From The Verge: The latest beta of iOS 15.4 adds a fifth American voice for its Siri voice assistant. Apple’s user-facing interface simply calls it “Voice 5,” but iOS developer Steve Moser reports that its filename refers to the new voice as “Quinn.” The voice has arrived a little under a year after Apple added its last two American Siri voices, and stopped defaulting to using a female-sounding voice.
Axios notes that the new voice sounds more gender-neutral than earlier Siri voices. Apple confirmed to the publication that it was recorded by a member of the LGBTQ+ community, though the company didn’t offer any further details on the voice actor’s identity. Last year’s voices were recorded by Black actors as part of the company’s “long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion,” Apple said at the time.
“We’re excited to introduce a new Siri voice for English speakers, giving users more options to choose a voice that speaks to them,” Apple told Axios in reference to the new fifth American voice. “Millions of people around the world rely on Siri every day to help get things done, so we work to make the experience feel as personalized as possible.”
Other new features included in iOS 15.4’s latest beta include a new anti-stalking privacy notice when setting up AirTags. An official release date for the software is yet to be announced, but it’s expected to be made widely available next month.
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