8 best virtual assistant apps 2022.
Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri seem to be the only virtual assistant apps everyone is talking about, but there are plenty of competing virtual assistants out there. Some of them you may have never heard of, but many may be better suited to your needs than the two market leaders.
8 best virtual assistant apps 2022
1. Bixby (Samsung Only)
Bixby is Samsung’s own virtual assistant app. While Bixby was a bit of an annoyance to most Galaxy phone users at first, Samsung has continued to improve the software over the years, adding new features and improving existing ones.
One advantage Bixby has over Google Assistant is better integration with Samsung phones. For example, you can access your phone’s settings directly with Bixby.
It also has handy features like “shortcuts” that let you use short phrases for common queries or Bixby routines that work just like Siri shortcuts. If you have a lot of SmartThings devices in your home, it’s also easy to manage them with Bixby.
Since Bixby is only available on select Samsung devices, we obviously cannot recommend it to everyone. However, if you have a Bixby-enabled phone, you should give it a try. It’s not the same buggy Bixby that was released years ago.
2. DataBot (Android & iOS)
When people first saw Jarvis in the first Iron Man movie, it made them want to one day have a witty AI sidekick along with those flashy Hollywood graphics. Siri and Google are far more down-to-earth and precise than Jarvis, but DataBot can satisfy that sci-fi itch.
DataBot has many different modules and can perform many practical and valuable tasks as a virtual assistant. This includes web searches and diary management. However, it’s mostly fun as an “AI” that you can interact with, customize, and have fun with.
3. Robin (Android)
Its developers describe Robin as an “infotainment” voice assistant, indicating that the app is designed to be used in a car while driving. As such, it’s not meant to replace assistants like Google Assistant or Siri, but to do a better job as a car assistant than either of them. As such, Robin’s features are primarily focused on making your driving experience safe and enjoyable. You can ask Robin to play personalized playlists, find parking lots, take action on Facebook, and more.
Just be aware that even though the Robin app has been around for a while, it’s still in beta so expect a weird bug.
4. Hound (Android & iOS)
Hound is a product of SoundHound Inc. SoundHound started as a Shazam-style music identification platform but has expanded to offer a customizable AI voice assistant platform. Hound is a demonstration of the possibilities of their technology.
Hound does pretty much what other voice assistants do, but it actually claims to be known as the natural voice assistant. It can track conversations with you and understand the context. As such, using the Hound is more conversational than you’re probably used to.
5. Sirius (Android & iOS)
Instead of being a serious voice assistant that you can use instead of Siri or Google Assistant, Sirius is more of an experimental toy. However, the developers of the app insist that it is more than just a chatbot. To be honest, Sirius doesn’t do anything useful, but if you feel like having a little conversation with someone without too many expectations, it’s worth a try.
6. Extreme (Android)
DataBot isn’t the only helper app trying to win the hearts of Jarvis fans. Extreme mentions Jarvis and his creator almost immediately in marketing materials.
The actual feature list is more mundane than DataBot’s, but Extreme’s visual style strikes a good balance between the movie’s impractical UI graphics and something you’ll actually use.
You can ask Extreme to search the web, take a selfie, ask navigation questions, and get news about things that interest you, like news or sports.
7. Mycroft
Did you know that Sherlock Holmes had a smarter brother named Mycroft? Mycroft’s AI voice assistant is named after Sherlock’s older brother, who was armed with immense intelligence and fantastic memory, and “Mike” HOLMES IV, the AI ​​from Robert A. Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Lady..< /p>
Mycroft is supposed to be super smart, but it’s also open-source and strictly privacy-oriented. Unfortunately, getting Mycroft isn’t as easy as visiting the app store, but you can buy custom Mycroft gadgets or install them on your own hardware.
iOS users are out of luck, but if you have a Raspberry Pi, Linux, or Android device, you can install Mycroft with little effort. Because it’s open-source, you can even experiment with one of the smartest AI assistants available today.
8. Alexa (Android & iOS)
It may seem odd to put Amazon’s Alexa on the “Assistant Apps You’ve Probably Never Heard Of” list, but there’s a good reason for that. First, while many people know that Alexa is an assistant for Amazon smart speakers, phones, and tablets, they may not know that Alexa is available as an app for both iOS and Android.
While you can’t use it system-level like you can on an Amazon device, you can still access Alexa when the app is open and even use it hands-free by saying “Alexa”.
Thanks for the Assist!
More virtual assistant apps are being released all the time, and the ones we already have are constantly getting smarter. Many of them integrate with home automation systems.So you can control the technology in your home using just your voice, or get informed about what’s happening in your smart home by simply asking.
The digital assistants listed above are just the ones you can get on your devices, but the others are not sold directly to the public. For example, IBM Watson Assistant does not have a public application. Watson is one of the smartest AI systems to date, and there’s a good chance that the last time you spoke to a website “agent”. You were actually talking to an updated version of Watson. It may seem a little strange to talk to a machine but rest assured, they are here to help.