User profile for user: winterj
winterj Author
User level: Level 1
13 points

iPhone Personal Voice (Accessibility) - Problems with Sharing Personal Voice From iPhone to Mac

I created my Personal Voice on my iPhone and in settings under Accessibility->Personal Voice I have enabled "Share Across Devices" and "Allow Apps to Request to Use". However, even though I am signed into my Macbook under the same Apple ID my Personal Voice doesn't appear as a selectable voice in Live Speech.


"Share Across Devices" was off by default but it has been a week since I turned it on and my Macbook is syncing everything as normal (for example photos, calendar, notes) except the voice.


Things I have tried:

  • Toggling the sharing setting off and on
  • Rebooting both devices
  • Checking to make sure iCloud sharing is on
  • Looking for anyone with the same issue (I found one person posting here with trouble syncing from Mac to iPhone but no solution provided)


I even exported the files from my iPhone and copies those to my desktop, but unfortunately I cannot create a new voice on my Mac as it wants me to speak phrases and won't accept importing existing files.


For reference the devices are:

  • iPhone - 15 Pro Max
  • Macbook - Macbook M1 Pro


Any help is greatly appreciated as I have ALS and cannot speak. It would be very nice to use my voice on my Macbook rather than a default voice as I can type much faster on it compared with my iPhone.


Thank you.

iPhone 15 Pro Max, iOS 18

Posted on Apr 27, 2025 4:38 AM

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Question marked as ⚠️ Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: brbo
brbo
User level: Level 8
37,423 points

Posted on Apr 28, 2025 9:34 PM

Hi winterj,

Thank you for your post and queries for the Apple Community! A big thank-you for the details you provided.


Re: "iPhone Personal Voice (Accessibility) - Problems with Sharing Personal Voice From iPhone to Mac"


Am no expert in this area, yet your post deserves some reply. Fortunately, Apple Support's articles may help to guide us. Please excuse if the info. below is already known / does not help / and let us know more about your needs.


Wondering how you intend using Personal Voice on your Mac: (ie in which apps)

Seems it is the "Live Speech" app, where you may be able to select Personal Voice:

Use Live Speech on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch - Apple Support

Eg: says:

"Before you can use Live Speech, you’ll need to turn it on".

"On your Mac

  1. Choose Apple menu  > System Settings, click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Live Speech.
  2. Turn Live Speech on or off."



Create a Personal Voice on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac - Apple Support

Eg: says:

"Use your Personal Voice on other devices

Turn on Share Across Devices to sync your Personal Voice to other devices that are signed in to iCloud with your Apple ID. This will also save a copy of your voice in iCloud that can be reinstalled if you repair or replace a device.

To use your Personal Voice on your other devices,

first make sure you turn on two-factor authentication for your Apple ID.

On your Mac

  1. Choose Apple menu  > System Settings, click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Personal Voice.
  2. Turn on “Share across devices”.


Article also says:

"Personal Voice can only be used with Live Speech and third-party apps that you allow, such as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) apps. You can control app access to Personal Voice in Settings (or System Settings) > Accessibility > Personal Voice.

Additionally, the third-party apps you grant access to can’t capture speech from Personal Voice".

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Re:"For reference the devices are:

  • iPhone - 15 Pro Max
  • Macbook - Macbook M1 Pro "


Seems the earlier "Intel" Macs are not suitable for Personal Voice, while newer Macs with "Silicon" are fine.


"On Mac computers with Apple silicon, About This Mac shows an item labelled Chip, followed by the name of the chip. To open About This Mac, choose Apple menu  > About This Mac."

You can view more info, in the article: Mac computers with Apple silicon - Apple Support

Eg: says:

You can use: "MacBook Pro introduced in 2021 or later, plus MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020)"


All the best :-)

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Question marked as ⚠️ Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: brbo
brbo
User level: Level 8
37,423 points

Apr 28, 2025 9:34 PM in response to winterj

Hi winterj,

Thank you for your post and queries for the Apple Community! A big thank-you for the details you provided.


Re: "iPhone Personal Voice (Accessibility) - Problems with Sharing Personal Voice From iPhone to Mac"


Am no expert in this area, yet your post deserves some reply. Fortunately, Apple Support's articles may help to guide us. Please excuse if the info. below is already known / does not help / and let us know more about your needs.


Wondering how you intend using Personal Voice on your Mac: (ie in which apps)

Seems it is the "Live Speech" app, where you may be able to select Personal Voice:

Use Live Speech on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch - Apple Support

Eg: says:

"Before you can use Live Speech, you’ll need to turn it on".

"On your Mac

  1. Choose Apple menu  > System Settings, click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Live Speech.
  2. Turn Live Speech on or off."



Create a Personal Voice on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac - Apple Support

Eg: says:

"Use your Personal Voice on other devices

Turn on Share Across Devices to sync your Personal Voice to other devices that are signed in to iCloud with your Apple ID. This will also save a copy of your voice in iCloud that can be reinstalled if you repair or replace a device.

To use your Personal Voice on your other devices,

first make sure you turn on two-factor authentication for your Apple ID.

On your Mac

  1. Choose Apple menu  > System Settings, click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Personal Voice.
  2. Turn on “Share across devices”.


Article also says:

"Personal Voice can only be used with Live Speech and third-party apps that you allow, such as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) apps. You can control app access to Personal Voice in Settings (or System Settings) > Accessibility > Personal Voice.

Additionally, the third-party apps you grant access to can’t capture speech from Personal Voice".

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Re:"For reference the devices are:

  • iPhone - 15 Pro Max
  • Macbook - Macbook M1 Pro "


Seems the earlier "Intel" Macs are not suitable for Personal Voice, while newer Macs with "Silicon" are fine.


"On Mac computers with Apple silicon, About This Mac shows an item labelled Chip, followed by the name of the chip. To open About This Mac, choose Apple menu  > About This Mac."

You can view more info, in the article: Mac computers with Apple silicon - Apple Support

Eg: says:

You can use: "MacBook Pro introduced in 2021 or later, plus MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020)"


All the best :-)

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User profile for user: winterj
winterj Author
User level: Level 1
13 points

Apr 29, 2025 1:47 AM in response to brbo

Hello Brbo, thank you for your reply.


Happy to say that I got it to work!


I had 2FA on, I was using a correct device, the problem was on the Mac (which is receiving the voice from my phone) I didn't also select "Share across devices" in the Mac Personal Voice settings as I thought that referred to a voice I was recording on my Mac. When I turned that on my personal voice from my phone appeared and it's working fine now.


Thanks so much!

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iPhone Personal Voice (Accessibility) - Problems with Sharing Personal Voice From iPhone to Mac

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