How to Use Personal Voice and Live Speech on iPhone or iPad [VIDEO]

Apple’s Personal Voice and Live Speech features are innovative tools designed to enhance accessibility for individuals at risk of losing their ability to speak.

Available on compatible iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches, these features allow users to create a custom voice that mirrors their natural speech and use it for communication.

To create your Personal Voice, follow these steps on your iPhone or iPad:

1. Open the Settings app, tap Accessibility, and then select Personal Voice.
2. Tap Create a Personal Voice and follow the prompts to record 15 minutes of audio. You’ll be guided to read randomly selected text prompts or, if necessary, shorter three-word phrases.
3. Once recording is complete, your device will process the audio securely on-device while charging and connected to Wi-Fi, typically overnight.
4. You can pause your session at any time by tapping Done or exiting the Settings app. To resume, go back to Settings > Accessibility > Personal Voice, select your saved session, and tap Continue Recording.

Apple allows users to create multiple Personal Voices on a single device, enabling a range of options depending on personal needs.

To enable and use Live Speech, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Settings > Accessibility > Live Speech and toggle the feature on.
2. Under the Live Speech settings, tap Voices and choose your preferred keyboard language. If needed, download additional voices by tapping the download icon next to the desired option.
3. Customize your voice’s pitch and speed by selecting Voice Settings next to the chosen voice.
4. Type messages on your device, and they will be spoken aloud using your selected voice. This feature works across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and even Apple Vision Pro.

Watch the following Apple support video to see the process in action.