Apple's iOS 17 update contains new features that are useful for people with hearing or speech problems, including the personal voice feature, which is one of the accessibility features of the iPhone.
Personal Voice is a feature that uses machine learning to create a copy of your voice using audio samples recorded by you, and this feature works with another new accessibility feature in iOS 17 called (Live speech) Live Speech to convert text to voice.
And with personal voice and live speech, you can write messages in FaceTime, or make a call, and what you want will be said verbally in a voice similar to yours.
First: how to set up a personal voice feature:
Before you start using the personal voice feature, you should know that it takes some time to set it up, as it takes 15 to 20 minutes to add samples of your voice, as well as several hours to process the sound, so make sure that you have enough time to prepare before starting, and then follow the following steps:
1- Go to the settings (Settings) application, then choose Accessibility (Accessibility).
2- Click (personal voice) Personal Voice in the (speech) Speech section, and then click (Create personal voice) Create a Personal Voice.
3- A screen will appear with instructions to guide you on how to get started, you will be asked to record 150 phrases out loud in a quiet place, you should speak normally and hold your device at a distance of 6-12 inches.
During the recording of audio samples, you will be asked to read 150 phrases that include a set of questions, statements containing historical facts, and random excerpts. The importance of variety in phrases lies in capturing the full range of your voice in different contexts and tones, which is why you need to provide several vocal samples. This step will take 15-20 minutes, depending on the pauses and reading speed.
You can pause while recording phrases, or save and close them, allowing you to return to the setup process again.
- After you have finished recording all the phrases, click (Continue) continue for the phone to start setting up your personal voice. At this stage, the iPhone should be locked and connected to the charger, it will appear on the lock screen that your personal voice is being processed and you will receive a notification when it is ready.
This process will take a few hours to complete, so start by setting up the feature before bed, and let your phone during bedtime complete the personal audio setup process.
Second: how to use the personal voice feature:
Once you have set up the personal voice feature, start using it by adding your voice to the collection of voices in the Live Speech feature. to do this, follow these steps:
Go to (Settings) Settings, then (Accessibility) Accessibility, then choose (live speech) Live Speech.
Activate the Live Speech option, and in the voices (voices) section of the same page, your personal voice will be one of the options available in the voices menu, click (Personal Voice) to choose your voice.
To use this feature at any time you will need to activate the Live Speech feature, and you can do this by clicking three times on the side play button, and a window will appear at the bottom of the screen asking you to type a message.
When you type the message and press the Enter button, you will hear a version of your voice created by artificial intelligence. You can do this at any time to test the feature when using the FaceTime app, or during a phone call.