
I've found AA works more reliably for calls than the Honda setup. But I'd really like to use the Honda phone system because I prefer the Honda navigation to AA. For one thing, the Honda map on the screen is MUCH better than AA. For another, the countdown on the HUD, showing how far until your next turn, only works with the Honda nav, and it's a very cool feature. The Honda nav also has great graphics showing what interchanges look like as you approach. Anyone have any tips on how to get the Honda phone system to work better? I have numbers in its speed dial but the only way I can use them is via the touch screen. Seems like it should be able to call those numbers via voice command.
 
Push phone button on steering wheel with left thumb. A second push goes into speed dial. Scroll down and push on desired number. Works great.
 
Manual suggests reducing ambient noise like closing windows and reducing blower speed and not pointing vents upward at microphone. Also it only recognizes a limited set of commands and from the driver’s seat only.
 
I think my voice may be too soft for the speech recognition. The only time we use it is when we want a laugh. We only have successful responses to Navigation or Music Search about 5% of the time.
 
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