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Maise / Guides / TTS Setup

Set Maise as Your System TTS Engine

Configure Maise as the default text-to-speech engine for your entire Android device. Once set, every app that uses the standard Android TTS API will automatically speak with Maise's on-device Kokoro voices — no internet required.

What "system TTS engine" means

Android has a built-in text-to-speech framework that apps use through the standard TextToSpeech API. When an app calls this API — whether it's a navigation app reading turn-by-turn directions, a screen reader vocalizing UI elements, or Maid speaking an AI response — Android routes the request to whichever engine is currently set as the system default.

By setting Maise as that default, you replace the standard Google TTS engine (or whatever was there before) with Maise's on-device Kokoro voices. The change is system-wide and instant — no per-app configuration is needed.

All voice synthesis in Maise runs entirely on your device using ONNX Runtime. No audio, text, or usage data is sent to any server at any point.

Set Maise as the default TTS engine

The exact path through Android Settings varies slightly by manufacturer and Android version, but the structure is consistent across devices.

1
Install Maise from GitHub or Google Play and open it at least once so Android registers it as an available TTS engine.
2
Open the Android Settings app.
3
Navigate to Accessibility → Text-to-Speech Output. On some devices this may be under General Management → Language → Text-to-Speech.
4
Under Preferred engine, tap the dropdown and select Maise.
5
Confirm the change if prompted. Maise is now the system TTS engine.
Shortcut: In the Maise app, tap Open TTS Settings on the TTS tab to jump directly to the Android TTS settings screen.

Select and preview a voice

Maise ships with 68 voices across 9 languages. The default is en-US-heart-kokoro — a natural-sounding American English female voice. To change it:

1
Open the Maise app and go to the TTS tab.
2
Tap the Voice dropdown and browse the available voices. Voices are grouped by language.
3
Type some text into the text field and tap Speak to preview the selected voice before committing to it.
4
Your selection is saved automatically. The chosen voice is now used for all system TTS requests across every app on the device.

See the Voices & Languages Reference for the full list of available voices.

What changes after setup

Once Maise is the preferred engine, the following all use it automatically:

  • Maid — AI responses are spoken using the voice you selected in Maise.
  • Navigation apps — Turn-by-turn directions use Maise voices.
  • Accessibility — Screen readers and TTS-based accessibility features use Maise.
  • Any app that calls the Android TextToSpeech API.

Troubleshooting

Maise does not appear in the engine list

  • Make sure Maise is installed and has been opened at least once.
  • Try force-stopping Maise and opening it again, then check the TTS settings.

No audio plays after switching to Maise

  • Open the Maise app and use the Speak button on the TTS tab to confirm Maise itself works.
  • Check that the device volume is not muted.

Another app is still using Google TTS

  • Some apps (notably Google Assistant and Google Maps) bypass the system engine and use their own bundled TTS. This is expected behaviour and cannot be changed.
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