Pip is the guide on your child's screens. Everything Pip says appears on the screen as text, every time. Pip only says its lines out loud when Pip's voice is switched on, and it is off until you or your child switch it on.
Switching Pip's voice on or off
- Go to Readers and choose your child.
- Open "Settings".
- In the card called "Listening and Pip", turn "Let Pip speak" on or off.
- Press "Save".
The setting belongs to your child rather than to a device, so it follows them to any device they sign in on.
The speaker button under Pip
Wherever Pip has something to say, there is a small speaker button under Pip. A screen reader announces it as "Pip reads aloud", along with whether it is on or off, and the picture on it changes too.
- Tapping it when Pip is quiet switches Pip's voice on, and Pip says the line in its bubble straight away.
- Tapping it again stops Pip, even partway through a line, and keeps Pip quiet.
Your child's choice is saved in the same place as yours, so "Let Pip speak" in your settings always shows what was chosen last, whether you or your child chose it. You can change it back at any time. The button only appears on devices that can speak.
When the voice is on, Pip says each line once, when it appears, and does not repeat it. Pip does not prompt your child, remind them to come back, or react when they go quiet. A few screens never speak whatever the setting, such as the screen where your child picks who is reading.
Pip's voice is not the book's voice
Two different voices are involved, and turning one off does not affect the other.
| What differs | Pip's voice | The book's voice |
|---|---|---|
| What it reads | Pip's own lines in the speech bubble | The words on the page |
| Where the sound comes from | The device's own voice | A recorded voice for ages 2 to 7, and the device's own voice for older readers unless a chapter book has been recorded |
| How it starts | Said when a line appears, if the voice is on | Only when your child presses the play button, or chooses to just listen |
| Switched by | "Let Pip speak", or the speaker button | Nothing needs switching on |
| Starts as | Off | Ready whenever your child presses play |
The setting "Voice for read-along", in the same card, is about the book's voice. Its first choice is called "Pip's recorded voice", which is the recorded voice that reads the book. Switching "Let Pip speak" off does not stop a book being read aloud, and your child can still press play on any page.
Read-along and the tools inside a book explains how the book's voice works, and Having a chapter book read aloud explains how to give a chapter book a recorded voice.
Why it starts off
Pip used to speak every line the moment it appeared, and we changed that so hearing Pip is a choice for you and your child to make. Because every line is also on the screen, nothing is lost when the voice is off, and a screen reader announces Pip's lines as they appear.
If Pip's voice will not switch on, or will not stay off, ask us from Help in your dashboard.