I never thought I'd hear a UK black male voice for Siri/voiceover.

It is actually one of the better voices I've heard on a phone. I've only heard the sample, but I think I may have to download it.

Title.
I tried one of the new ones and she sounds pretty great. I like how she doesn't sound so, you know, generic. She has some inflection issues but that's fine for me.

Hello, all we need now is a birmingham voice as that's where I am from.

I love the voice!!!!!!!!!! Imagine it’s reading news notifications

Voice 2 sounds like she's black but can't be sure on that. Voice 3 definitely is though. Nice to finally have that type of variety.

Hi Willjames: American voice three, the black man, is my favorite!

The new British Siri voice is not so much about accent but simply incorrect English pronunciation! For example: Important has two letters t in it, Together does not contain the letter v, words that end in ing should not be pronounced as if they end in in!

This is not about diversity, if it was where is the Welsh accent? Ireland and Scotland are represented!

I’m not suggesting that everyone should speak the king’s English but accent does not excuse the incorrect usage of our wonderful language.

If actual people say "ing" as "in", then it's not incorrect. It's called language variety guys.

I just tested this new voice and wow, sounds really great. He has some inflection issues like the voice 3, but both sound very nice.

Would it be possible to program the pronunciation of the punctuation? (Heh, say that 3 times fast!)

On the one hand, as Brad says, it's a dialect. What's the problem? So long as it doesn't start talking about arksing a question, I can live with it.

On the other, remember Dr Rupa Huq MP? Remember how she referred to the then chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, as superficiallly black? remember why she did that? The answer was because Kwasi's rich, an Oxford graduate and yes, very well-spoken; and black people aren't supposed to be any of those things, are they? No no, they're all supposed to drop their G's, their T's, say 'like' in the middle of every other sentence and they're certainly not meant to become the chancellor! And the world would end if we ever had a black man playing Bertie Wooster or Bingo Little! Rupa Huq's vial remarks were borne, in part, of perpetuation of stereotypes of what being black and British is supposed to mean and I worry that such stereotypes stifle success. I have seen it often enough when mentoring young black law students. So I am a little uncomfortable with this representation of black british, especially when you have the likes of the aforementioned Kwasi Kwarteng, Kemi Badenoch, David Lammy, Chris Eubank, who do not speak in that way at all. The idea that if you're black you should speak with a dash of reggae-reggae sauce or else be considered as something of a traitor is unfortunately alive and well in British contemporary society.

But, then, I come back to the voice being a good voice. I have a friend who was brought up in Rochdale who now tries to be as southern as possible. A bit like Eric, now Lord, Pickles used to be. the northern southern northerner I used to call him, because he couldn't quite make up his mind. Voice 3 is a bit like that, and yet we don't read any ssubliminal messages about the sixth tackle, trouble at mill, or you'll never play for yorkshire into that.

Could anyone tell why Only the current Siri voices for the UK are appearing as options for me? I updated the system yesterday...

Brad, it would not matter what accent a black barrister, Indian barrister, brummy barrister had. It does not matter what accent they have - I appreciate you weren't having a dig at me but your sideswipe at the system was based on a mega misconception about what contemporary life at the bar is actually like. I've been a barrister for 18 years and it's actually a very inclusive profession indeed, from my experience. But, I would be very cross with a black law student, or any law student for that matter, who conducted their advocacy dropping their H's, their T's, and so on. That is unprofessional, not least because of the way it would be perceived by the client. My point about black law students was that, like it or not, there are certain perceptions of what being black british is like and ought to be like. Like it or not, that does stymie social mobility - not because of their accent or dialect, but because they feel that Shakespeare, the law, the opera, are not what they should do. That is why I am conflicted on, if you like, the designation of this voice that you have assigned it. Oliver's call of Inner city London is quite a good one actually - I know young white Londoners who speak like this. But I think on balance I'd prefer not to define dialects by reference to colour.

I forgot to mention that Dawn Buttler, a black MP, was simply horrible to Kemi Badenoch, the black Minister for women and Equalities, because Kemi Badenoch did not hold opinions that, according to dawn Buttler, a black person should hold. Priti Patel was subject to similar nonsense when Home secretary. In such circumsances I think I would prefer not to reinforce the colour to voice correllation.

Both the typical Vocalizer voices and the Siri voices have inflection issues with punctuation marks. Most can handle question marks well enough, but non can read out a sentence ending with an exclamation mark any differently than one having a full stop at the end, unlike Eloquence, the so-called novelty voices, or eSpeak-NG, the only third-party TTS engine known to me to be available on iOS. By the way, it's not really surprising to have a black UK English voice when we already have a US English voice and Apple, like many other companies, promotes concepts like "diversity" and "inclusion". As for certain accents being more or less correct, who is to decide, then, on whether the English spoken by so-called native speakers in Manchester, London, Glasgow, Melbourne or New York is the most correct and perfect one, also in terms of the vocabulary used? Oh by the way, I would really love to have a child speaking as the Siri voice. You sure can make Joelle or Noelle sound like a child to some extent by playing around with the pitch and timbre, but it's still obvious that both are just modified versions of Zoe.

