How do I change text to speech voice to male in Android?

Text-to-speech (TTS) is an assistive technology that reads digital text aloud using synthesized voices. TTS allows written content to be converted into audible speech and has a variety of uses, such as helping people with dyslexia, vision impairments, or other reading disabilities access written material. TTS can also be useful for multitasking or gaining access to written content while driving or doing other activities.

TTS systems work by having a computer or device process written text, analyze it linguistically to identify words and punctuation, and then speak the words aloud using generated audio files of human-sounding voices. The voices can sound natural and convert large amounts of text into speech relatively quickly.

This article will focus on how to change the default voice gender to male when using text-to-speech on Android devices. We’ll cover locating the TTS settings, installing additional higher-quality voices, selecting a preferred voice, customizing speech rate and pitch, and troubleshooting any issues with getting TTS to work properly.

Default Android Text-to-Speech Voices

Android devices come with default text-to-speech (TTS) voices installed that can be used for reading text aloud. The default Android TTS voices utilize advanced speech synthesis technology to convert text into natural sounding speech. Most Android devices include at least one female voice installed by default.

For example, Google’s TTS engine provides a default female voice called “English (United States)”. This voice aims to sound natural while reading English text in an American accent. Other default voices may be included for different languages, such as “Español (Estados Unidos)” for Spanish.

The included TTS voices vary across Android manufacturers and models. For instance, Samsung devices include “Samsung Neural” voices powered by deep learning for a more human-like sound. However, the default voice is consistently female for reading English text on most Android devices.

While the default female voice works well, Android allows choosing from a selection of alternate voices. The next section covers how to access the text-to-speech settings to change the voice.

Accessing Text-to-Speech Settings

The text-to-speech settings on Android allow you to configure the voice, language, speech rate, and pitch. Here are the steps to access the TTS settings:

1. Open the Settings app on your Android device.

2. Scroll down and tap “Accessibility” or “Advanced features.”

3. Select “Text-to-speech output” or “Text-to-speech.”

4. You will now see the available text-to-speech engines and voices. Tap on your preferred engine.

5. From here, you can configure options like language, speech rate, pitch, and more. The options vary slightly depending on your device model and Android version.

Refer to Google’s support page for more details on accessing text-to-speech settings.

Changing TTS Voice Gender

The text-to-speech engine in Android allows you to configure the gender of the voice. By default, the voice is set to female, but you can change it to male if preferred.

To change the TTS voice gender to male:

1. Open the Settings app and go to Accessibility > Text-to-speech output.
2. Tap on the settings icon next to your selected TTS engine, such as Google Text-to-speech.
3. Look for the Voice gender option and tap on Male.
4. You will hear a voice sample change to a male voice.
5. Tap OK to confirm the change.

Now when using text-to-speech features, the voice should be male instead of female. You can toggle this setting any time to switch between the two genders.

Source: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9815245/android-text-to-speech-male-voice

Installing Additional TTS Voices

The default Android text-to-speech voices are limited in variety. For example, the default English voice is female. If you want access to more voices like a male voice, you’ll need to install additional TTS voice data.

You can download and install third-party TTS voice packages to add more variety. Popular options include the IVONA TTS voices app and SVOX Pico TTS voices. These provide high-quality male and female voices in multiple languages. The voice packs are available as free downloads from the Google Play Store.

To install a new voice pack:

1. Download and open the TTS voice app from the Play Store.
2. Follow the in-app prompts to download the voice data you want.
3. Make sure to grant the app permission to access storage on your device to save the voice data.
4. Once installed, the new TTS voices will be available to select in your device settings.

Installing additional voice data allows you to customize Android’s text-to-speech with natural sounding male and female voices to suit your preferences.

Selecting a Preferred TTS Voice

Once you have installed additional high-quality male voices, you can set your preferred voice as the default option in Android’s text-to-speech settings.

To select a newly installed male voice as the default TTS voice:

1. Open the Settings app on your Android device.
2. Navigate to Accessibility > Text-to-speech output.
3. Under “Preferred engine” select the TTS engine associated with the voice you want to set as default (e.g. Google Text-to-speech).
4. Tap on the settings icon next to the selected TTS engine.
5. Under “Language” select the newly installed male voice.
6. Tap the play button to preview the voice.
7. Once you’ve selected the desired male voice, tap OK to set it as the default for that TTS engine.

