We say Siri and we immediately think of the female voice that assists millions of users on iPhone and other Apple products from iPad to Mac around the world. But from the next iOS 14.5 update, there will be a small change that will allow you to select the voice timbre at the time of configuration.
With the arrival of the sixth version of iOS 14.5 beta, Apple is eliminating the female voice as a standard for Siri. Thus, when the final version reaches the general public, users will be asked to choose the preferred voice style during device settings. The beta testers of iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, macOS Big Sur 11.3, watchOS 7.4, and tvOS 14.5 have been able to download another update from Apple's servers for a few hours. The company has once again given some new features to the software for iPhone and iPad in particular.
iOS14.5 Beta 6: Siri Gets New Voice
Apple has adjusted the setup of Siri in iOS 14.5. The language of the assistant is no longer female by default. Instead, the user now has to choose between a male and a female voice. The changes are designed to help Siri become more diverse in the future. Furthermore, Siri's voices in Ireland, Russia, and Italy have been revised and now uses Apple's neural engine to convert text into a more natural language. A total of 38 languages are now using the new technology.
The English version now includes new accents and sounds more natural, as can be heard in the video above. It is estimated that Siri is currently handling 25 billion requests from over half a billion devices in 21 languages and 36 countries.
The voice of virtual assistants used to be a controversial issue when today's virtual assistants such as Siri, Amazon's Alexa, or Google Assistant, all use the female voice as the default voice. However, many women's rights advocacy groups claim that this is an act of disregard for women, as women act as assistants for mobile users to get them to work and address service requirements. Apple's latest move seems to defuse these criticisms and shows that the virtual assistant Siri is not just "gender" female.
Among the other innovations identified in iOS 14.5 beta, there is also an interesting recalibration system for the detection of the battery status for a more precise estimate of the amount still available.
Other new features in iOS 14.5
Incorrect estimates of the battery health reporting system on iOS 14.4.2 and earlier lead to battery drain errors or slow down iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max. Realizing this problem, Apple has released iOS 14.5 beta 6 which adds an iPhone battery recalibration tool.
As Apple writes in a support document, some users complained about inaccurate estimates that they now want to correct. "After the recalibration, the percentage of maximum capacity and maximum performance are updated," says Apple. "If the recalibration of the battery health report reveals that the battery health has deteriorated significantly, a battery service notice is displayed."
The final version of iOS 14.5 will appear this spring. Developers and participants in the public beta program can currently test the update for iPhone and iPad.
Nicely covered 💯
ReplyDeletethis is gonna be a big change, and may be has been done to avoid the "female" assistant controversy.
ReplyDelete