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iOS 19 Will Improve iPhone Feature That Lets You Preserve Your Voice

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A few years ago, Apple introduced a Personal Voice feature that allows those at risk of losing their ability to speak to create a synthesized voice that sounds similar to their actual voice, so they can continue to communicate with others. The feature debuted on the iPhone with iOS 17, and it will be getting even better on iOS 19.

Personal Voice iPhone Feature
Apple today announced that Personal Voice will be faster and easier to use on iOS 19, thanks to advancements in on-device machine learning and artificial intelligence. Apple says users will be able to create a smoother, more natural-sounding voice in less than a minute, down from 15 minutes when the feature initially launched.

Personal Voice will also add support for Spanish (Mexico), according to Apple.

Personal Voice integrates with another accessibility feature called Live Speech, which lets users type what they want to say to have it be spoken aloud during in-person conversations, phone calls, and FaceTime video calls.

Personal Voice is also available on the iPad and Mac, and the enhancements to the feature will extend to iPadOS 19 and macOS 16.

Related Roundups: iOS 26, iPadOS 26
Tag: Accessibility
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Top Rated Comments

phenste Avatar
phenste
11 months ago
bringing back my anecdote on this before anyone gets to being childish in the comments.

my mother had dysphonia for nearly 20 years of her life; I never heard what my mother's voice truly sounded like until a procedure in ~2014 that brought it back. it has now been nine years since I lost her and man, what I wouldn't give to have an iPhone of hers with this on it. always cool to see Apple improving the feature.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
crisneat Avatar
crisneat
11 months ago
Dropping the setup time from 15 minutes to under a minute is a huge leap.
Curious to see how much more natural the voices will sound with the updated machine learning.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
arkitect Avatar
arkitect
11 months ago
It is a great feature that I would genuinely be interested in… but at present there are only two options to create your voice:

English (United States)
Chinese (Mandarin - China mainland)

Hopefully this update will allow more for those of us who are not USA based or born and who would like to do our own versions…
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
L
Lounge vibes 05
11 months ago

Having people that past speaking sounds a bit creepy to be honest. Just look at a video to see real memories.
That’s not what this feature is intended for, this feature is intended for people who are still alive but have lost or are losing their voice.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
F
Fuzzball84
11 months ago
I think aspects like this are where AI can shine. If you have this setup or some voice recordings. If you ever lose the ability to talk, this can preserve a bit of you just incase.

The only safeguards need to be where regulation protects people from fraud and misuse.

AI will lead to great advances but people and government need to be on top of it without fear of the tech companies. And tech companies need to keep the social contract in mind. It has to be a core aspect of the tech companies moving forward. And governments should be fearless on this. After all, in a democracy the people vote in the people who are to represent us, protect us and to serve us.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
F
Fuzzball84
11 months ago

Ditto. My mother passed away last year. I tested this voice feature myself and found recording 15 minutes of sentences cumbersome. My mother would have struggled to do that, but I wish I could hear her voice again, even if it is a synthetic one
I understand hat you’re saying but for myself, once a person is gone they’ve gone. It’s fine to have actual recordings and play them back as they are recordings of what actually happened.

But to hear your loved ones voice again, but for it not to be them putting those words together. I don’t think many would really want that. And critically that person wouldn’t have any control or consent for the continued use of their voice. Even if they gave you consent before passing away, sometimes people change their minds. That would no longer be possible and they would have no control over what others would be subsequently getting their AI voice to say. It becomes an ethical issues.

On the other hand if it’s someone who can’t speak anymore, but who is using it to communicate. Using their voice, and words that they themselves have put together using it in full knowledge is awesome.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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