One of the most prominent changes made to iOS 14.5 is the default Siri voice has been removed. However, at the same time, the software has added several new options for Siri’s voice, including different accents and multiple choices for male and female voices.
Siri has received plenty of intelligence upgrades since its initial stages, with improvements in command comprehension, Neural Text to Speech, and many other fascinating capabilities. Despite that, the VA has pretty much sounded the same since its launch all the way back in 2011, so it was definitely time to change things up.
Here is a guide on how to change Siri’s voice on your iPhone and iPad.
- In the Settings mobile application, scroll down on the app’s menu to find the Siri & Search section. If you are facing some issues when trying to find it, you should be able to find the menu in the section that begins with General.
- Tap on Siri & Search, and then press Siri Voice. You can select between American, British, Australian, Irish, Indian, or South African accents. Choosing the American option will give you four voices – two male-presenting, two female-presenting – while the other variants offer just two, one male-presenting and one female-presenting.
- If you want to change the default language of Siri, navigate to Siri & Search > Language. You will find a multitude of English variants from which you can choose what is the most convenient for you.
You can also decide when you will be able to hear Siri’s new voice.
- Head to Siri & Search > Siri Responses. The default is ‘When Silent Mode is Off’, but you can have Siri respond even when the Ring Switch is set to silent. The alternative is only to allow it to respond to your commands when you say ‘Hey Siri’. Regardless of which option you choose, Siri always responds audibly when using hands-free tech systems like Apple CarPlay or Bluetooth headphones.
- You can also program Siri in a way for it to tell you who is calling for hands-free devices. Navigate to Siri & Search > Announce Calls to set Siri to tell you this information when you are wearing headphones or while you are in the car.
- In the main Siri & Search menu, you also have control over when Siri listens to you. You can use the conventional ‘Hey Siri’ wake word and/or long press the side power button to summon it. Also, you get to decide whether or not Siri will be able to answer questions when your phone is locked.
