Image Credits: Gadgets Surface
Siri now has four American-accented English voices, but in iOS 15.4, Apple will introduce a fifth. According to Axios, the new voice intends to give a gender-neutral alternative for the first time.
Apple adds US English support in Siri
In the current beta edition, the voice is branded “Voice 5” in the Settings panel, however, developer Steve Moser revealed on Twitter that the voice is titled “Quinn” below the hood. According to Axios, Apple revealed that the voice is made up of recordings made by members of the LGBTQ+ community. Moser also shared a sample of the new voice on Twitter:
iOS 15.4 Beta 4 changes 🧵: Apple adds a 5th American Siri voice with filename ‘Quinn’ pic.twitter.com/HFQZV1oF0I
— Steve Moser (@SteveMoser) February 22, 2022
A female voice was the default for the most of the time since Siri became a key iPhone feature in 2011. The year before, Apple altered the iPhone setup to offer the user to choose a male or female voice when the phone was initially turned on, with no default choice.
Axios received the following response from Apple regarding the new voice in the iOS 15.4 beta:
“We’re thrilled to offer a new Siri voice for English speakers, expanding the number of voices available to users. Because millions of individuals use Siri every day to help them get things done, we strive to make the experience as customized as possible.”
The year before last, Apple added the third and fourth US English Siri sounds—female and male voices intended to replicate African American speech.
Apple offers Siri voices in a variety of languages, including Cantonese, Mandarin, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian Bokml, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish, in addition to these five US English voices. Within such languages, there are regional or accent differences, such as Chilean, Mexican, Spanish, and US versions of Spanish. Other features in iOS 15.4 include the option to utilize Face ID while wearing a face mask, dual-sim 5G compatibility, and the ability to choose a favorite music-streaming provider.
What else we know so far:
Apple released the third public betas of the forthcoming iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 updates to public beta testers today, a week after the second public betas were seeded. iOS with iPadOS 15.4 may be downloaded out over air following installing the proper profile from Apple’s public beta testing page on an iPhone or iPad.
The primary changes are iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4. iOS 15.4 adds a new feature that allows you to unlock your iPhone with your Face ID while wearing a mask, while iPadOS 15.4 adds Universal Control. Universal Control lets many Macs and iPads to be controlled with a single cursor and keyboard when coupled with a Mac running macOS Monterey 12.3, and it’s very simple and intuitive to use. Universal Control needs macOS Monterey 12.3, which does not appear to be accessible to public beta testers at this time.
