Even though Google Assistant Driving Mode should bring more features over Android Auto, there are some missing features or features that are US-exclusive. Some users were wondering if they can change Google Maps to the male voice from the default one, which is the female voice. We offer a workaround that should allow you to do that but, also encourage you to consider Waze (Play Store link) that’s owned by Google and has much more options in this category.
How do I change the Google Maps voice from female to male?
As you probably know, Google moved away from Android Auto in favor of Google Assistant Driving Mode on Android 12. Some welcome this change while a lot of users prefer the old Android Auto. Now, what does this have to do with Google Maps navigation voice?
In general, every Language has a predetermined voice and you can’t change it on Android Auto. On the new Google Assistant Driving Mode, you can make some changes but, to our knowledge, only in English (US). What’s the catch? Well, let us explain.
For example, your Google Assistant is set to English (US) and the Voice of your choice is a male voice. In that case, the same voice will be the default option in Google Maps navigation. However, if you select English (US) in Google Maps settings, you’ll get the female voice. Your default system language needs to be English (US), as well.
This means that, in actuality, the setting you’re looking for is in Assistant settings rather than in Google Maps settings.
Here’s what you need to do to change Google Maps navigation voice from female to male:
- Open Settings > System or General Management.
- Open Language and choose English (US).
- On your phone, trigger Google Assistant with a trigger word or on-screen shortcut.
- Tap on the Snapshot icon and then on your profile photo at the top to open Settings.
- Select Assistant languages.
- Choose English (US) as your default language.
- Now, get back to Assistant Settings and select Assistant voice.
- Select one of the male voices that are available.
- Close Assistant Settings and open Google Maps.
- Tap on the profile (account) photo and open Settings.
- Select Navigation settings.
- Open Voice selection.
- Choose Default (English). If you look for English (US) on the list and set it, you’ll hear a female voice. So make sure to select Default (English).
- Tap “Play test sound” to check if the workaround was successful.
Of course, for the majority of languages, you won’t be able to make these changes due to a lack of language support. Hopefully, this was helpful and you managed to make it work. We hope that Google will introduce more versatility in Google Maps navigation and add extra voice options in the future.
Thank you for reading and do share your thoughts with us in the comments section below. We look forward to hearing from you.
Editor’s note: This article was initially published in January 2022. We made sure to revamp it for freshness and accuracy.
These instructions are entirely inaccurate or Google updated Maps today. I can only select the default english US setting in Maps. The assistant voice selection is NOT used and so the default robot voice in Maps is DRIVING ME NUTS! 2 days ago I heard my selected voice in Maps, now it is not and I cannot change it. Just reinstalled Maps and the voice is more tolerable but Default (English) and English (US) are both female voices while I have a male voice set in Assistant settings. Something got seriously screwed up.