Access Google text-to-speech TTS settings beyond those normally offered? - General Questions and Answers

Hi,
I know how to change voices, speed, and pitch. This is all no problem. I can use the already available options without difficulty.
However, I want to be able to change (shorten) the pauses for commas, spaces, line-breaks, and periods. I also want to be able to program in word swaps. For instance, if the engine sees "HP" it says horsepower, but I'd rather it say "H P" or "hit points".
Is there a way to uncover these controls? I know that word swapping was possible with an old version of the TTS plug-in with FBReader, but that's old, old code now, and a pain to use. I've no problem with buying another app, but I do want to use the Google TTS engine as I prefer one of the voices. Tried another reader that does the dictionary thing, but not the pauses. Not worth the switch as its max speed is low.

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[Q] Text To Speech (TTS) - Missing Setting

Hey out there, I'm currently rocking with the TnT Lite 3.1.3 and have bought the Co-Pilot navigation app.
It came with it's own internal voices which is not TTS capable. After doing alot of reading, it appears that us Android 2.2 users are in luck as Co-Pilot will use Android's TTS engine and voices.
So the next step was to locate a voice, I finally decided to purchase the Loquendo - Susan voice and was able to install it.
Now the issue - according to the instructions and other posting on the net, I need to set the Loquendo as the default TTS engine by going to Settings -> Voice input & output -> Text-to-speech settings. In the TnT-Lite 3.1.3 there is not such setting (Voice Input & Output), I've looked everywhere.
One internet posting suggested installing TTS Service Extended and it looked promising as it did allow me to set the default TTS engine to Loquendo. The good news was that Co-Pilot now recognized that there was a TTS voice but it still used the Pico TTS default voice, so my suspicions are the the TTS Service Extended only partly enabled the TTS functionality in Android 2.2.
Does anyone know where the Voice Input & Output setting is or how to enable it?
It might not be packed into that ROM. I know in the previous Vegan betas that setting was omitted. I believe they swapped the Settings.APK file and it was back in the latest Vegan. I had to do the same as you. I used PICO TTS, set in a round about way as you did, in the meantime since I couldnt activate and set Loquendo. It seems like the back end is there we just can't access the GUI so if you can figure out a command or another app that can control this it may be worth a shot.
Based on what I've been able to find so far, it's REALLY slim. The only control that I was able to find is the TTS Service Extended app.
hmmmm.... vegan here i come!!!
TTS Efforts
Please post back your success/failure on this issue. I've been grappling with it for a few weeks and had an open question (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=879537&page=2) about the text to speech with Co-Pilot.
anjenaire said:
Please post back your success/failure on this issue. I've been grappling with it for a few weeks and had an open question (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=879537&page=2) about the text to speech with Co-Pilot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, switt was right, the setting is NORMALLY there for Android 2.2 but in the TnT-Lite 3.1.3 firmware it hasn't been included. I'm not sure if it's that way from the stock TnT firmware but I suspect it is.
I flashed to the VEGAn beta 5.1 and yep there it was @ Settings -> Voice input & output. I wasn't too excited yet because the settings looked an awful lot like the TTS Serviced Extended app I found.
I set everything up and started up CoPilot and voila, clear TTS with the Loquendo - Susan voice!!
On an aside, I do have to say that my understanding was that VEGAn offered a more accurate Android look and feel, but I never really understood what that meant. However, after flashing VEGAn, I can now see all those settings that I couldn't find in TnT for example the setting for the synchronization of Gmail accounts was right where all the internet posts said it was.
TTS - Vegan Here I come
OK well that settles it, time for a new direction. I had been staying with the TnT Lite versions but looks like it is time to try and flash VEGan. No other excuses now.
So I took the leap to VEGAN-TAB and downloaded to SVOX TTS Engine and then purchased the Victoria UK Voice. Works fine, will test later with Co-Pilot. What I was looking for in the Market was Loquendo - Elizabeth or Kate but only saw Loquendo - Susan. I wonder if the UK voices are available for Android or if I am being shut out by being in the USA? Just have a thing for those English Accents.

Not super happy with Navigon, the Garmin Navigation app.

