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in Apple WWDC 2026 event, Take control of the news Apple intelligence And the brand new Siri AI (mentioned over 100 times in our count), which has added additional capabilities, some Supported In partnership with Google Gemini. Siri is still one of the top three voice assistants, side by side Amazon Alexa and Google Gemini/Gemini for Home (to cut, Google Assistant).
Apple offered a set of Advanced Siri capabilitiesincluding event list creation, image analysis, Description of videos And provide advice based on chat conversations. But there’s one thing that caught my attention: the ability to change Siri’s voice and how fast it speaks.
I’ve tested AI advances in Alexa Plus And Gemini for Home for over a year now. Alexa, in particular, has gotten notable upgrades, including conversational AI and artificial intelligence Different characters you can choose fromalthough it can get a little also Sometimes chatty. But the changes Apple has made to Siri take things a step further, and I’m glad to see them.
Watch this: Our tech editors discuss the new Siri AI updates from WWDC 2026
Not only will Siri users be able to switch between voices, but they will also be able to set two metrics called “Velocity” and “Voice” to change How Siri behaves. Emoticon seems to give Siri a more upbeat tone, or a more robotic tone if you tweak it. Pace is a particularly interesting option to speed up or slow down Siri’s speech.
Of the many tricks Apple showed off for the new Siri, the voice customization options were my favorite.
Speeding up your voice assistant can save a lot of time and fix the problem that often prevents people from trying voice commands, while slowing it down is very important for accessibility. Users may also want to take extra time when Siri gives directions or instructions, and will now be able to adjust its responses depending on what they’re doing.
Other voice assistants don’t offer this. Some people have reported that Geminis can increase the speed of their voice on demand. But it doesn’t seem reliable, There’s no obvious slider to use, as there is with Siri. I can’t wait to try it out when the beta is released, and I’ll let you know how it performs.
What I’m not sure is which Siri features would cost more. Apple has said that some capabilities may require an upgraded iCloud subscription to use, or at least to use as much as you want. It costs $20 a month to fully unlock Alexa Plus without an Amazon Prime subscription, so there’s precedent for charging fees in this area. I hope customization options like these stay free, because they’re useful for everyone who uses Siri — or any other voice assistant.
