Voice assistants

How to set your preferred Siri voice in iOS 14.5

A featured image showing a Siri orb set against a dark gradient background

For the sake of inclusion and diversity, Apple's Siri virtual assistant no longer defaults to a female voice in the United States. Instead, you can now set your preferred Siri voice as part of the setup process (or after the fact, like before). In addition, you can switch to one of the two new Siri voices available with iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5. Follow along with our tutorial to learn how to change Siri's default voice on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and HomePod.

How to share your ETA in Apple Maps with Siri

As you follow turn-by-turn driving directions in Apple Maps on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, you have the option to let others know your estimated time of arrival (ETA). That being said, however, responsible drivers shouldn't really be taking their eyes off the wheel to tap through the menus. Thankfully, in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, you can ask Siri to share your ETA, hands-free. In this tutorial, you're going to learn how to share your ETA in Apple Maps with Siri.

How to always show speech transcriptions of your Siri requests

The compact Siri interface shows the assistant as an animated orb overlaid on top of your current context instead of taking up the whole display. By default, your iPhone or iPad does not show a real-time Siri transcription of your speech. Thankfully, you can change that and have Siri type what you speak.

Follow along with us as we show you how to enable live Siri transcriptions of your requests so you can verify that an iPhone or iPad is interpreting your requests accurately.