So, on blind faith I paid $40 to download Navigon because they don't offer a trial version. I figured for $40 it must be the best navigation app ever.
Am I wrong?!?
Can anyone help me with these annoying issues?
When I start navigation to somewhere and then hit the home button to bring up some other app, there is no way to go directly back to navigation. I have to start all over again. What am I doing wrong?
The voice says "Smith B.L.V.D." instead of "Smith Boulevard". Or "Main S.T." instead of "Main Street".
The voice does not cut out the streaming music when it announces anything. It just talks over whatever is currently playing. So it's hard to understand it when I'm listening to streaming talk radio. I wish it would either cut out the current music or offer a separate volume for navigation voice so I can make it louder than everything else.
When navigation starts, it shows me three different potential routes. But it only waits like 20 seconds for me to choose one. Then it auto selects one for me. This isn't enough time to choose a route. Is there a way to make it wait for me to examine the different routes and manually choose one?
The choice for voices is kind of limited and while they are clear sounding, most of them kinda suck.
I tried co pilot and it was also garbage. Some of the same problems plus old outdated maps and pretty much featureless if you don't want to pay out the ass. I've learned to just stick with Google maps and nav.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk
i like att navigation aka Telenav, it has live traffic and lane assist. att gives you 30 days free trial. if you like it, you can get 4 years prepaid service for 249$, that' only 5.19$ a months! (from telenav.com)
netnerd said:
i like att navigation aka Telenav, it has live traffic and lane assist. att gives you 30 days free trial. if you like it, you can get 4 years prepaid service for 249$, that' only 5.19$ a months! (from telenav.com)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or...... search the captivate forums and you'll get a link to the free version from telenav that works great. Its a very old thread but search telenav and you'll find it
<insert witty signature here>
CZ Eddie said:
Can anyone help me with these annoying issues?
When I start navigation to somewhere and then hit the home button to bring up some other app, there is no way to go directly back to navigation. I have to start all over again. What am I doing wrong?
The voice says "Smith B.L.V.D." instead of "Smith Boulevard". Or "Main S.T." instead of "Main Street".
The voice does not cut out the streaming music when it announces anything. It just talks over whatever is currently playing. So it's hard to understand it when I'm listening to streaming talk radio. I wish it would either cut out the current music or offer a separate volume for navigation voice so I can make it louder than everything else.
When navigation starts, it shows me three different potential routes. But it only waits like 20 seconds for me to choose one. Then it auto selects one for me. This isn't enough time to choose a route. Is there a way to make it wait for me to examine the different routes and manually choose one?
The choice for voices is kind of limited and while they are clear sounding, most of them kinda suck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone?
CZ Eddie said:
So, on blind faith I paid $40 to download Navigon because they don't offer a trial version. I figured for $40 it must be the best navigation app ever.
Am I wrong?!?
Can anyone help me with these annoying issues?
When I start navigation to somewhere and then hit the home button to bring up some other app, there is no way to go directly back to navigation. I have to start all over again. What am I doing wrong?
The voice says "Smith B.L.V.D." instead of "Smith Boulevard". Or "Main S.T." instead of "Main Street".
The voice does not cut out the streaming music when it announces anything. It just talks over whatever is currently playing. So it's hard to understand it when I'm listening to streaming talk radio. I wish it would either cut out the current music or offer a separate volume for navigation voice so I can make it louder than everything else.
When navigation starts, it shows me three different potential routes. But it only waits like 20 seconds for me to choose one. Then it auto selects one for me. This isn't enough time to choose a route. Is there a way to make it wait for me to examine the different routes and manually choose one?
The choice for voices is kind of limited and while they are clear sounding, most of them kinda suck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tinkered with Navigon, but I've realized that the best GPS navigation is actually Navigation provided by Googled Maps. Just get Ivona text to speech, and suddenly it feels like a sophisticated navigation app. I pretty much stopped using my trusted Garmin Nuvi 360 that I paid $650 for more than 5 years ago. It's on par.
Only gripe is it is too persistent on trying to get you back on the route it thinks it is best rather than figuring out that you have a different route.
in case anyone is interested, here is the .apk posted in the Captivate forum and referred to above. I tested it and am happy to report that it works.
Does Telenav require a data connection? Google Nav is the best option imo however I travel out of cell range a lot and need something that doesn't require to have a signal to reroute me.
I have been using Navigon for a couple of weeks now and as far as off line navigation goes it is by far the best out there (that i have used). Sure there are some quirks but the maps are up to date, it has lane assist, speed warnings, route planning and a good POI database. The lane assist and speed warnings do not work in Canada, but worked very well on my 20 min drive to the Olive Garden on Van Dyke on Sunday If you are looking to use online navigation i do prefer Google Maps.
Sent from my SGH-I727R using xda premium
ironcrotch said:
Does Telenav require a data connection? Google Nav is the best option imo however I travel out of cell range a lot and need something that doesn't require to have a signal to reroute me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unfortunately, it does appear to need a data connection. I haven't played around with it enough yet to see if it has the option or ability to cache maps.
