Mitzi and I switch using our iPhones on CarPlay in the RAV4. For much of this trip, Siri has been silent when it comes to navigation directions on Mitzi's phone. Somehow, magically I guess, it started working again at some point. But it was incredibly loud.

While silence was puzzling and annoying to me, the loud volume was intolerable enough to prompt me to do a search. It turns out that Siri's volume for navigation is in the Map app settings, and there are three choices, "Softer," "Normal," and "Louder." Oddly, there's no choice for "Silence."

So why we couldn't get spoken directions for so long remains a mystery. Why they returned at "Louder," is likewise inscrutable.

And, is it just me? Why in the world does spoken directions have a separate volume control? What kind of sense does that make? I'm sure there's some "reason," but it isn't obvious to me. Possibly because I'm not a "user experience" expert. I'm just a user with a shitty experience.

At one point, I used Siri to ask her to lower the volume. She told me to use the car's volume controls! Which we'd tried so many times already, to no avail.

Stuff like this just drives me nuts. It makes me feel foolish and stupid. It never occurred to me to check the Map app's Settings, because volume control has two dedicated buttons on the device and another control on the steering wheel!

"Minds greater than our own," and all that.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:50 Wednesday, 17 July 2024