Gone are the days of having to find your way in an unfamiliar city or use paper maps to plot your way through a road trip. Instead, your phone uses a combination of GPS, mobile data, and WiFi to guide you to your destination.
Although GPS has made your way a lot easier, it's still a good idea to practice navigation without GPS once in a while because sometimes GPS or your phone fails. You don't want to be so dependent on your phone's GPS navigation that you can't find your way around without it.
While there's no perfect one-person navigation app, Google Maps is close to perfect. It's the default navigation app on Android and the most popular navigation app on iOS, and it's easy to see why.
How do I change the voice on my GPS?
Google Maps is the best voice navigation system on your phone, allowing you to save offline maps to your device and helping you use your phone to find your way in the most rural areas or even while you're hiking . Voice navigation lets you navigate without having to constantly stare at your phone.
However, if you're trying to tailor the app to your liking, Google Maps lets you customize the voice in your turn-by-turn navigation.
Let's see how to change voice settings in Google Maps on Android and on iOS (iPhone and iPad), starting with Android.
How can I change the voice for Google Maps on an Android?
Google Maps is already installed on Android devices as part of the Google offer, as well as Google Assistant, Chrome, Play Store and others. Users can change Google Maps navigation voice on Android phone or tablet, from the app and reinstalling the app.
The first method is easier, while the second is to adjust your phone's language settings. Let's see how to change Google Maps voice on Android phone or tablet.
Change Google Maps voice from app
Follow these steps to change Google Maps voice via app settings:
- Tap the app icon to launch Google Maps on your tablet or phone.
- Tap your profile icon. It is located in the upper right part of the screen.
- Next, find and tap on the "Settings" tab.
- Once the "Settings" section opens, find and tap the "Browsing settings" tab.
- In the Navigation Settings section, tap the "Voice Selection" tab. The currently selected voice of Google Maps is marked with a tick.
- You will see the list of all available languages and their regional variations. Tap the language you want.
- Then press the “Back” button. This will take you back to the map.
- Press the "Go" button in the lower right part of the screen.
- After that, enter your current location in the top text box.
- Enter the destination in the lower text box.
- Press the "Start" button. Google Maps will start guiding you to the destination in the newly selected voice/language.
Reinstall the app
Once installed, Google Maps takes its language settings from the device's language settings. So, instead of changing the voice of the app through the app settings, you can uninstall the app and change the language settings on your phone or tablet. Let's see how it works.
- Delete the Google Maps app from your tablet or phone. If you cannot remove it by long pressing the icon, you will need to uninstall it via Google Play Store.
- Next, launch the “Settings” app from the home screen.
- Scroll down and locate the "System" section. Press it.
- Once the "System" section opens, tap the "Language" or "Language & input" tab, depending on the device.
- Next, tap on the “Language” tab.
- You will see the list of all available languages. Select the one you want by tapping on it.
- Exit the settings by pressing the "Home" button.
- Launch the Play Store by tapping its icon.
- Search for the Google Maps app.
- Press the "Install" or "Update" button.
- Your newly installed Google Maps will take language settings from device settings.
How do I change the voice on Google Maps on my iPhone?
Unfortunately, iPhone and iPad users cannot change the Google Maps navigation voice from the app. However, it is easy to accomplish the same thing in iPhone or iPad settings.
Here's how to change the Google Maps voice on an iPad or iPhone (i.e. iOS):
- Start the Settings app from the home screen. Then press the General tongue.
- Press the Language and region in the “General” section.
- Tap iPhone language ou iPad language, depending on the device.
- Select the language or language and dialect (eg Australian English) you want to use. To quickly locate the language you are interested in, use the search bar at the top.
- The device will ask you if you want to change the language. Faucet " Will pass… "
Launch Google Maps to test your new language and dialect settings. Enter a location, then click Go to start the voice prompts.
Frequently Asked Questions
We've included more answers to your Google Maps voice questions in this section.
Can I change the voice gender of Google Maps?
Unfortunately no. Google does not give its users much flexibility regarding customization options. While most users are used to changing something as simple as the gender of their PDAs, Google simply doesn't give us that option with Maps.
Can I change Google voice assistant to change voice in Google Maps?
No. For some reason, Google allows users to customize certain aspects of Google Voice Assistant, but not Google Maps. If you decide to change the gender or accent of the voice assistant, the changes will have no effect on Google Maps.
Over and out
Android and iOS devices are flexible regarding the language and dialect used for voice navigation. The difference is that on Android you make the changes in the settings of Google Maps itself, while with iPhones and iPads you change the language and dialect of the device (including Google Maps) from general settings.
Do you know any tips and tricks for customizing Google Maps? If so, we'd love to hear about it in the comments below!
