1 files changed, 52 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/DayByDay/SpeechSynthesizer.swift b/DayByDay/SpeechSynthesizer.swift
new file mode 100644
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+++ b/DayByDay/SpeechSynthesizer.swift
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+//
+//  SpeechSynthesizer.swift
+//  DayByDay
+//
+
+import AVFoundation
+
+/// Wrapper around AVSpeechSynthesizer that selects the highest-quality
+/// en-US neural voice available on the device. Falls back gracefully if
+/// premium/enhanced voices haven't been downloaded yet.
+final class SpeechSynthesizer {
+    static let shared = SpeechSynthesizer()
+
+    private let synthesizer = AVSpeechSynthesizer()
+    private let voice: AVSpeechSynthesisVoice?
+
+    private init() {
+        self.voice = Self.bestAvailableVoice()
+    }
+
+    func speak(_ text: String) {
+        if synthesizer.isSpeaking {
+            synthesizer.stopSpeaking(at: .immediate)
+        }
+
+        let utterance = AVSpeechUtterance(string: text)
+        utterance.voice = voice
+        utterance.rate = 0.4
+        utterance.pitchMultiplier = 1.0
+        utterance.preUtteranceDelay = 0
+        synthesizer.speak(utterance)
+    }
+
+    /// Picks the best en-US voice on the device.
+    /// Preference order: premium > enhanced > default quality.
+    /// Skips novelty voices so the child always hears a natural-sounding voice.
+    private static func bestAvailableVoice() -> AVSpeechSynthesisVoice? {
+        let candidates = AVSpeechSynthesisVoice.speechVoices().filter { voice in
+            voice.language.hasPrefix("en-US")
+            && !voice.voiceTraits.contains(.isNoveltyVoice)
+        }
+
+        if let premium = candidates.first(where: { $0.quality == .premium }) {
+            return premium
+        }
+        if let enhanced = candidates.first(where: { $0.quality == .enhanced }) {
+            return enhanced
+        }
+        // Fall back to the best default-quality voice.
+        return candidates.first ?? AVSpeechSynthesisVoice(language: "en-US")
+    }
+}