As of IOS 17, anyone can set up a voice that sounds like them. It may come in handy for those who may end up losing their voice at some point because of a disability like ALS. Although there are options where users can make a text to speech voice sound like them, the process is expensive and takes place in the cloud. Personal Voice on IOS 17 is absolutely free, and all processing is done on the device. Although Apple claims it takes 15 minutes to set things up, in my testing it took at least an hour to set it up. You must record 150 phrases, which takes time since you may need to re-record phrases. Additionally, if you are using Voiceover and wish to try out this feature, it is best that you pair a braille display. With all that out of the way, here’s how to record your personal voice.
- Go to Settings > Accessibility.
- Scroll down to Personal Voice, it is under the “Speech” heading.
- From here, go ahead and add a new voice.
- Iphone will have you record a phrase to verify that you are in a quiet environment.
- After that, it is time to record 150 phrases. You will be reading random sentences on historic events, as well as a few others. It is best that you speak naturally as you’re reading. This will take at least an hour.
Once you are finished with all 150 phrases, the fun part begins. You are informed that you must have your phone charging and locked. When I was testing out personal voice, I closed all background apps, which helped ensure the voice would process quickly. I believe if you don’t close background apps, there is a chance you will constantly receive notifications claiming that the processing of your personal voice has been paused.
Once your personal voice has been processed, you will receive a notification letting you know it is ready. To test it out, head to Settings > Accessibility > Live Speech, and turn it on. Change the voice from the default to your personal voice, then tripple click the side or home button to start live speech. Finally, type in anything you’d like to say.
Personal Voice is such a cool feature available as of IOS 17. Once set up, you are able to use it while having a conversation in person, or while on a phone or Facetime call. However, there are no other apps that take advantage of the personal voice feature. Regardless, I will be on the lookout in regards to which apps will support this amazing feature!
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