The release of iOS 17 back in September of 2023 brought with it some exciting new features in the world of accessibility. One of these new features is called Live Speech.

Live Speech is a new, built in text-to-speech feature that is very simple to turn on and use. Live Speech lets you turn your typed text into spoken words. It is perfect for those who have a speech disability, are nonverbal, or just prefer to communicate through text. In addition, Live Speech works seamlessly during phone calls and FaceTime. With Live Speech, your typed words will be audibly sent over the phone to the individual you are talking to. Live Speech also lets you save commonly used phrases to make it easier to respond during your day to day interactions.

Live Speech is available on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. You need to update your Apple devices to iOS 17 to be able to use Live Speech.

To turn on Live Speech on your Phone or Tablet, go to Settings - Accessibility - Live Speech. Tap Live Speech to turn it on. Once Live Speech is on, you simply need to tap the the side button three times to bring up the message box. After that, you simply type your message and press send.

If you would like more information about Live Speech, click here.