iPhones are popular and widely used not just because of their thousands of features but also because of Apple’s foresight into areas where other technology is playing catchup.
This is especially true when it comes to accessibility features. While many consider accessibility an afterthought, Apple has stepped up to become an accessibility leader and has made that technology a normal standard of modern devices.
One of the most prominent features is Apple’s Personal Voice, which allows you to speak 150 different phrases in your voice into a recording when you cannot speak clearly on your own.
If you want to learn more about this feature and how to use Personal Voice on iPhones, join us for this helpful guide.
What Is Personal Voice?
Illness and age sometimes deprive us of our ability to speak, or at least to do so clearly.
For instance, you might have a very sore throat, cough, or another symptom that causes you great discomfort or pain when trying to vocalize.
For those situations, Apple’s Personal Voice allows you to create a set of about 150 synthesized vocal phrases that sound almost entirely like you so that your communication with loved ones and coworkers does not need to stop.
With the Personal Voice recordings saved, users can enable another new feature, called Live Speech, which will speak whatever you type in the new “personal voice.” The idea is not to trick anyone, especially those who know you well.
The voice has a degree of synthesis that wouldn’t sound 100% human, but that isn’t the goal of the feature. Rather, it is to assist you in speaking when you cannot do so otherwise.
How to Set Up Personal Voice
The Personal Voice accessibility feature can be used on Macs, iPhones, and iPads running macOS Sonoma, iOS 17, and iPadOS 17, respectively.
The setup process involves the reading of text prompts, chosen randomly, and recording roughly 15 spoken audio minutes.
As your WiFi-connected device charges overnight, your speech and vocal patterns will be securely processed to allow the feature to be used via Live Speech in the future.
There are just a few steps to set up Personal Voice. First, you will want to make sure that you are updated to the latest iOS update, even if you already have iOS 17.
You can do this by going to Settings > General > Software Update section. Once you can set aside about 15 minutes in a quiet place, follow these steps to set up your personal voice.
1. Open the Settings app, scroll down and select Accessibility.
2. Scroll down and choose Personal Voice under the Speech section.
3. Select Create a Personal Voice and authenticate yourself to access the feature.
4. A set of on-screen instructions and prompts will follow that will instruct you when to record your voice.
5. Each phrase you see on the screen will be automatically replaced with the next one after you record it. If you make a mistake, tap the rewind button at the top to go back and try again.
By default, the recording will move to the next phrase automatically. If you prefer to record each phrase separately, tap “Continuous Recording” at the bottom and choose “Stop at Each Phrase.”
6. Otherwise, keep recording until you have read all the sentences. This should take about 15-20 minutes.
When you finish, a message will appear on the screen indicating you are done recording. Tap “Continue” to proceed.
7. Tap “OK” on the next prompt and turn on notifications for Personal Voice. You’ll get a notification when your personal voice is created.
Allow Personal Voice Time to Complete
The preparation process is a bit lengthy. During the processing time, the new Personal Voice will have a status present to inform you where the process is and what percentage has now been completed.
Once this is no longer visible, the Personal Voice you set up is ready to be used. This can take as long as 24 hours, though it will likely be faster than that for most users.
Deleting a Personal Voice
There are several reasons you may want to delete a personal voice. First, you might want to simply redo the setup because you are not happy with it.
Secondly, the feature allows you to have multiple personal voices, whether it be for yourself or other users of the device.
The process to delete them is simple:
- Go to your iPhone’s Settings.
- Select the Accessibility tab.
- Select Personal Voice.
- From the list of personal voices, select the one that you want to remove
- You will need to authenticate access with either a passcode, Touch ID, or Face ID.
- Select Delete Voice.
- Confirm the deletion by choosing Delete Voice And Recording.
Use Personal Voice On Other Devices
You may have set up Personal Voice on your iPhone, but you may also want to use it from your iPad.
You don’t need to redo the entire process and wait for it to prepare again on another device.
Just toggle Share Across Devices to the on position in the Personal Voice tab. Any recorded voices will become available on any other devices linked to your iCloud account.
You can also allow apps to use your personal voice by turning on the toggle next to “Allow Apps to Request to Use.”
Enable Live Speech
Setting up Personal Voice is one thing, but using it requires the enabling of Live Speech, which can also be found under the Accessibility tab.
Swipe down until you see the Live Speech section, enable the feature, and select your language preference for your Personal Voice. Then, you will be able to use the feature going forward.
You should only enable this when you need to use the feature. When you are done, you should toggle Live Speech off through the same function as you used to turn it on.
Using Personal Voice
With Live Speech enabled and personal voices shared across your devices, you can make regular phone calls or FaceTime.
During the call, tap the side button three times, select Live Speech, and then begin typing the text you want transferred to your Personal Voice.
When you are finished, tap send, and the typed text will be converted to your voice. You and the party at the other end of the call will hear the voice.
Wrap Up
Apple’s Personal Voice is a great way to overcome communication hurdles for those unable to vocalize at a particular time.
The feature allows your voice to still be audible to those you call, even if you are unable to produce it yourself.
This is just another way that Apple is proving its prioritization of accessibility features in its products.
Leave a comment below if you have any questions.
