using Siri voice when doing a software update

By Alicia Krage, 4 November, 2024

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

I have a question for you all regarding anyone who has a siri voice as their default VoiceOver voice and what your experience was like when you updated to 18.1, or even iOs 18.

I saw another post on a social media platform where someone updated to iOS 18.1 and had VoiceOver shut off when the update was complete and they had to have assistance entering their passcode. This happened to me a long time ago, so I remember the struggle and frustration.

The reason I want to know if anyone else experienced this is because I recently switched over to female Siri, and when 18.1.1 comes out, I want to know if I should change the voice before updating. Is this a recurring issue with Siri voices?

Thanks for your insights.

Options

Comments

By Holger Fiallo on Saturday, November 9, 2024 - 03:27

Suggest that you add another voice via rotor and use that one to update and go back to your siri voice. Siri is nuts and affect the phone. I use it for several day in my 13 pro with iOS 18. and over night it went back to Samantha.

By Alicia Krage on Saturday, November 9, 2024 - 03:27

That's my plan, I just hope I remember to change to said voice before updating. Did you have any issues or did you change the voice before updating?

By Michael Hansen on Saturday, November 9, 2024 - 03:27

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

I suspect this happens when a voice asset is updated with a software update. My understanding is that if a voice asset is unavailable after an update, VoiceOver should revert to the Samantha voice. So in theory this shouldn't happen. I also saw multiple reports of a similar issue occurring when people updated to iOS 18, but the issue resolved once the voice downloaded after a few minutes. I second Holger's recommendation to use another voice for the software update.

By Holger Fiallo on Saturday, November 9, 2024 - 03:27

I always use the vocalize voices. I do not trust Siri as voice for primary VO

By AbleTec on Saturday, November 9, 2024 - 03:27

Alicia, that may have been me, as I posted that exact information when I updated to IOS 18. the truth is I find Siri just doesn't work well for me anymore as a primary voice for VO since that update. It works for a bit, then just goes back to making static. Pretty disappointing.