Android's text-to-speech (TTS) engine comes in handy for many situations. Reading aloud turn-by-turn directions in your navigation app comes to mind, but also pronouncing words correctly when learning a foreign language, or reading articles, emails or texts aloud with the respective timbre that doesn't sound robotic and monotonous.
Unfortunately, the best voice packs out there, from the IVONA TTS engine, which were 200MB+, and covered several major languages, disappeared from the Play Store when Amazon acquired IVONA to use in its Echo and other devices that utilize Amazon's Alexa voice-controlled assistant. The newest Google TTS voices aren't bad, though, and will do the job.
If you have a Samsung phone, however, your default TTS engine is the maker's one, while Google's TTS pack has to be picked from the Play Store, or designated as default from the settings, if you have it installed. Here is what you need to do:
2. Go to Settings > Language & Input > Text-to-speech output;
3. Swap Samsung's TTS for the Google Text-to-speech option as your preferred engine. Going further into the settings lets you download different language packs, and set the speed of the readouts, too.
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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.
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