Google Navigation Voice changed

[tjk629]

So I was using voice guided navigation today and about half way through my trip I noticed the voice changed. Instead of it being robotic it was more human feminine sounding. Also it didn't say street names and would just say "Turn Left" or "Turn Right" instead of like "Turn right at center street".

This has never happened to me and I haven't heard of this happening before. Any idea why?

 

[TruPhan]

Same thing happened to me!

I just registered to let you know that the same thing happened to me last week also, possibly at the same time. I haven't seen this reported anywhere else, and the voice on my phone has since returned to the original.

My theory is that Google was running a live test at the time we were using our GPS's and we were among the few that actually heard it.

 

[2xhighpsi]

I know this is a fairly old thread, but I had the same thing happen to me 2 days ago while using Nav. The voice was waaaay better than the usual female robotic voice.

 

[Topaz]

Still happens. Same thing happened to me yesterday first time I used the app. Will see if it happens the same part of the route next time.

 

[Sajo]

Still happens. Same thing happened to me yesterday first time I used the app. Will see if it happens the same part of the route next time.

There was a recent update to the Google Text To Speech app and the Google Voice changed to sound less robotic. There's a thread around here somewhere discussing it.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Still happens. Same thing happened to me yesterday first time I used the app. Will see if it happens the same part of the route next time.

Welcome to the forum! This thread is over 5 years old, so it's doubtful that it's about the same issue you're having.

There has just recently been an update to the Google text-to-speech engine, which may be the cause of your experience. Perhaps it hadn't fully finished updating and that's why you had some trouble.

EDIT: Looks like @sajokaz beat me to it.

 

[Sajo]

Yes, but your post had more information Jonny.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Well yeah. You only beat me because I'm so long-winded.

 

[Topaz]

So you are saying that a recent update caused the voice to change part way through the journey then (after 3 miles) changed back again ? I suspect it is more to do with the location. However, the voice changing midway through the journey appears to be a common experience for some time.

 

[Sajo]

So you are saying that a recent update caused the voice to change part way through the journey then (after 3 miles) changed back again ? I suspect it is more to do with the location. However, the voice changing midway through the journey appears to be a common experience for some time.

I didn't read the very first post (way back in 2011... ). I'm not sure if the recent update would cause the voice to change during a trip? Maybe your theory about Location is accurate?

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I suppose it could be location based. Definitely weird. I use Google navigation every time I make the trip home (around 1,000 miles) and have never noticed the voice change in a way like has been described in this thread. If you could make a note of the specific things that the voice is saying (or not saying), that might help.

Although, there are a ton of interesting street names between where I live now and my hometown. The voice tends to at least TRY to say them all as far as I can remember.

Not sure if it'd be an issue with the voice data, or maybe a mobile data connectivity issue, but it IS possible that it's a location specific issue.

 

[Topaz]

It happened at a 'T' junction that had been turned into 1/2 roundabout 52.587275, -2.175002 . The new voice gave the directions and then the original voice did. Then for a short time the directions were said in the new voice and repeated in the original voice. Then only the new voice ... then after a few miles the voice changed back to the original. It was a direct link with data connection from the phone not a saved map.

Original voice British female ... new voice American female.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

It happened at a 'T' junction that had been turned into 1/2 roundabout 52.587275, -2.175002 . The new voice gave the directions and then the original voice did. Then for a short time the directions were said in the new voice and repeated in the original voice. Then only the new voice ... then after a few miles the voice changed back to the original. It was a direct link with data connection from the phone not a saved map.

Original voice British female ... new voice American female.

Ah! What phone are you using? I had a similar issue with a Samsung phone. I was trying to get the voice to always be British, so I tried to use the Samsung TTS settings. I set that to British female, but didn't change my Google TTS settings. During a navigation setting, I had a very similar issue where the voice would be British at one turn and then American at the next and etc.

 

[Topaz]

LG Leon ... didn't alter settings. Was British female to start and end with. I had deviated from the route to go to a shop I knew of ... was wondering if certain 'route directions' of the map weren't recognised so the google.com system default voice was used instead google.co.uk default voice ?

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I suppose that's possible, but I'm not really sure how it works. AFAIK, the voice actually builds words that it doesn't know from sounds that were recorded, if that makes sense. I would think it could at least GUESS.

In your TTS options, is there any option other than Google? I'm also not completely sure that navigation uses the settings set in TTS.