[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] claude4:
Is this a rant or do I have valid questions? I guess the moderators will decide.

I have done a bit of searching here and on Google about: Vlingo, GoogleVoice Talk, Samsung powered by Vlingo on the GNote and I cannot believe I am not catching more hits about others “complaining” about the inconsistent behavior and general unreliability of voice control on Android and the Gnote in particular.

Add Bluetooth to the mix and it becomes MOST frustrating. I use a PlantronicsVoyager Pro+ headset.

I long push the BT headset button and never know what to expect; will it work this time, will it not?

· When I get a response from the phone, by that Imean the phone switches to the voice control app, It sometimes announces how many missed calls I have and then prompts me “voice talk is ready” or at other times “Vlingo is ready”. Sometimes it just announces how many calls I missed and goes no further, at other times after announcing the number of missed calls it will continue on to state that “it” is ready at which point I can say “Call blahblah at home” etc.

· Many times the phone just does not react at all as if I did not long push the button on my BT headset even though in Settings> BT settings on the phone it shows that the headset is paired.

· Some days, when the line item above occurs, I click on my “paired” BT headset listed in BT Settings and I can hear the acknowledgement tone in my ear “The Voyager also has a voice that states “Phone 1 connected “ and then I can initiate a call via BT. After I end the call the connection to my BT headset drops off again and I cannot initiate another BT session unless I again tap on the paired BT headset listed in BT settings..

· I can often resolve these issues by either powering off\on the BT headset or by rebooting the phone.

· Again, without changing any settings in Vlingo,Voice Talk or with BT settings; Some days I get an announcement that I have a new TXT message (in my headset and via the speaker which of course to me should be either\or but not both, sometimes the announcement tells me who sent the TXT msg. and speaks out the message that was sent, other days I don’t even get an audible notification.I am NOT making any changes to any of the settings at this point.

· Somewhere in the settings section of the phone,Vlingo or is it voice talk I was able to select a specific sound to play for incoming TXT messages which I have yet to hear played when a TXT msg. is received.

Oh and yes, there is a difference in the way things behave based on if the phone is charging or not or if the screen is off or not.

I also find it rather confusing with the various settings that control all this being spread across numerous different settings screens. By that I mean Android has a settings> Voice input and output” page Vlingo has its settings pages, Voice Talk as well and who the hell knows which one has president over the other, or which program is going to do your bidding, etc.

All very confusing and unfocused IMO.​

I wonder if anyone at Samsung, Vlingo or Google for that matter has tried to use this “Voice activated solution” on a daily basis.

I’d like to see the chairman of Samsung, Geesung Choi, give this a go and hear his opinion on all this as Samsung has gotten into bed with Vlingo on the GNote to the point where you cannot disable it.

I come from Windows Mobile and MS Voice Command which obviously is not in the same league as these solutions, nor with Apples Siri BUT for what MSVC was, it was reliable and one could count on being able to use voice control over BT and expect it to make a damn phone call or tell you the correct time without sending you to a website.

I am not sorry for the rant here!

It seems to me that the Android OS, these third party voice solutions and the whole thing needs to be more cohesively integrated within the OS and the various apps (email, messaging, calling, etc.) and implemented in such a way that it simply works reliably!

I know that some of the inconsistencies I list above may be due to a variety of causes. HW, SW, BT stack, Voice Apps, etc. and not to forget pilot error (me). But we are dealing with a great phone, a highly configurable OS and a great BT headset and the results are less than stellar here.

We are upon ICS and if this stuff does not “come together” in its implementation and become much less fragmented and confusing on how to configure the mess of settings, Google should not be surprised to see many people choose the iPhone because no matter what one thinks of the iPhone, it isv ery consistent and cohesively thought out and gives the end user a feeling that I wish I had, and no I am not a fanboy of the iPhone, I am simply statinga fact that many people would agree with.

“It simply works”.

Not to lose sight that I am asking questions here:

Am I the only one experiencing these inconsistencies and frustrations?

Am I the only one who sees these settings spread out all over the place as less than ideal?

Do we have to accept that Android is an open environemt to mean a lack of consistency in the way apps are configured and customized?

Is everyone just "dealing with it" and willing to accept this as status quo?

AND PLEASE DO NOT FLAME ME for sharing my frustrations and my opinion. I need to be able to rely on hands free communications and I need it to work. I need the large screen of the GNote and I love what Samsung has given us.

BUT

I need it to work!

I will now go back and play with all these settings and see if I can make sense of it all.