Siri on the iPhone 4S requires a data connection to operate, and recent tests of Apples new voice control service has found that it uses an average of 63KB per query. When Siri was first announced, people were curious how it would affect users who had a capped data plan. It turns out that someone who uses Siri 10 to 15 times a day would use a total of 18.5 MB to 27.7 MB in one month. Thats not too bad.
The assumption has been that Siri was a data hog. The assistant relies on Apples servers for even the simplest of demands. This constant exchange of data during use could have an incredible impact on user data usage. Jacqui Chengs findings, of Ars Tehnica may come as a relief to some.
The incredible small amount of data was found by doing 11 different tasks with six of them being local and five that required online access. Local tasks averaged 36.7 KB per query, and online requests utilizing Wolfram Alpha or Web search averaged 94.72 KB. Four text dictations were also ran using short e-mails and two text messages and they averaged 75.5 KB per query. This proves longer messages require more processing by Apples servers and more bandwidth.
Theres not a great deal to get worried about based on those figures, then, and its worth noting that if youre hooked up to Wi-Fi, Siri wont eat any of your data allowance at all. Those that may need to keep an eye on things are the ones with pay-as-you-go plans, who often pay more for data, or those with very low monthly allowances.
by Radu Tyrsina
Source: AppleInsider
The assumption has been that Siri was a data hog. The assistant relies on Apples servers for even the simplest of demands. This constant exchange of data during use could have an incredible impact on user data usage. Jacqui Chengs findings, of Ars Tehnica may come as a relief to some.
The incredible small amount of data was found by doing 11 different tasks with six of them being local and five that required online access. Local tasks averaged 36.7 KB per query, and online requests utilizing Wolfram Alpha or Web search averaged 94.72 KB. Four text dictations were also ran using short e-mails and two text messages and they averaged 75.5 KB per query. This proves longer messages require more processing by Apples servers and more bandwidth.
Theres not a great deal to get worried about based on those figures, then, and its worth noting that if youre hooked up to Wi-Fi, Siri wont eat any of your data allowance at all. Those that may need to keep an eye on things are the ones with pay-as-you-go plans, who often pay more for data, or those with very low monthly allowances.
by Radu Tyrsina
Source: AppleInsider
