iOS 14.5 Adds New Siri Voices, No Longer Defaults to Female

[MacRumors]

The sixth beta of iOS 14.5 that was released this morning introduces two new Siri voices that are available in English, plus it adds a new setup selection option that will let people choose their preferred Siri voice rather than defaulting to a female voice in the United States.

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The Siri changes were outlined by TechCrunch, and the site says that the two new voices will add more diversity in speech sound and pattern. Apple in a statement said that the change is a continuation of its commitment to diversity and inclusion.

We're excited to introduce two new Siri voices for English speakers and the option for Siri users to select the voice they want when they set up their device. This is a continuation of Apple's long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion, and products and services that are designed to better reflect the diversity of the world we live in.

The new voices that have been added use source talent recordings run through Apple's Neural Engine to make the voices "flow more organically" through phrases generated on the fly.

After upgrading to iOS 14.5, the "Siri & Search" portion of the Settings app has an upgraded "Siri Voice" option. The "Accent" label has been changed to "Variety," and there's no longer a "Gender" selection. Instead, there are now four "American" voice options to choose from.

Today's beta also improves Siri voices in Ireland, Russia, and Italy to add Apple's Neural text to speech, which brings the total number of devices using this technology to 38. Siri now handles 25 billion requests on over 500M voices and supports 21 languages in 36 countries.

Article Link: iOS 14.5 Adds New Siri Voices, No Longer Defaults to Female

 

[Teckarim]

Okay when is Siri getting good though

 

[Braderunner]

So...Siri can tell you it can't help you, in more languages now. Yea!

 

[BornAgainMac]

I want a Steve Jobs voice on my iPhone.

 

[EdT]

Unless it’s Arnold as the Terminator I’m not interested in a different Siri voice.

 

[munpip214]

I’ve personally always preferred the male voice for Siri because it sounded more natural. Will be interesting to see what these new voices are

 

[Lusitano]

How is there still no European Portuguese!!!!!! This is madness

 

[Villarrealadrian]

I would buy an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice for my siri

 

[macguru212]

I still wish we had character voices. IMO it would fun to have Darth Vader or mb a "Suze" - a bulimic chain smoker from Staten Island yelling back to me. For now I use the female Australian voice.

 

[kycophpd]

I keep forgetting there are 386 different genders. Thank you Apple for reminding me.

 

[aesc80]

Nice! Now I can get a gender neutral version of "I found this on the web" when I ask it a simple question! YAY!!!

 

[now i see it]

even Siri isn't immune to social justice initiatives

 

[mansplains]

How is there still no European Portuguese!!!!!! This is madness

Apple Maps doesn't know where Portugal is

 

[clayj]

Still waiting for celebrity voices:

Scarlett Johansson (Samantha from "Her")
Candice Bergen (SAL from "2010")
Douglas Rain (HAL from "2001: a space odyssey")
Matt Frewer (Max Headroom from "Max Headroom")
Ana de Armas (Joi from "Blade Runner 2049")

 

[Kylo83]

So they are removing gender now lol

 

[mansplains]

There's already been multiple voices for Siri and I never bothered to change, doesn't matter to me. If you need your phone to talk back to you in a 'diverse' manner then you need more diverse friends to talk to. And diversity of thought, not immutable attributes.

 

[cicalinarrot]

I’ve always thought standard female voices on assistants are disgustingly promoting the cliché of someone’s secretary being a woman (hence a woman in an office is probably the secretary).
Not sure why people in the progressive Silicon Valley thought it just felt natural to give firm and rude orders to a woman.

 

[NewUsername]

The setup process already asks too many questions imho.

 

[macguru212]

Still waiting for celebrity voices:

Scarlett Johansson (Samantha from "Her")
Candice Bergen (SAL from "2010")
Douglas Rain (HAL from "2001: a space odyssey")
Matt Frewer (Max Headroom from "Max Headroom")
Ana de Armas (Joi from "Blade Runner 2049")

HAL would be fun. I imagine current Siri voices are synthesized rather than samples of actual people talking, hence the difficulty. But still, character voices would be so much frickin fun it'll make hot coffee shoot out of your nose.

 

[Websnapx2]

Okay when is Siri getting good though

"Good" means different things to different people. Siri is great for me, though not perfect. It controls all my smart stuff easily, plays what I tell it to play, and is generally good at most basic questions — to me that's really good, though far from perfect.

I'd love to see it better at presenting the answer to more complicated questions that end up basically being web searches, but that's kind of it. I use Apple Music and Apple Maps, so its integration does not leave me wanting at all, but I can understand it's not open enough for some. So not perfect, but more than "good".

 

[mannyvel]

I'd really like the "drunk Russian" accented Siri who only says "what am I, your slave? Do it yourself, you lazy b*stard.."

 

[tranceking26]

I'd pay for GLaDOS from the Portal games!

 

[wagm]

Poland ?

 

[converted2mac14]

Okay when is Siri getting good though

I logged in just to like this. You win the internet for today.

 

[Digital Dude]

New voices and likely more emoji's, but not a damn thing to resolve the screen freeze between core iPhony apps. Apple doesn't even try to skirt around the issue anymore as they're quite content with mediocrity.