SIRI'S PERSONALITY SLIDER IS NOW LIVE IN IOS 27 BETA 3

Apple has activated the Pace and Expressivity sliders for Siri's voice in iOS 27 beta 3, released earlier today. The controls were present in betas 1 and 2 but sat greyed out; now they're live, offering five adjustment levels for each of the two currently available voices.

The feature works the way you'd hope: open Settings > Siri > Voice, drag a slider, and Siri starts playing a continuous audio sample that updates in real time to reflect the change. Once the balance feels right, tap the checkmark in the top-right corner to save it. The custom setting then applies across Siri, Apple Maps, and Safari.

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Mike Rockwell said the update lets users "customise Siri’s voice like never before". The feature was first shown off at WWDC 26 in June, part of a broader push to rebuild Siri around generative AI and make the assistant feel less like a flat text-to-speech pipeline and more like a personality you can tune.

WHAT THE SLIDER ACTUALLY DOES

Pace controls speaking speed across five increments, from deliberately slow to clipped and quick. Expressivity adjusts the emotional range in the voice, from flat and monotone to inflected and warm. The two sliders are independent, so you can pair a fast pace with low expressivity for a brisk, business-only tone, or slow pace with high emotion for something friendlier. Beta testers can also pick from voices with different accents before they start tweaking.

The approach mirrors what OpenAI did with ChatGPT in December 2025, when it rolled out controls for warmth and enthusiasm in the voice mode. The real-time preview makes it easier to audition changes before committing.

WHY THIS MATTERS NOW

Siri has been playing catch-up in the voice AI race for years. The generative AI overhaul announced at WWDC 26 is part of Apple's broader effort to rebuild Siri around generative AI and make it feel more natural and personal. Voice customisation is one visible result, but it's part of a deeper reintegration: the new Siri is integrated across iOS, allowing users to start conversations by speaking, swiping from Dynamic Island, typing, tapping the side button, or using the Siri app.

Activating these sliders in beta 3 signals that Apple is confident enough in the underlying voice synthesis to hand users direct control over delivery. That's a departure from the old approach. It also puts pressure on the company to expand the voice roster beyond the current two, because once users get used to tuning their assistant's personality, they'll want more base voices to work with.

THE BETA EXPERIENCE SO FAR

Early adopters have reported a few rough edges. Some users say they lose access to the new Siri after updating, or see their phone index data after the install. Those are beta bugs, not shipping problems, but they're worth flagging for anyone testing on a daily driver. The update also includes a minor visual tweak: an updated Reminders app icon, the kind of detail that usually sneaks into a beta alongside the headline features.

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The overall direction is clear. Apple is treating Siri's voice as a customizable surface, layering generative AI on top of the assistant's core functions. Whether that wins back users who abandoned Siri for Alexa, Google Assistant, or ChatGPT voice mode depends on how well the final product works at scale, and how many voices Apple eventually ships. For now, beta testers with iOS 27 beta 3 installed can start dialling in the exact speed and warmth they want. The preview loop makes it painless to experiment. The payoff comes when Siri talks back and sounds like something you actually chose.