Get a Better Coach Voice: Natural-Sounding Spoken Feedback on iPhone, iPad and Mac
MotionEdge can read your swing feedback out loud, so you can keep your eyes on the range instead of the screen. If that voice sounds flat or robotic, the fix takes about two minutes and costs nothing. You download a better voice once in your device's Settings, and MotionEdge starts using it.
Why does the MotionEdge voice sound robotic?
Every iPhone, iPad and Mac comes with a basic Standard voice already installed. It is small and quick, but it sounds stiff. If you have never downloaded anything better, that is the voice MotionEdge is using.
Apple also offers larger Enhanced and Premium voices that sound far more natural. They are not installed until you ask for them, so most golfers never hear them.
How does MotionEdge choose which voice to use?
By default it picks for you. MotionEdge looks at the English voices installed on your device and uses the best one it finds: Premium first, then Enhanced, then Standard. So once you download a better voice, you do not have to change anything in MotionEdge. It uses the new voice on the very next spoken line, with no restart.
If you would rather choose yourself, see "Can I pick and preview a specific voice?" below.
How do I get a better voice on iPhone or iPad?
- Open the Settings app.
- Go to Accessibility › Read & Speak › Voices › English.
- Pick a voice marked Enhanced or Premium and tap the download button.
- Wait for the download to finish, then go back to MotionEdge.
On older versions of iOS and iPadOS, the same screen is called Spoken Content › Voices instead of Read & Speak.
Can't find it? Search Settings for "Voices" and it will take you straight there.
Plan on roughly 100 MB or more per voice. A Wi-Fi connection is the easiest way to download it.
How do I get a better voice on a Mac?
- Open System Settings.
- Go to Accessibility › Read & Speak.
- Click the info button (i) beside System voice.
- Choose English › Voice, then click the download button next to an Enhanced or Premium English voice.
On older versions of macOS, this screen is called Spoken Content, and you click System voice › Manage Voices… instead.
Can't find it? Search System Settings for "Voices".
MotionEdge uses the new voice on the next spoken line. You do not need to quit and reopen the app.
Can I pick and preview a specific voice?
Yes. In MotionEdge, open Coach Voice. You will find it in Capture Settings and in Scorecard Settings under Spoken Feedback. The default choice is Automatic (best installed). To choose your own, pick a voice from the list. Each one is labeled Premium, Enhanced or Standard, and a Preview button plays a short sample so you can hear it before you commit.
While a Standard voice is in use, the Coach Voice screen opens with a Get a better voice section that has the same steps as above. On a Mac it also has an Open Voice Settings button that takes you straight to the right page, and a Learn more link to this article.
The first time you turn on spoken feedback with only Standard voices installed, MotionEdge also shows a one-time tip called Give your coach a better voice. It explains that a free Enhanced or Premium voice sounds much more natural, and you can tap Got it or Not now. Once you download a better voice, MotionEdge switches to it and tells you out loud, in the new voice, that your coach voice has changed.
Why can't MotionEdge use the Siri voice?
Apple keeps the Siri voice for its own apps. No other app can use it, MotionEdge included. The downloadable Enhanced and Premium voices are the best voices Apple makes available to apps, and they are a big step up from Standard.
Why can't MotionEdge download the voice for me?
Apple does not let apps download voices on your behalf. A voice has to be added in your device's Settings, and that is a one-time job. After that, the voice stays available to every app that speaks, and MotionEdge picks it up on its own.
What if my better voice disappears?
If your iPhone or iPad gets short on storage, iOS can quietly remove a downloaded voice to make room. If MotionEdge suddenly sounds robotic again, open the Voices screen in Settings (steps above) and download the voice again. Freeing up some space first helps it stay put.
In the meantime, MotionEdge keeps talking. It falls back to the best voice that is still installed, so you never lose the spoken feedback. It just sounds less natural until you download the voice again.
Where does MotionEdge use the coach voice?
Anywhere it speaks to you out loud, such as the spoken swing feedback after each swing. If you have not turned spoken feedback on, you will not hear it. See Swing and Session Scorecards for how to choose what gets read aloud.