If you’re having trouble getting Siri to read text messages, then you’re not alone. You might have heard that you need to re-pair your AirPods, or you may be wondering if there’s a way to enable the “speak screen” on your device. Whatever the case, it’s important that you follow these simple tips for getting your AirPods and Siri to work together.
Image by mcmurryjulie from Pixabay
Enable gender-neutral voice
Apple has just launched a new gender-neutral voice for Siri to read text messages. This is part of a push to eliminate stereotypes about gender and gender roles in the tech industry.
Siri has been defaulting to a female voice for years, but recently Apple has started diversifying the voices it offers. It’s currently offering six voices.
The fifth is called “Quinn,” and is a non-gendered voice. It sounds human, though to some people it may sound a bit male. However, it has smooth transitions and has a natural inflection similar to other Siri voices.
In order to enable the new gender-neutral voice, you have to go to Settings. Click the Voice preference option. You’ll then be able to choose between four voice options.
If you don’t like the new gender-neutral voice, you can switch back to the original voice. Apple has not provided any further details about the new voice.
While the new voice is a positive step towards changing the perception of Siri’s voice, it’s not the only change to come out of the beta version of iOS 15.4. Also, you can now add notes to your iCloud Keychain entries.
Turn on incoming notifications
There are plenty of reasons why you might want to get Siri to read text messages. Whether you’re looking to keep up with friends and family or to simply receive alerts while you’re out and about, Siri can help.
To start, you’ll need a device that supports the Siri app. This means that you should be running iOS 13 or newer. Then, all you have to do is press the Home button to activate Siri. You’ll then need to provide your contact information and ask Siri to read text messages.
After reading the message, Siri will ask if you’d like to send it. If you choose yes, she’ll then type a reply. In some cases, she’ll also call a contact to answer a question or send you a message.
Another feature that Siri can do is announce new incoming notifications from supported third-party messaging apps. When this option is turned on, Siri will play a tone as you get new messages.
Enable speak screen
If you are using an iPhone or Mac, you can get Siri to read text messages. You can do this in several different ways.
First, you can use the keyboard shortcut Option + Esc. This will make the text that you select appear on the screen. Next, you can choose to change the color of the words or how they are highlighted. Another option is to set the Default Language to English.
When you’re ready to let Siri read your text, you can do so with the ‘Speak Screen’ feature. Speak Screen is triggered by swiping down with two fingers from the top of the screen. Once you’ve invoked the feature, a controller window appears.
The controller allows you to control the speed of the speech and playback. It also lets you stop and skip back and forward paragraphs. A rabbit icon boosts the speaking rate, while a turtle icon slows it down.
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Re-pair your AirPods
If you’re having trouble getting Siri to read text messages on your AirPods, there are a few things you can do to change that. To get Siri to announce incoming texts, you’ll need to turn on Announce Messages with Siri.
To activate this feature, you’ll need to pair your AirPods to your iPhone. You’ll also need to enable Bluetooth on your device.
Once you’ve done that, you can re-pair your AirPods to your iPhone. This will allow you to answer incoming texts by speaking directly to Siri. But, if you don’t want to use Siri to read your texts, you can choose to turn off this feature.
To turn on Announce Messages with Siri, head to Settings, then Siri & Search. Under Notifications, you’ll find the Announce Notifications section. There, you’ll see a toggle that says “Announce Notifications From.” Choose it and you’ll be able to select apps that will support the announcements.