htc0101 said:
I have been using Navigon for a couple of weeks now and as far as off line navigation goes it is by far the best out there (that i have used). Sure there are some quirks but the maps are up to date, it has lane assist, speed warnings, route planning and a good POI database. The lane assist and speed warnings do not work in Canada, but worked very well on my 20 min drive to the Olive Garden on Van Dyke on Sunday If you are looking to use online navigation i do prefer Google Maps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have any of the issues I mentioned in my OP?
Like you, I want a Navigation app that uses offline maps for when there is no data connection. That's where Navigon works.
Google maps and Telenav and most of the others don't offer this.
oops double post.
1. When you close the app, there is nothing in the drop down to show it is still running, but if you hold the home button to bring up recent apps it will be in there and it opens in last used state.(not as nice as google in the status bar)
2. The whole av / avenue thing i found hit and miss with different voices some pronounced the abbr, and some read it as long form.
3. I have not tried it with other audio playing.
4. I agree I hate that and don't know how to change it, I just go back and reselect destination and look really fast at the options.
5. Have not tried to find other voices yet, on my to do list.
Even with those problems still the best i have tried.
htc0101 said:
1. When you close the app, there is nothing in the drop down to show it is still running, but if you hold the home button to bring up recent apps it will be in there and it opens in last used state.(not as nice as google in the status bar)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent work-around, thanks!
This is hard to do when the phone is in a dock on the top of my dash, but it's a lot better than pressing multiple buttons and re-starting navigation.
htc0101 said:
2. The whole av / avenue thing i found hit and miss with different voices some pronounced the abbr, and some read it as long form.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm noticing that also. The voice I liked best (australian chick) NEVER does say "ST" or "AV", etc. in long form.
But the default male voice will sometimes do it. And sometimes not.
htc0101 said:
4. I agree I hate that and don't know how to change it, I just go back and reselect destination and look really fast at the options.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, kind of annoying.
I guess for some folks who don't care which route they take, then it's nice that they don't have to click another button to start their route.
But I'm still new in my area and like seeing the multiple routes. It should maybe have a setting that lets it auto-select or wait for you to select a route.
SYGIC is the best GPS hands down for android. OFFLINE works great. When you first install the app you download your base files and any maps you will need and then it works perfectly anywhere using only GPS and no wifi/data connection is required.
bluntman420 said:
SYGIC is the best GPS hands down for android. OFFLINE works great. When you first install the app you download your base files and any maps you will need and then it works perfectly anywhere using only GPS and no wifi/data connection is required.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would agree that it COULD be the greatest, but it is not there yet. It's implementation of POIs is abysmal. The Vehicle arrow is so large on a skyrocket screen that it covers everything you might need to see. The routing algorithm is questionable. Sygic has a lot of potential, but it is not there yet; I can't recommend it.
Hopefully the developers are listening to the comments on their forum. They seem to have given up answering questions from frustrated users. Perhaps it's because they are working full time on fixing all of Sygic's problems.
GPS app developers all seem intent on having the latest flashy features while ignoring basic Navigational function. This includes Google maps BTW. For that matter, stand alone Garmin GPS units have less basic functionality than their 5 year old devices. Garmin Mobile XT for Windows Mobile was a great program; if only they would port it to Android. It didn't have the extras, but it did the basics well. It needed better hardware though. A Skyrocket running windows mobile and Garmin Mobile XT would likely be the best GPS Navigation device on the market, period.
Basic Navigation Function:
1. Good Maps.
2. Easy and quickly understandable 2D Navigation display.
3. A strong routing ability with accurate ETA capability.
4. Clearly understandable Basic Voice instructions. (TTS nice, but belongs in the "extras" category.)
5. Good POIs and an easy useful search function.
6. The ability to create, import and use personal POIs.
7. Some customizable preferences. i.e. route: shortest distance or shortest time? Avoidances. etc...
8. Quick and accurate position lock on.
Garmin Mobile XT excelled at all of the above. Of course, #2 and #8 are device dependent as well.
Without basic navigation functions, a GPS is a toy and not a tool. Some of the way current apps and devices fail:
Epic Fail: New Garmins: "autozoom" zooms out immediately after a turn point is reached. If another turn point is immediately afterword, you are sometimes left with no guidance. Autozoom should either wait longer to zoom out, or be user selectable to "off".
Fail: Google Maps. Routing algorithm works, most of the time. Sometimes it takes you 3 blocks past your destination and then back?
Fail: Google Maps. Horrible personal POI capability.
Epic Fail: Sygic. Abysmal POI search capability.
Fail: Sygic: Difficult POI import capability.
Fail: Sygic. Vehicle cursor WAY too large on Skyrocket.
Epic Fail: CoPilot. Maps are ridiculously inaccurate.
It amazes me how good the GPS hardware is on the Skyrocket. Cold booting over the middle of the Pacific at 500mph it locks on consistently in less than a minute; often in 15 seconds or less. No other handheld GPS device I've ever used has come anywhere close to that. It locks on to a 3D position in places that other GPS devices can't even maintain an already acquired lock. Given the right app, the Skyrocket could be the ultimate GPS.