Now when using any text-to-speech feature on your device, it will utilize the selected male voice. You can go back to these TTS settings at any time to choose a different preferred voice.

Testing TTS with New Voice

Once you have installed a new voice and selected it as your preferred TTS engine, it’s important to test it out. A simple way to try your new voice is to use a sample text passage. Here are some tips for testing TTS with a new voice:

Choose a medium length paragraph of text to read aloud. Avoid single sentences, as they won’t give you a good sense of the cadence and natural speaking rhythm. Aim for 3-5 sentences. You can use a news article excerpt, poem stanza, or literature passage.

Open your TTS app and paste the sample text. Make sure you have the new voice selected. Hit play and listen closely to the voice readout. Pay attention to pronunciation, speed, intonation and more.

Try adjusting the TTS settings like speed or pitch to see if they improve the naturalness of the new voice. You may need to tweak them to find an optimal setup.

Listen for any unnatural pausing, mispronunciations or oddly emphasized words. Make note of areas that need improvement. Also listen for parts that sound especially natural and humanlike.

Repeat the test with different sample text passages to get a good overall sense of the new voice’s quality and consistency.

If the new voice does not perform well, you may need to uninstall it and test other high quality TTS voices. With testing, you can ensure your text to speech voice sounds natural before using it across applications.

Customizing Additional TTS Settings

In addition to selecting the voice gender, there are other text-to-speech settings you can customize on your Android device:

• Speech Rate: Allows you to control how fast or slow the voice speaks. This can be adjusted on a scale from very slow to very fast.
• Pitch: Controls how high or low the voice sounds. This can make the voice sound more masculine or feminine.
• Language: Lets you select which language the text is read aloud in by the text-to-speech engine.
• Punctuation: Controls whether punctuation like commas and periods are verbally announced during text-to-speech.

You can experiment with these additional settings to further customize the text-to-speech experience to your preferences. For example, adjusting the pitch and speech rate can improve clarity and listening comprehension. Finding the right balance for your needs may require some trial and error.

According to this Android Accessibility help article, you can access these text-to-speech settings by going into your device’s Settings, selecting Accessibility, and then choosing Text-to-speech output. From there you can select your TTS engine and adjust settings like language, speech rate, pitch, and more.

Troubleshooting Tips

If you are having issues changing the gender of your text-to-speech voice in Android, here are some troubleshooting tips:

If the voice is not changing at all, make sure you have properly updated the TTS engine and selected the gender/voice according to the steps outlined above. Sometimes an app needs to be restarted for changes to take effect, so try closing and reopening any apps using TTS after changing the settings.

Check that the device has a proper internet connection according to this article. Internet connectivity issues can prevent TTS from working properly.

If certain apps still have the old voice, go into the app’s individual settings and change any custom TTS options to use the default system voice instead. The system settings should control the default, but some apps apply their own TTS options.

As a last resort, uninstall and reinstall TTS engine updates or perform a full device restart. This will reload all settings and updates from scratch so TTS has to reinitialize with the proper configured voice.

If none of these troubleshooting tips resolve your issue, search for the specific error message you are receiving for additional solutions, or contact customer support for your device manufacturer for further assistance.

Conclusion

In summary, the key steps to changing the text-to-speech voice gender on Android include accessing the voice settings, downloading additional higher quality voices if desired, selecting a male or female voice, and testing it out. It’s a straightforward process that can be customized to your preferences.

Changing the default TTS voice to a natural sounding male voice can greatly improve the audio experience when having content read aloud. With today’s advancements in speech synthesis, the voices sound impressively human-like. Whether you want an authoritative male voice or a more expressive one, you can find a suitable option that fits your needs.

Adjusting the TTS settings is an easy way to optimize your device for consuming content via audio. With the right voice selected, you can relax and focus on the content itself rather than the quality of the audio delivery. Take the time to explore different voices, as finding one that sounds clear and natural can truly enhance your overall user experience.