Apple this week previewed new iPhone, iPad, and Mac accessibility features coming later this year. One feature that has received a lot of attention in particular is Personal Voice, which will allow those at risk of losing their ability to speak to "create a voice that sounds like them" for communicating with family, friends, and others. Those with an iPhone, iPad, or newer Mac will be able to create a Personal Voice by reading a randomized set of text prompts aloud until 15 minutes of audio has been recorded on the device. Apple said the feature will be available in English only at launch, and uses on-device machine learning to ensure privacy and security. Personal Voice will be integrated with…

As part of its preview of iOS 17 accessibility updates coming this year, Apple has announced a pair of new features called Live Speech and Personal Voice. Live Speech allows users to type what they want to say and have it be spoken out. Personal Voice, on the other hand, is a way for people who are at risk of losing their ability to speak to create and save a voice that sounds like them. Apple says it’s designed for people at risk of losing their ability to speak, such as those with a recent diagnosis of ALS. more… The post Apple’s new ‘Personal Voice’ feature can create a voice that sounds like you or a loved one in just…

Apple Personal Voice and Live Speech accessibility features. | Image: Apple Today, Apple previewed a bundle of new features designed for cognitive, vision, hearing, and mobility accessibility. That includes a new Personal Voice feature for people who may lose their ability to speak, allowing them to create “a synthesized voice that sounds like them” to talk with friends or family members. According to Apple, users can create a Personal Voice by reading a set of text prompts aloud for a total of 15 minutes of audio on the iPhone or iPad. Since the feature integrates with Live Speech, users can then type what they want to say and have their Personal Voice read it to whomever they want to talk…

Apple today previewed a wide range of new accessibility features for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac that are set to arrive later this year. Apple says that the "new software features for cognitive, speech, and vision accessibility are coming later this year," which strongly suggests that they will be part of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS 14. The new operating systems are expected to be previewed at WWDC in early June before launching in the fall. Assistive Access Assistive Access distills ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ apps and experiences to their core features. The mode includes a customized experience for Phone and FaceTime, which are combined into a single Calls app, as well as Messages, Camera, Photos, and Music. The feature…

Ahead of WWDC in June, Apple today has announced a range of new accessibility features coming to iPhone and iPad this year. The new features include a new “Assistive Access” interface option, Live Speech, Personal Voice Advance Speech, and more. more… The post Apple previews iOS 17 accessibility features: Assistive Access, Personal Voice and Live Speech, more appeared first on 9to5Mac.

WhatsApp is rolling out a new Chat Lock feature that allows users to secure select conversations in their inbox behind a passcode, fingerprint, or Face ID authentication, parent company Meta has announced. In a post on its news page, Meta explained that locked conversations are removed from the regular chat list and hidden in a password-protected folder. Notification previews for any locked chats don't show sender or message content, while any media shared in locked chats won't be auto-saved to the phone's photo library, altogether keeping the conversations more private. "We believe this feature will be great for people who share their phones from time to time with a family member, or in moments where someone else is holding your…