Google Now and Navigation do not use the preferred TTS voice

Hi all,
I've been playing around with the semi-new high-quality TTS voices, and I'd really like to use the UK voice for navigation and Google Now. Unfortunately, selecting other voices in the Text-To-Speech menu does not change either of those two voices (It does work in other apps, like utter!.) I messed around with INOVA as well, with the same problem. The only fix I've found so far is to change the entire default system language to English (UK), but that also has the effect of changing my clock to 24-hour, and a few other British tweaks that I'd rather not have, and it still doesn't solve the problem of letting me choose the British male voice (or any INOVA voice.) Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!
Almost forgot: Running Nexus 5, rooted, stock ROM +Xposed-- if there's an Xposed module out there that will do this, please let me know!

Google Assistant - a few questions

I recently discovered you can access Google Assistant - previously only available for the expensive Pixel phones - on just about any Android v6/7 phone if you temporarily change the language to US English. I've been playing with it, as well as Google Now, which is apparently is set to replace and I have a few questions that perhaps people who've been using/following these apps for longer might be able to answer:
1) is there a way of saying "read this page out loud"?
2) can i translate the current page to another language ("read this page in french")?
3) can i get it it to open the browser (Firefox, in my case) and go to a page ("open Slashdot in Firefox", "Firefox open Slashdot" etc)?
4) can i get it to acknowledge me when i say "ok google" other than the limp little vibrate it does. There's an option to have it unlock the phone with "ok google" but if i'm not looking at the screen, or holding it (so i can feel the quick vibrate) I have no idea if it's picked my voice out of the background noises (say when i'm driving). It would make sense to have it just reply "yes [your nickname]".
5) when is the nickname used, anyway? I've never heard it say it.
6) Is there really no way of typing, instead of speaking, to Google Assistant?
7) I can't get it to play a video from Netflix on my Chromecast enabled TV, despite following the instructions online. It doesn't help that you can't follow them 100% because the options they describe differ between the online help and the Home app. Has anyone got this working?
8) I've set a work address in Google Maps but it's coming up empty in Google Assistant. Home is ok in both locations. They are both ok in Google Now too. What's odd is that it doesn't accept my work address when I type it, despite it being acceptable to Google Maps. This means that although I can enter a "close enough" address for the purpose of navigation, it's never going to allow location based reminders work.
9) Location based reminders don't seem to work anyway. It works for my home address sometimes, but i've never managed to get one set at a shop or train station to fire.
10) The shopping list interface is awful. It takes you to a really basic web page (it reminds me of my first attempt to create a list of items in html!) with no save option, and i now have some checked items I cannot remove. Perhaps if there was a save option I could do so. I actually thought this was a sort of javascript-less fallback option when I first saw it but it's not changed since then so I guess this is it.
For each of the questions above I've tried various ways but come up short. I'm using the latest stock rom for the Sony Xperia Z3, in the uk (the rom is the US one though).

How to block a Samsung app inner update pop-up, please ?

