How to change the text-to-speech (TTS) settings for screen readers in Android 10

In this article

How to change the Speech rate and Pitch settings

How to change the spoken language

Other Text-to-speech settings

How to change the Speech rate and Pitch settings

1. To access the Accessibility features on your Android device open the Settings app .
2. In the Settings app, select Accessibility from the list.
   
3. On the Accessibility screen, scroll down to the Screen readers section and select Text-to-speech output.
   
4. On the Text-to-speech output screen, adjust the slider for Speech Rate to change how fast your device reads aloud.
   
5. Adjust the slider for Pitch to alter the tone of the spoken voice.
   
6. To hear how your new settings sound, select the Play button.
7. To return the settings to their default positions, select the Reset button.
   

How to change the spoken language

1. To access the Accessibility features on your Android device open the Settings app .
2. In the Settings app, select Accessibility from the list.
   
3. On the Accessibility screen, scroll down to the Screen readers section and select Text-to-speech output.
   
4. On the Text-to-speech output screen, select Language and choose from the available options.
   
5. Many of the languages can use different male and female voices.  To use a voice other than the default, select the Settings icon next to Preferred engine.
   
6. Select Install voice data.
7. Select the language you wish to use, in our example we are using English (United Kingdom).
   
8. At this point you may have to download a language pack before you can proceed to the next step.
9. If you have already enabled TalkBack or Select to Speak you will see a small play button next to each voice. Select the play button to hear a sample. Select the voice to use it with Text-to-speech
   
   
   If you haven’t enabled TalkBack or Select to Speak, select a voice to hear a sound sample. Note: Text-to-speech will now use this voice unless you choose another one.

Other Text-to-speech settings

1. To access the Accessibility features on your Android device open the Settings app .
2. In the Settings app, select Accessibility from the list.
   
3. On the Accessibility screen, scroll down to the Screen readers section and select Text-to-speech output.
   
4. On the Text-to-speech output screen, select the Settings icon next to Preferred engine.
   
5. You can customise the following settings:

Amplify speech volume

Boost the volume of the spoken text so that it is easier to hear above any other audio that may be playing on your device. Select Amplify speech volume to set the toggle switch to On.

Intonation

Change how expressive the voice is. Select Intonation and choose from the options:

• Expressive
• Somewhat expressive
• Flat

Number processing

This determines if numbers are dates or a phone number, etc., and reads them out accordingly. This feature is On by default. To disable it, select Number processing to set the toggle switch to Off.

Language detection

When there is more than one language in a text, Text-to-Speech will attempt to switch between them. Select Language detection and choose from the options:

• Off
• Conservative
• Aggressive

Note: we have written these instructions for devices running the standard version of the Android operating system. You may find some minor presentation differences if the manufacturer has customised the theme.