Well, the developers of Speechify wouldn't see any point in maintaining their own app in that case, nor do the users do so in having to use it, given that they would no longer have to download and use Speechify so that they could use these voices.

I'm not clear on what classist means but I'll brush that preliminary orf: first off, I am working-class. I have to sell my labour in order to live. second, yes I do own my own house very much like a lot of working-class people do, so home ownership (while admittedly beyond a lot of people in the current climate) is nevertheless not some memberhip card for the bourgeoisie. Third, I thought I said at the outset of my previous contribution that it doesn't matter what accent someone has if they are a barrister. I can only think you made your comment about a barrister from Birmingham having forgotten that I dealt precisely with that example in my previous contribution. one of the best KCs I've ever seen in court is unashamedly liverpudlian. But, fourth, you can't decouple getting the job done from speaking professionally, in whatever accent. so yes, I would tell a trainee barrister off for dropping their T's, their H's and so forth, just as I would for their saying okay, erm, basically and suchlike. I'd do the same to a student who had his hands in his pockets or who drank water out of a bottle instead of pouring it into a glass while on his feet. so would every other advocacy trainer, from whichever region and of whatever background. I was trained, when I was younger, by a black barrister who made precisely that point.

But to get back on topic, I'm now very much in the northern, southern, northerner voice 3 camp. Trying to shrug off the coal dust and pretend she's into the chelsea flower Show.

PS: go forth into the streets and make it known that Bingo is currently trying to sell his house. it's a very, very, very fine house and any Applevisers interested should apply to Bingo for further particulars.

I have an Australian citizen, I find this form really funny to read personally, I also can’t abuse the voice number three invoice number four for VoiceOver

hi, my wife, and children say for example path with an r sound, whereas i, like i think the northern english british say path as an american would, i say tuff not tooth so again, we all different and variety is the spice of life. I wish, and i don't know if you guys have heard it, that the 11 labs voices would be part of ios have you heard the voice read the ios guide i forgot the name something about power? that was produced with the ai voices from 11 labs? breathtaking and pleasant to hear it narrated.

wanting things done in a very English way, even if true, could only be classist (assuming that is a genuine adjective/noun) if there were a class known as the English; but there ain't. Leaving the barrister thing aside as I think we've reached an agreement to disaggree and a disagreement to part on that one, Brad I'm afraid I can't part with Bingo Hall (or did I call it Bingo Towers?) for the kind of money you're offering, although strictly speaking you did not make an offer.

Turning to voice 3, I don't know many Northerners who speak like Tonx! Apart, perhaps, from Geordie Michael, alan Partidges best friend. No no, this one is more like Yvette cooper, I think, erstwhile Labour minister and leadership candidate - she trailed in way behind Jeremy corbyn in 2015, if I remember rightly. In fact, more I think about it, more I think that's quite an accurate characterisation of voice 3.

Will, anywhere north of Northamton, more or less, will pronounce path with the shortened A. In america the a isn't shortened, but lengthened and pronounced slightly differently. South of Northampton, the a of path will be longer. down in the West Country, you'll get another take on path, a long A which nevertheless has some similarity with the Northern A.

What a bloody country!

Very gracious of you, Brad, but I don't want it! Not anymore! I've had 10 very happy years at the current version of Bingo Towers but I have put down an offer on an upgrade, which has been accepted. seriously, Bingo has some great planned projects in the offing should we manage to get our ducks in a row on this one. where on earth does that particular simile come from, incidentally? anyway the new version of Bingo Towers is contingent on meeting a mathematical bottom line upon parting with the old.

Back to the topic: I did a bit more research. I got hold of a speech made by Yvette cooper and asked voice 3 to read it, immediately after having watched same delivered on Youtube. I am convinced that voice 3 is indeed Yvette Cooper, a former minister under Tony Blair, wife of Ed Balls and currently the shadow home secretary. Voice 4 sounds very much like my wife's nephew, who has just started his sixth form and has just been signed up for the ealing Trailfinders academy so well on the way to being a rugger bugger.

Square away is a nautical expression. It is a sailing direction, I believe, for square rigged ships i.e. anything from a brig sloop upwards. By and large is similar.

Disclaimer: Edited for Bingo Little's pleasure.

Well, reading through all of these more recent responses, I can honestly say I am learning so very much about the nature and history of the 'English' language and its various nuances. I can also say with reasonable certainty, that British people, as a whole, are just as well rounded at going completely off topic and are therefore capable, adept even, at ranting about things that no-one else, save for a small niche group, have any clue about.
Finally, I feel it is my duty, my responsibility, nay -- my reason for being, that I humbly, yet proudly, share with you all, that my American voice and/or accent trumps everyone else's feelings of offense of said individuals sensibilities.
In closing, I would like to sign off with one final thought.