Good afternoon,
With the release of Android Pie for more and more Galaxy phones, Samsung is deploying new versions of their own apps following the One UI scheme. It is the case for Samsung Music, which is now available on the Samsung Store in a new version with an updated interface.
The problem I have is that I don't want to update my A8 from Oreo to Pie as I hate the new One UI interface (general look and layout, icons, multiwindow...), and that the new Samsung Music app theme follow the Pie mode: dark if night mode is enabled, white otherwise. So, when the app is used on a phone under Oreo, one can't switch to a dark theme and has to endure the bright background interface.
I therefore chose to keep the previous version of the app, but since the release of the new one, each time I launch Samsung Music after it was closed (not if only sent to background) and if wi-fi is on, the app shows a pop-up asking for update. I can discard it by clicking on "later", but it is painful to have to do this each time, and I am afraid of clicking on the "update" option, and then having to uninstall the app, reinstall the previous APK, reconfigure it and etc...
So here is my question: is there a way to prevent this pop-up to appear ? Auto-updates have been turned off under the Galaxy Store, but it seems that the check for update is built in the app itself. This pop-up is not considered as a notification by the Android OS as disabling them has no effect on it.
Thank you in advance if someone has got an idea.
I used to use that app and was somewhat happy you could tag with it and it might work. You may not want to switch, but if you give this app, musicolet a try, you might not need the samsung app anymore. No ads or anything and it gives you an eq, but if you want you can switch to system eq in the app. Very easy editting for tagging. If you export the M3U playlist, it'll be pretty much ready for car audio sd cards. Give it a go.
One thing, and i am not sold on pie either, but i've noticed the bluetooth operates consistently with any chosen eq and it's possible the days of "maybe the dolby will turn on this time" are gone.
First try musicolet. Colour it up too.
I think the Samsung app will not allow you to add lyrics, only show by tapping the art (if it's there)
The app i suggested you can add. You can also omit any directory or just allow one folder. No more ringtones or stuff that you can't omit. Sure, .nomedia but that is ridiculous. I am going to see if i still get Over the Horizon in my music collection. Gonna be sweet!
Thank you very much for this suggestion, I am going to give this app a try.
After all, it is what Samsung deserves, people dropping their apps because they behave in such a stubborn way, ignoring all negative feedbacks from users and willing to force them to accept silly changes (the same could be said about the new browser, which lose the video player).
I think you'll be happy with it. It has a lot of settings but you can back it up. It gets updated every so often and always gets better.
As far as Samsung goes i seem to either really like or really dislike what they offer. The email app is perfect for me now and i am as i said very pleased with the audio system functioning, as it should, without errors. It will bring up eq settings the way you set them for each audio source.
You can give it a try, can't recall if you did, and revert. I made a debloated one and posted it as a ROM but it isn't really. Just snips. Unless you're a W anyway...
Set Musicolet to system eq if you use viper and it'll use Samsung tone as well so i flattened the stock tones and let viper colour it.
Can't believe i am promoting pie, but besides the goofy icons and (likely temporary) theming options, it appears that it may be the beginning of major audio improvements. But, until i can plug my guitar into my phone and get zero latency and link with identical pc programs....
Anyway ever gone bald trying to install Viper? See the photos? I installed the apk from the xda labs app, rebooted because why not, played music and ticked that box. Never tried in Oreo. Tell me if it is the same. Huge leap for that app since i spazzed out a couple years ago installing it.
* just noticed it is aided by Magisk module. Not credit to Samsung i think.
Wow i screwed up a screw up. The magisk module was left over from the magisk version. Uninstalled that and after reboot the one i have needed to install the driver, reboot and works the same. Oops. A bit off topic too.
So, I tried the app you advised me, and I must say it does the job. At the beginning, I was a bit disthraugted in front of the complexity of settings, but once it is done, the UI is rather intuitive (far simpler than PowerAmp for example), and you easily find whatever command you need for a daily use. Editing tags in the app is a useful feature, I have been using MixPlorer Silver tagging plugin for that purpose so far.
I certainly am not as demanding as you are regarding audio quality and other features, as my needs are rather basic: plug earphones, navigate through my music files, play them, and control with the buttons of the earphones.
I could not install Viper, as it needs root. I have this phone only for two months, and I want to make sure it has no defect before voiding the warranty. I also need to read more thoroughly the posts dealing with the process and its consequences, as it seems that rooting the A8 induces some losses of useful features, such as the use of the fingerprint reader.
As for the email client, did you try K9-mail ? I don't know if the app works well under Pie, but it has exclusive options, such as the possibility, in IMAP mode, to delete a mail on either the client or the server, but keep it, on the contrary, on the server or the client.
Thanks again for everything.
I tried the email app and was impressed at how minimal the apk was. I have to get more information to set it up with my a accounts later and if all goes well it's stayin'.
So, in case you don't already know, the music app has a great feature that's a time saver and puts the whole idea of playlists consisting of the same song different in folders to rest.
When you look at it as text it's easy as hell. I think almost everyone here knows that. It's just a location like any computer file. But anyway use the export as M3U in playlists. I have all my songs on ext sd in a folder called music. Musicolet treats the music folder as root, so you'll get an output as i've pictured if you keep everything contained within one folder. All i have to do is stick my playlists outputted to an sd card and paste everything WITHIN
the music folder which is root, so all tunes are now as such and you need only edit.... NOTHING. Now this may be common to xda users, but think how many people have no idea the simplicity or that if they wanted they could type it out. That was me not long ago. If they had called M3U files, "buddy this is just written text of a filing system representing a portion of your music" it would have been..... stupid. But helpful.
So easy it's crazy.

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