Section 2.1: Accessing Settings

Begin by navigating to the Settings app. The feature is located within the Accessibility section: Settings > Accessibility > SPEECH > Personal Voice.

Section 2.2: Recording Your Voice

When recording your Personal Voice, it's important to understand that you can't simply use voice samples from casual conversations. Instead, you'll need to read approximately 150 random sentences aloud in a quiet space, which may take up to an hour.

Why is this necessary? There are two main reasons:

1. Allowing random speech samples could lead to misuse, such as impersonation of celebrities.
2. The selected sentences contain varied phonetic elements essential for training the algorithm to understand how your voice articulates different words.

To record, find a quiet area, click ‘Create a Personal Voice’, assign it a name, and read the sentences clearly and naturally.

Section 2.3: Processing Your Voice

Once you finish recording, your Personal Voice isn't immediately available; it requires processing, which occurs offline. This process is battery-intensive and will only take place while your iPhone is charging and the screen is off.

In my case, it took a surprising four days to complete—possibly due to optimization issues with the iOS 17 Developer Beta. You'll see progress updates in the Personal Voice settings and be notified once it's ready.

Note that even after your voice is created, the option to record additional Personal Voices remains available in Settings. This might seem puzzling since Apple typically designs iPhones for individual users. Perhaps this allows for voice storage over time, enabling nostalgic comparisons as one ages.

Section 3.1: Activating Live Speech

To finalize your setup, go to Settings > Accessibility > SPEECH, and enable ‘Live Speech’. Select your voice from the VOICES menu.

Now, you can utilize your Personal Voice by triple-clicking the Side Button at any time. Additionally, consider adding frequently used phrases (like "How's your day?") for easy access during conversations.

Section 3.2: Trying Out Personal Voice

To test the feature, triple-click the Side Button and type a message in the pop-up. Your Personal Voice will articulate whatever you write.

This experience is genuinely surprising. If you're on a call, just triple-click the Side Button, type your message, and it will be conveyed to the other party.

For reference, here’s an example of what I recorded as my original voice:

“Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, and cherished friends, it is with great pleasure...”

And here’s how it sounds using my Personal Voice.

(Click on ‘Listen in Browser’ if it appears.)

The similarity between both voices is astonishing! I even shared it with my family, telling them it was a rehearsal for my upcoming speech, and they believed me!