[Greg S]

This is a weird one!

In the past week or two, the Google Maps voice that reads the directions has changed to an American accent.

My car language is set to 'English UK', and interacting with the car's Google Assistant for other things does have the regular non-American accent voice, so it's weird that only maps seems to have changed accents.

Anyone else having this, or tips on how to fix?

Have resetted the computer through holding down the home button without success.

I know there's a way to change the Google Maps voice on Android (if you google it it shows you how)...but I'm just not sure how to do this in the car. Is it all the voices in the car (such as Google Assistant) that have changed to the American accent, or just the maps? I know we played around with using Google Assistant to select voice language before...maybe try "hey google, change the Google assistant voice". Once you get into the settings it goes through a couple different options and you can say that one or something like that. It's been a long time since we did it, but I know you could do it via voice commands in the car...just not 100% sure whether it affects the Google Maps voice or just the Google Assistant voice.

 

[Greg S]

Only Maps. The regular Google Assistant voice (for things like changing the AC settings etc) has remained the same (UK accent, as per car's Assistant voice setting).



Yeah, I've played around with this on my phone too (in Maps: Profile Pic > Settings > Navigation > Voice selection). It was set to Default (English) which on the phone (as well as using Android Auto via the cable) was an Australian voice, but I've tried changing that setting on the phone to English (Australia) or English (UK), and then restarting the car system, but the car's Google Maps stays stuck with an American accent.

I've also double-checked that I'm using the same Google profile on my phone as well as the car.

After checking with my wife, her the Maps in her car's profile has also changed to an American accent, so it seems to be affecting the car as a whole, and not just one our profiles. 😕

Interesting! I wonder if there was a recent Google Maps update that caused a setting to change. Ours was fine (English UK accent) on Wednesday when I last used navigation. Will check it out next time I drive and report back.

 

[Greg S]

We're on a road trip at the moment and I can say that our Google Maps and assistant voices are still British female voice as per prior to update to V3.7...is your car still having the issue or did it resolve itself? Maybe you could try changing the voice to something different, then change back and see if that fixes the maps voice? Nothing worse than having a loud American telling you where to go (says this American-Australian now living in Australia LOL!)

 

[Greg S]

Thanks for checking in, @Greg S!

Nope even after 3.7, still the same. I've tried changing the Google language everywhere I can think of to see if it will change in maps (even to English (Indian))!

I've changed it in the car's Google account; in Google Maps on my phone, on my computer; my Google account as a whole, etc.

Stuck with an American in Maps only in the car.

I recorded a video that shows the Google Assistant (even when it is triggered from within Google Maps!) is the nice British accent (lol at the temporary AC failure), but the maps voice is still American 😭:

Wow, that's crazy! I wonder if you can do a force stop on the Google Maps App and clear the cache?

 

[Greg S]

Yep, done that (as well as uninstalling the Maps Play Store updates (it doesn't let you delete the app completely), and redownloading it).

You've done everything I can think of...I can't imagine the dealer being able to help, but you never know? Maybe Volvo is aware of this...but they may just blame it on Google!

 

[Greg S]

Ok, I've fixed it and I feel like such an idiot that I missed this 🤦‍♂️. There is another language setting that I totally missed: Car settings > System > Languages and input. That was set to English (US), and changing that to English (UK) or English (Australia) changed the Maps voice.

I've never touched that setting (didn't know it existed!). I assume that it's the main language setting for all the Volvo car menus etc, and there's nothing else that I would notice it being different from the other English's.

I assume that a recent Maps update made the navigation voice use that language setting rather than the Assistant setting (or locale?).

Happy days!

Wow, finally...great to have a resolution and great to know this setting exists.

 

[Greg S]

Ok, I've fixed it and I feel like such an idiot that I missed this 🤦‍♂️. There is another language setting that I totally missed: Car settings > System > Languages and input. That was set to English (US), and changing that to English (UK) or English (Australia) changed the Maps voice.

I've never touched that setting (didn't know it existed!). I assume that it's the main language setting for all the Volvo car menus etc, and there's nothing else that I would notice it being different from the other English's.

I assume that a recent Maps update made the navigation voice use that language setting rather than the Assistant setting (or locale?).

Happy days!

OK we had a strange one today. The Google Maps is the usual female Australian (?) voice, but the Google Assistant voice seems to be a female American voice...and when you say things like "navigate to the EVIE charging station in Dandenong" it replied something like "the closest EVIE station is 19 miles away". Why is it quoting miles LOL?! When we got home, I checked the car settings - system - languages and input and it was OK (English Australia). And the units were OK (metric, km, km/h). So I went into the Google Assistant settings - language and input - and that was set to English (American). I could only change it to English (UK) as there was no Australian setting. I'll need to look into this a bit more as something has definitely changed. The "miles" thing is the really odd one, unless it's somehow connected to the assistant voice region? I did notice when charging there's a circular feature that shows the end of range estimate region, which I hadn't noticed before.

 

[Greg S]

😵Things do seem to be changing in terms of how language and localisation are being applied...

I went into Google Assistant settings on my phone and changed to the Australian voice...so she speaks to me in the car now. Different voice than the navigation though.