Help: Setting up 'spoken street name' feature on TomTom One 140S

[tranchin]

I purchased the TomTom One 140S and noticed that there is 'spoken street name' feature with the device. I have tried several ways to make the device read out street name but to no avail, only the turns were spoken using recorded voices (nothing heard if I choose computer voice). I sent incident to TomTom support team, telling me to update/uninstall/reinstall many things but the problem is still on.

Does anyone please help out how I can set up the 'spoken street name' feature on my TomTom 140S?
Thank you in advance.

Regards,
Pisut T.

 

[dhn]

Have you gone through the steps shown here ?

 

[tranchin]

Thank you for your suggestion.

Yes, I have gone through steps suggested. I also did reinstall new Application recommended by TomTom support team, nothing but recorded voices can be heard. I guess the problem might be from the device itself.

 

[mvl]

Try the following:
1) backup per this link before doing anything
2) delete the loquendotts folder on your tomtom
3) do these steps to reinstall the app
4) go to "add voices" in Tomtom HOME, and re-add a computer voice
5) do this kind of reset
6) select a comptuer voice in voice preferences, and see if it works

 

[tranchin]

I have tried the steps as suggested but the 'spoken street name' feature still not working.
I am at my wits' end. I have to accept what I have. It's not easy to return/exchange the product right now because I am now out of the country (US).

Thank you for providing me useful information.


I should not have listened to the saleperson and bought 'Garmin' instead. ;-(

 

[dhn]

You're trying this on a USA map, right? What state do you have selected when you go to the city part of navigate to? Don't leave it at the USA flag.

 

[mvl]

I have tried the steps as suggested but the 'spoken street name' feature still not working.

Three questions to help us diagnose better:

1) Are you trying to have the Tomtom read street names to you? Or are you trying to have the Tomtom understand street names that you are speaking to it? If the latter, the Tomtom 140S doesn't have a microphone so you can't read names to it.

2) What is your current application version?

3) What do you mean specifically by "doesn't work". Can you not choose "Susan" from the list of voices? Or if you choose Susan does the Tomtom not read street names?

 

[tranchin]

Thanks to everyone trying every possible way to help me out.

After I tried the steps as 'mvl' suggested for a few times, then it dawned on me that why I did not try 'Reset factory settings', just in case. This time it is working. With 'Prepare route', the device read out street name such as 'US 101', 'De Soto Ave.', etc., but the pronunciation is kind of too fast, faster than 'Garmin' TTS I once used. I guess there must be clearer TTS for TomTom somewhere out there.

I am still wondering why many people turn to use TomTom instead of Garmin (like Mac OS and Windows).

Thank you again.

Regards,
Pisut T.

 

[mvl]

Glad you got it working. You probably had "read street names" unchecked in voice preferences. A factory reset would re-enable that.

See this post about improving TTS.

The key reasons people buy Tomtom over Garmin is the better traffic/congestion avoidance, and the higher level of customization.

 

[jice65]

I noticed that my 140S no longer seems to be speaking Street Names either. I'm not sure how long this has been going on, but I do recall that it used to (as the pronunciation of the Spanish names here in CA is very poor).

I have a human voice selected and have set up a computer voice to use for street names. Not sure if there is a different "voice preferences" page (how do I get there), but I did find a page where "read street names" is checked. In fact, it's grayed out but also checked, so it can't be turned off ... at least that's what I think that means.

I haven't yet tried the app reinstall described above.

 

[jice65]

OK, now I have reloaded the app (similar to as described above). That was painful!

Mostly because it removed all my preferences.

Now, I see that "read street names" and "read foreign street names" are both grayed out and unchecked. I haven't driven around since doing this, but I assume that it will not do so.

So, what does it mean if this option is grayed out and unchecked? Something wrong with the voice; I tried a number of different computer voices.

-John

 

[jice65]

OK, here is what I did now. I selected a computer voice; now I can select to "read street names". Now, I go back and select the recorded voice (and also a computer voice backup). Now, this item is again grayed out buy checked. We'll see.

 

[jice65]

I'll stop following up on myself now.

I have tested the device (using Demo) and found that if I select a computer voice, then the street names are read. If I select a recorded voice and then select a computer voice by pressing "yes" when it asks about street names, then the street names are not pronounced.

This is true on two different devices (a 140S and a 335). Both appear to have the latest version of the App available to them (different numbers).

Seems like a bug in recent versions of the App. Anyone else seeing this? Anything that I could be doing wrong?

 

[Rick F.]

If you choose a computer voice and then switch to a recorded voice, you've defeated the possibility of street names being spoken.

You need to use the computer voice... not a recorded voice. Notice the size differences between those voices. The computer voice is much larger because of all the computing necessary to read the spoken street names.

 

[jice65]

I thought that it would use the fall back computer voice that it uses for other messages when you have selected a recorded voice.

 

[Rick F.]

I thought that it would use the fall back computer voice that it uses for other messages when you have selected a recorded voice.

No, the recorded voices are just 'canned' messages... turn left, turn right, when you can, make a U turn, etc. To get street names spoken you have to select a computer voice like Susan or David. Not just have it installed.