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Listen to the new and improved Siri voice in iOS 8.3

[youtube=http://youtu.be/DCocK6Bocnw]

As it has done quietly in past builds, Apple’s latest iOS 8.3 release makes improvements to its Siri voice assistant in the way of more natural sounding speech synthesis. The comparison above was sent in by a reader (thanks jk9357!), showing the improvements Apple has made to Siri’s voice in its latest iOS beta.

As noted by our tipsters, the change is particularly noticeable on the words “potato” and “America” in the comparison. You’ll hear iOS 8.1.1 first in the audio comparison followed by the new and improved iOS 8.3. The improvements come ahead of the Apple Watch launch, which relies heavily on Siri and could always benefit from enhanced speech technology. 

We detailed and discovered other new features and enhancements coming in iOS 8.3 when it was released to developers earlier this month.

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Comments

  1. Andrew Messenger - 9 years ago

    I wonder if the male voice was updated. When I installed 8.3 it defaulted to the female voice. I switched back to male and didn’t notice a change.

    • I don’t think it has to do with the individual voice profiles, but rather tweaking the code to allow for a better blending of sounds.

      • Andrew Messenger - 9 years ago

        you’re probably right. i’m at work so i’m not trying to ask siri to define ‘potato’ for me right now to find out ;)

      • It has ALWAYS been about individual voice profiles in the past. Do you have any evidence of new technology that would change that?

  2. rgbfoundry - 9 years ago

    Sounds like they’re just dropping the pitch at the end of the cited example words, a trick that can make you sound more confident or authoritative.

    • chrisl84 - 9 years ago

      True….but call me old fashioned, I prefer my assistants and artificial intelligence to not be authoritative :)

  3. hodar0 - 9 years ago

    The problem with Siri isn’t how he/she SOUNDS. It’s on her technical ability. If I say “Call Dr. Smith”, Siri should call Dr. Smith, not ask “Do you really mean Dr. Smith?”, when my Contacts say Dr. Sam Smith. Or how about keeping some functionality on-board, so if there is poor data connectivity, I can call my wife instead of getting “Gee, I’m sorry, I can’t help you with that right now”. It should be SIMPLE. Call should indicate a quick check of my contacts – no need to contact the outside world.

    So many areas where Siri drops the ball; and Google somehow shot ahead.

    • Let’s not forget when we ask something like: “Remind me to pick up dry cleaning when I leave” and you get “I found dry cleaners in your area from the web.”

      • samuelsnay - 9 years ago

        I just told Siri to remind me to pick up dry cleaning when I leave home, and she set the reminder.

        Maybe you should take the food out of your mouth before you speak to her.

    • Andrew Messenger - 9 years ago

      I hope Sam Smith is a better doctor than songwriter. ;)

  4. Greg Kaplan (@kaplag) - 9 years ago

    which one is which? The second one kind of sounds worse to me because of how the endings of some words get dragged out and sound processed. I’ve been using the male voice so I couldn’t pick up on it.

  5. lexxkoto - 9 years ago

    They have American English, British English and Australian English voices. It would be nice to have a Scottish English option for Siri. We already have the “Fiona” voice on OS X, they just need to bring it across to iOS.

  6. rsnyder6 - 9 years ago

    I don’t know why, or how, my Siri’s voice on my phone changed recently. I first noticed it on “Brrrrr,” as in asking Siri what the temperature was and it replying “Brrrr, the temperature is 12 degrees.”

    The whole patter sounds similar, but a shade different, maybe smoother, for want of a better description, than a little while ago, but a little bit since my last update.

  7. Justme - 9 years ago

    Now if Siri would work…that would be something.

  8. Andy Marks - 9 years ago

    It would be cool if I could use my voice instead of Siri or KITT from Knightrider.

  9. dirtbagg - 9 years ago

    I got excited reading the headline, but it just sounds like she’s sped up. I use Google Maps primarily because the voice is so much easier to listen to. Well, that was why before, now with lane guidance, earlier instructional announcements, etc… But the voice!

  10. Bruce Newman - 9 years ago

    My wants are very simple. Just give me back Siri’s “Brrrrrr” instead of the new, dull, boring “burr” and I’ll be happy.

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.