Android - Text to Speech

Android allows you convert your text into voice. Not only you can convert it but it also allows you to speak text in variety of different languages.

Android provides TextToSpeech class for this purpose. In order to use this class, you need to instantiate an object of this class and also specify the initListener. Its syntax is given below −

private EditText write;
ttobj=new TextToSpeech(getApplicationContext(), new TextToSpeech.OnInitListener() {
   @Override
   public void onInit(int status) {
   }
});

In this listener, you have to specify the properties for TextToSpeech object , such as its language ,pitch e.t.c. Language can be set by calling setLanguage() method. Its syntax is given below −

ttobj.setLanguage(Locale.UK);

The method setLanguage takes an Locale object as parameter. The list of some of the locales available are given below −

Once you have set the language, you can call speakmethod of the class to speak the text. Its syntax is given below −

ttobj.speak(toSpeak, TextToSpeech.QUEUE_FLUSH, null);

Apart from the speak method, there are some other methods available in the TextToSpeech class. They are listed below −

Example

The below example demonstrates the use of TextToSpeech class. It crates a basic application that allows you to set write text and speak it.

To experiment with this example , you need to run this on an actual device.

Here is the content of src/MainActivity.java.

package com.example.sairamkrishna.myapplication;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.speech.tts.TextToSpeech;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.EditText;
import java.util.Locale;
import android.widget.Toast;

public class MainActivity extends Activity {
   TextToSpeech t1;
   EditText ed1;
   Button b1;

   @Override
   protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
      super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
      setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
      ed1=(EditText)findViewById(R.id.editText);
      b1=(Button)findViewById(R.id.button);

      t1=new TextToSpeech(getApplicationContext(), new TextToSpeech.OnInitListener() {
         @Override
         public void onInit(int status) {
            if(status != TextToSpeech.ERROR) {
               t1.setLanguage(Locale.UK);
            }
         }
      });

      b1.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
         @Override
         public void onClick(View v) {
            String toSpeak = ed1.getText().toString();
            Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), toSpeak,Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            t1.speak(toSpeak, TextToSpeech.QUEUE_FLUSH, null);
         }
      });
   }

   public void onPause(){
      if(t1 !=null){
         t1.stop();
         t1.shutdown();
      }
      super.onPause();
   }
}

Here is the content of activity_main.xml

< ?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
< RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
   xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools" android:layout_width="match_parent"
   android:layout_height="match_parent" android:paddingLeft="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
   android:paddingRight="@dimen/activity_horizontal_margin"
   android:paddingTop="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
   android:paddingBottom="@dimen/activity_vertical_margin"
   tools:context=".MainActivity"
   android:transitionGroup="true">
   
   < TextView android:text="Text to Speech" android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"
      android:id="@+id/textview"
      android:textSize="35dp"
      android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
      android:layout_centerHorizontal="true" />
      
   < TextView
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"
      android:text="Mca tutorials"
      android:id="@+id/textView"
      android:layout_below="@+id/textview"
      android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
      android:textColor="#ff7aff24"
      android:textSize="35dp" />
      
   < ImageView
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"
      android:id="@+id/imageView"
      android:src="@drawable/abc"
      android:layout_below="@+id/textView"
      android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
      android:theme="@style/Base.TextAppearance.AppCompat" />
      
   < EditText
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"
      android:id="@+id/editText"
      android:layout_below="@+id/imageView"
      android:layout_marginTop="46dp"
      android:hint="Enter Text"
      android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
      android:layout_alignParentEnd="true"
      android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
      android:layout_alignParentStart="true"
      android:textColor="#ff7aff10"
      android:textColorHint="#ffff23d1" />
      
   < Button
      android:layout_width="wrap_content"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content"
      android:text="Text to Speech"
      android:id="@+id/button"
      android:layout_below="@+id/editText"
      android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
      android:layout_marginTop="46dp" />

< /RelativeLayout>

Here is the content of Strings.xml.

< resources>
   < string name="app_name">My Application< /string>
< /resources>

Here is the content of AndroidManifest.xml

< ?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
< manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
   package="com.example.sairamkrishna.myapplication" >
   < application
      android:allowBackup="true"
      android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
      android:label="@string/app_name"
      android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >
   
      < activity
         android:name=".MainActivity"
         android:label="@string/app_name" >
      
         < intent-filter>
            < action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" >
            < category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
         < /intent-filter>
         
      < /activity>
      
   < /application>
< /manifest>

Let's try to run your application. I assume you have connected your actual Android Mobile device with your computer. To run the app from Android studio, open one of your project's activity files and click Run icon from the toolbar. Before starting your application, android studio will display following window to select an option where you want to run your Android application.

Select your mobile device as an option and then check your mobile device which will display following screen.

Now just type some text in the field and click on the text to speech button below. A notification would appear and text will be spoken. It is shown in the image below −

Now type something else and repeat the step again with different locale. You will again hear sound. This is shown below −