The U.S. English Tom Voice Always Downloads to My Phone in iOS 10.2; How Do I Fix This?
By Vsevolod Popov, 30 December, 2016
Forum
iOS and iPadOS
Hello. When iOs 10.2 came out I have noticed that english voice Tom now always downloads to my phone when I delete it. Is it a bug and if it is a bug how to fix it? Thank you!
Check to see what voice is selected under the general speech settings. Go to settings>General>Accessibility>Speech and look under Voices. If Tom enhanced is selected, choose something else like compact or another pre-installed voice that can't be removed. I was advised to do this by Apple Accessibility to stop the constant downloading of Samantha. I have this setting set to Ava enhanced which is my prefered voice and have had no automatic downloads. It is my understanding that this setting controls usage and downloading of the specified voice for use with the system, not just VoiceOver.
Hi. I checked these settings but i didn't find Tom there. It is still loading. I even checked blindfold games voice settings but i also couldn't find this voice. Are there any ideas how i can prevent the system from downloading the voice?
Under the speech settings, check the item that says English. If Tom is selected, change it. If this isn't the problem, check your VoiceOver rotor settings. If your US English rotor is set to Tom, change it to something else. This should stop the automatic downloads once and for all. If these don't work, you may have to call or email Apple Accessibility. These steps have worked for me. You may also want to try rebooting your device. I doubt this will help, but that's my last idea.
Yes, I agree with @ChrisWright rebooting the phone does resolve the voice download issue. I haven't have that hapin on my phone, I have my voice currently set to samantha default. I love fred, but he's too robotic. however, he's easy to understand. anyways, on with the subject. reboot the phone.
Hi. Maybe it is strange but the voice stopped loading after i removed the blindfold games menu because i wanted to reinstall it and check will the voice load or not.
I have noticed that voice loads when I start any of the blindfold games. I started blindfold color crush I don't use Tom in this game. But when I checked Settings it was loaded . Interesting, why does it happen?
Hello. Today i tryed to restore my iPhone and backup it from an iCloud copy. Unfortunately, it didn't help. After I restorred my phone from a backup I noticed that Tom downloaded again. I deleted it. But then it downloaded again. I don't know what to do with it. I wrote to apple accessibility and they said that this is the first report about such problem. I checked all of blindfold games, I checked voicedream reader, speech settings in accessibility, i can't find tom in these apps or settings. I noticed that this bug started when beta 6 or 7 public beta of iOs 10.2 came out. I deleted the beta profile and now this bug happends again. Are there any tips for solving these problem? I'm tired of deleting this voice from my phone. Thank you. Forgot to mention that i use iPhone 5S.
Have you tried a clean install of iOS using the iTunes restore option? I would recommend doing it through iTunes as it will wipe the entire device and download a fresh image of iOS 10.2. If you haven't done it in a while, it may be worthwhile. I know it's a pain, but I think it's a good idea to regularly perform clean installs when new versions of the operating system come out or if you're experiencing weird issues like this one. Give it a shot if nothing else is working.
I would recommend using iTunes. First, turn off Find my iPhone from iCloud settings on your device. Next, connect your device to iTunes on your computer. In the iTunes interface, choose the summary tab for your device. You should find a restore button. Choose that and wait for iTunes to download and install the appropriate firmware file. This will erase absolutely everything on your device and perform a fresh install of the operating system. When you get the message that it's complete, press the home button and then press it three times to start VoiceOver. You will have to go through the initial welcome screens and manually configure everything to your liking. Don't restore from a backup. The whole idea of this process is to get a fresh install onto your device to see if the issues go away.
Comments
Voice
Hello,
Check to see what voice is selected under the general speech settings. Go to settings>General>Accessibility>Speech and look under Voices. If Tom enhanced is selected, choose something else like compact or another pre-installed voice that can't be removed. I was advised to do this by Apple Accessibility to stop the constant downloading of Samantha. I have this setting set to Ava enhanced which is my prefered voice and have had no automatic downloads. It is my understanding that this setting controls usage and downloading of the specified voice for use with the system, not just VoiceOver.
Settings
Hi. I checked these settings but i didn't find Tom there. It is still loading. I even checked blindfold games voice settings but i also couldn't find this voice. Are there any ideas how i can prevent the system from downloading the voice?
RE: Settings
Under the speech settings, check the item that says English. If Tom is selected, change it. If this isn't the problem, check your VoiceOver rotor settings. If your US English rotor is set to Tom, change it to something else. This should stop the automatic downloads once and for all. If these don't work, you may have to call or email Apple Accessibility. These steps have worked for me. You may also want to try rebooting your device. I doubt this will help, but that's my last idea.
reboot phone
Yes, I agree with @ChrisWright rebooting the phone does resolve the voice download issue. I haven't have that hapin on my phone, I have my voice currently set to samantha default. I love fred, but he's too robotic. however, he's easy to understand. anyways, on with the subject. reboot the phone.
Solved
Hi. Maybe it is strange but the voice stopped loading after i removed the blindfold games menu because i wanted to reinstall it and check will the voice load or not.
Blindfold games app
Hi! When i installed blindfold games app again voice Tom started loading again. That's realy strange! Does someone noticethis bug?
Issue with Fred
I noticed there is no way to delete the offel Fred voice... Haven't had any issues with Tom being downloaded.
Blindfold Games
Does the Blindfold Games app have Tom selected for the speech output? This is probably something you should ask Marty about.
Blindfold games and what i have noticed
I have noticed that voice loads when I start any of the blindfold games. I started blindfold color crush I don't use Tom in this game. But when I checked Settings it was loaded . Interesting, why does it happen?
Do i understand right that to
Do i understand right that to rebootthe phone i should press home and lock buttons and hold them?
sorry, fred is stuck...
Hi, to the previous poster, Fred is stuck on your phone. you can't remove him.
I have this bug with voice
I have this bug with voice Tom not Fred.
Restorring the phone
Hello. Today i tryed to restore my iPhone and backup it from an iCloud copy. Unfortunately, it didn't help. After I restorred my phone from a backup I noticed that Tom downloaded again. I deleted it. But then it downloaded again. I don't know what to do with it. I wrote to apple accessibility and they said that this is the first report about such problem. I checked all of blindfold games, I checked voicedream reader, speech settings in accessibility, i can't find tom in these apps or settings. I noticed that this bug started when beta 6 or 7 public beta of iOs 10.2 came out. I deleted the beta profile and now this bug happends again. Are there any tips for solving these problem? I'm tired of deleting this voice from my phone. Thank you. Forgot to mention that i use iPhone 5S.
Clean Install
Have you tried a clean install of iOS using the iTunes restore option? I would recommend doing it through iTunes as it will wipe the entire device and download a fresh image of iOS 10.2. If you haven't done it in a while, it may be worthwhile. I know it's a pain, but I think it's a good idea to regularly perform clean installs when new versions of the operating system come out or if you're experiencing weird issues like this one. Give it a shot if nothing else is working.
Clean install
Hello. Thank you for the tip. What should I do to perform clean install? Thank you!
Use iTunes
Hello,
I would recommend using iTunes. First, turn off Find my iPhone from iCloud settings on your device. Next, connect your device to iTunes on your computer. In the iTunes interface, choose the summary tab for your device. You should find a restore button. Choose that and wait for iTunes to download and install the appropriate firmware file. This will erase absolutely everything on your device and perform a fresh install of the operating system. When you get the message that it's complete, press the home button and then press it three times to start VoiceOver. You will have to go through the initial welcome screens and manually configure everything to your liking. Don't restore from a backup. The whole idea of this process is to get a fresh install onto your device to see if the issues go away.