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🗣 Change or improve the voice for speech output

Note

Wokabulary cannot make use of the Siri voices as Apple does not allow other apps to access these.

Make sure to download a Premium (best) or Enhanced (second best) voice for the language you want to learn.

Using high-quality voices

The speech output in the Quiz by default uses the default system voice for the selected language. macOS and iOS come with pre-installed voices for all languages. However, these are generally low quality to save disk space.

In the System Settings you can install high definition voices for each language.

Downloading voices on the Mac

On macOS Sequoia you can manage your voices in

System Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → System Voice → i️nfo

Screenshot of the macOS System Settings with highlighting on Accessibility, Spoken Content, System Voice, Manage Voices

Note that on macOS Sonoma, there is no info button, but you need to select the Manage voices… item in the voices dropdown.

Find the language you are learning and click on the voice row.

Screenshot of the Spoken Content Voice Management in macOS System Settings with highlighting on selecting the language

Download a premium (best) or enhanced (second best) voice.

Screenshot of the Spoken Content Voice Management in macOS System Settings with highlighting on Premium Voices

We also have a short video showing how to download voices on macOS (Sonoma):

Select your preferred voice on the Mac

If you have installed multiple voices for a language, you can specify the one Wokabulary should use. Go to Wokabulary → Languages → Edit → Voice

Screenshot of the editing view of a language in Wokabulary

Downloading voices on iPhone & iPad

On iPhone and iPad you can manage your voices on

System Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → Voices → Voice

Screenshot of the iOS System Settings with highlighting on Accessibility, Spoken Content

Screenshot of the Spoken Content Settings in iOS System Settings with highlighting on Voices

Screenshot of the Voice Settings for Korean in iOS System Settings

Download a premium (best) or enhanced (second best) voice.

Screenshot of the voice selection for Korean in iOS System Settings with a highlight on the download button for a premium voice

Select your preferred voice on the iPhone or iPad

If you have installed multiple voices for a language, you can specify the one Wokabulary should use. Go to Wokabulary → Settings → Languages → Edit → Voice

Screenshot of the language settings in Wokabulary

Screenshot of the editing view of a language in Wokabulary