The news: Included in the latest beta of iOS 15.4 is a fifth American English Siri voice, Apple confirmed to Axios.
- Axios reports that the new voice “is less explicitly male- or female-sounding” and “was recorded by a member of the LGBTQ+ community”
- The new voice, called Voice 5, is the most notable change included in iOS 15.4 beta 4, which released to developers and public beta testers earlier this week
Sam’s take: Inclusivity is important to me, and even though there is still a more feminine aire to Voice 5, it’s certainly more neutral than the 4 voices we have currently. It’s wild that this new voice was announced just after I spent some time talking with Jon Prosser about Siri and gendered voice options on our podcast the other day…