TikTok Has Introduced New Text-to-Speech Voices: Here's How to Pick Yours

As the kinds of content that are popular on TikTok evolve, so does the technology inside the app that supports those videos. TikTok's text-to-speech feature has rapidly become one of the platform's most popular tools, and it's evolved plenty over the course of the last year. Initially, the voice was a man's, but in May 2021, the platform switched to a woman's voice. Now, users have a number of different voice options to choose from.

For the first time, TikTok has moved away from having one default voice and has instead introduced a number of voices that users can choose from. Each voice has its own name, and they include Alex, Joey, Taylor, Eddie and Chris. Now that all of these voices are available, some users are wondering how they can change their text-to-speech voice.

To change your text-to-speech voice, first, you have to record your TikTok video. Then, select "Text" at the bottom of the screen, and input the words that you want turned into speech. From there, you should press the text box and hold it until you see "Text-to-Speech" pop up as an option. You should then be able to choose the voice you want to read your words.

Although many fans were excited when they first saw the extra voices introduced on TikTok on August 10, some users who used to be able to see them now say that they have vanished again.

“You were able to change TikTok text to speech voice to a different one. Now I can’t anymore. Has anyone had this issue? #TikTok," one person wrote on Twitter.

“@tiktok_us Why does the app keep taking away the text-to-speech options? I had 6 voices to choose from but I’m stuck with the valley girl again. Why did you give us options just to take them away?" another added.

“Now it’s taken away the option to change the text to speech voice? I literally had it yesterday! Why is TikTok giving me things then taking them away?!" a third person wrote.

It's unclear why the voices were introduced and have since disappeared, and TikTok has provided no official explanation. It's possible that the introduction of the voices will become permanent at some point, but that TikTok rolled out the feature early to see how users would react. It's also possible that the introduction was some sort of glitch, although that possibility seems a little less likely.

While we can't say for sure why the feature was introduced and then taken away, it's clear that users were glad to see it when it first popped up, and are eager to have it back. Whether multiple text-to-speech will return soon is another question entirely. TikTok has yet to say anything about the feature, so until they speak up, users will have to wait and hope that the feature makes a quick comeback.