🤪

Your welcome.

There ain't no such language as british! Britain, or at least the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is a political construct. That is actually why it really annoys me that we have British English voices. these are English voices, just like fiona is scottish english. we don't have a Geraint or a Nerys to represent Wales yet but I've been beating that drum for ages.

Oliver, in the interests of accuracy, I should point out that not all cases are criminal cases (the vast majority are not) and not all criminal cases are tried before a jury (again, the vast majority are not). In my now 18 years' experience as a barrister, during which i have represented people at their lowest ebb as well as jolly rich companies like Aston Martin, Barclays bank etc. I can tell you that it really matters what you say and how you say it. Indeed, it matters more to the people to whom you think it wouldn't matter so much. A lot of parents in child protection proceedings, for example, do not think counsel is doing his or her job properly unless he or she sound rather pompous in doing it. Many people say they wouldn't care how their barrister sounded but htey actually do. That is different, however, from saying they care about their regional accent. I've not found anyone to care about that.

Disappointed that, as yet, I have had nobody keen to endorse my voice 3 equals Yvette Cooper theory. If not her, then whom does it equal?

👆🏻 😅

As nobody else has expressed an opinion on this one I thought I’d give it a go. I can hear very subtle elements of Yvette in voice 3, I can’t say they are similar. I’d put voice 3 somewhere in the Stafford, North Derbyshire possibly up to Stockport area, Macclesfield springs to mind. Yvette however has a voice slightly more polished and less reminiscent of Coal mines, Canal boating, Mills or bakeries. Yvette might have worked on losing those aspects of her voice because as I said, I can hear hints of those features but I’d put voice 3 closer to Keir Starmer’s raven haired nemesis Angela Rayner although theres differences there too to my ear. Rayner sounds a like there are a few more coal stains or would have been if it wasn’t for Maggie’s intervention of the 80’s. This has been a really nice thread to read.

I'm going to set some hares running again here, but so be it: Rayner really needs to work on her delivery - not necessarily her accent but her articulacy, the choice of words she uses, if she wishes to realise her ambitions, whereof she has many. You make a good point, Andy, about Yvette Cooper - that genre of politician who realised in the late 90s that sounding more professional was the way to win. To my ears, Voice 3 is not Angela Rayner - if she were, the iPhone would have been thrown out of the window by now. Mind you, I have just typed 'scum' into my iPhone, this being one of Rayner's favourite epithets, and I can confirm that the pronunciation of that word, at least, is identical.

"Did the right-honourable lady just call me scum?"

I agree, a stronger vocabulary would assist Rayner in the aforementioned ambitions which as you point out, she appears to have many. Or perhaps 1. From my point of view though, I’ll take her less than professional delivery as it comes along with a certain scrappiness that the HOC benefits from in these turbulent times. When the conservatives return to more sensible norms and politics can relax along with them, I can think of many a politician I’d rather be crashing at number 10 than either Keir or Angela’ but in order to reach more sensible times, I feel like its likely we’ll have to go through a transition phase of less than ideal Ange or Keir. Once the extremist incompetent corrupt charlatans are consigned to the bin we can work on finding someone who might actually be capable of the job of putting things right whether they be red or blue. Wow Bingo. I think I might have enjoyed playing with those Hares a little too much. Haha All in good fun.

P.S. you always give me the best laughs I find on applevis, it was a master stroke to have voice 3 say Tori Scuum.

It will not surprise you to know that I disagree with pretty much everything you said on the politics front! Just watch this space - the next PM's name will begin with a K but it will be kemi Badenoch, not Keir starmer! One thing I will say on which i hope we agree: there is no place for scum and similar adjectives in our political discourse. I would like to return to the days when we disagree politely.

Returning to kemi Badenoch, she would be an excellent Siri voice 5 and, Brad, another black British variant. Ken Clarke could be a novelty one, as could jacob Rees Mogg and Dennis Skinner. how about George Galloway for an additional Scottish one? That would be excellent for clarity and diction and I might even end up using it.

I feel like we should probably stop being so naughty. I indeed knew you wouldn’t agree but you might be surprised to know I’m definitely not a raging lefty. I just want sensible back. I did have fun chasing the hare you craftily released but have been feeling guilty about it since. Probably shouldn’t go further here as we don’t want to be on the naughty step. We definitely do agree that words like scuum are best left outside the HOC. We should be able to do better and I hope one day soon we will. Re scuum, it would help if our speaker was awake, don’t you think? Too many cuups of tea. I’m happy to have provided a little light entertainment for Brad.

Andy, that's Probably a good suggestion to reel discussion back in so as to avoid the “naughty step” ☺️