How do I prevent iOS from Downloading Samantha?

By Chris, 30 August, 2016

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hi all,

How do you stop iOS from automatically downloading the high quality version of Samantha? I've deleted the voice several times, but it keeps downloading. I can't stand this voice and don't want my storage space taken by nearly 200 MB of this garbage. Is there a way to disable this automatic download or should I just leave the voice installed?

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Comments

By JeffB on Monday, September 26, 2016 - 04:40

If I could I'd remove Samantha all together but even when I do I find she comes back as well.

By Troy on Monday, September 26, 2016 - 04:40

I'm wondering the same. Why does she keep coming back?

By Fatima.Hamoud10 on Monday, September 26, 2016 - 04:40

In reply to by Troy

Hello team, Samantha is always there. You can stop Samantha from downloading by going in to speech settings, selecting the default language which is English (US), then look for the enhanced quality voice and delete it.
Hope this helps.

By sockhopsinger on Monday, September 26, 2016 - 04:40

Hi, I think you can delete the high quality voice, but Samantha is the default voice that comes on the iOS. I don't think you can permanently remove the normal Samantha voice, only the high quality one.

By sockhopsinger on Monday, September 26, 2016 - 04:40

You can change the default voice. However, what you cannot do is get rid of Samantha completely. You can get rid of the high quality voice of Samantha; however, there needs to be a default voice in case you, for instance, do a complete reset of your phone, including data and all settings. For whatever reason, Apple has chosen Samantha as that default voice. Therefore, although you can change and download other voices to use, Samantha will never go away. I agree it stinks, but for now, that's just how it is.

By Toonhead on Monday, September 26, 2016 - 04:40

There has to be a voice for VoiceOver to function, folks. For we Americans, they chose Samantha. For our UK friends, it's Daniel. Perhaps the people that don't want Samantha as the default voice should write to accessibility@apple.com and ask that another voice like Siri male or female just for an example should be the default voice for iOS. I prefer Samantha myself, but again i'm in the minority as per usual.

By Chris on Monday, September 26, 2016 - 04:40

Well, I guess it's not possible to stop the operating system from downloading the high quality version of the voice. I will have to just keep the enhanced voice installed. I am still going to write to Apple's Accessibility team and suggest that a toggle be set up to prevent the constant redownloading of the default voice. I don't want to get rid of Samantha compact, as it takes up a very small chunk of space that's insignificant. I just don't want the high quality version taking up disk space that I could be using for other things like apps or better voices. Thanks for trying to help. I guess I could change my region, but I'm pretty sure that would result in the OS downloading Karen or Daniel over and over instead of Samantha.

By Toonhead on Monday, September 26, 2016 - 04:40

Hi. There will be a lot more voices available in iOS 10 so just be patient and you will find one that you like. Samantha will most likely be the default, but there will be more voices.

By TheBlindDragon on Monday, September 26, 2016 - 04:40

I have been noticing Daniel Karen Moira and Tessa enhanced voices downloading maybe it's because i have Blindfold RS games installed.