What is Phonetiq?
Phonetiq is an iOS application that automatically adds phonetic names to contacts with characters from supported languages. This helps voice commands to be able to look up contacts by name when you're speaking in your native language.
For example, you would use voice commands like "Call Κώστας Νικολάου" and your device will be able to find the contact because the app has added the phonetic representation "Kohstahs Nihkohlahoo" to the contact.
Download on the App StoreWho Is Phonetiq For?
Phonetiq is for anyone who wants to use voice commands like Siri more effectively with contacts whose names are written in non-Latin alphabets, such as Greek, Cyrillic-based languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, etc.), or Georgian. It's especially beneficial for:
- Drivers and Motorcyclists: Make calls hands-free without taking your eyes off the road or removing gloves to fumble with your phone.
- Busy Professionals: Quickly initiate calls using voice commands while multitasking.
- Users with Visual Impairments: Enhances accessibility by making voice dialing more reliable.
- Multilingual Individuals: Seamlessly switch between languages when interacting with your contacts.
- Anyone who prefers the convenience of voice commands: If you've given up on Siri for calling contacts with non-English names, Phonetiq is your solution.
What Problem Does Phonetiq Solve?
Many users find that voice assistants like Siri struggle to recognize contact names written in their native, non-Latin scripts. This leads to frustration and often results in users abandoning voice commands for calls or resorting to workarounds like saving contacts with English transliterations. Phonetiq directly addresses these issues:
- Siri Can't Understand Your Contacts? If Siri consistently fails to find "Κώστας" or "Олександр," it's likely due to the lack of phonetic information. Phonetiq adds this crucial data, enabling Siri to understand and dial the correct contact.
- Tired of Using English-Only Names for Siri? Many users in countries like Greece or Ukraine type contact names in English just so Siri can (sometimes) find them. With Phonetiq, you can keep your contacts in your native language and script, and still enjoy reliable voice dialing.
- Reviving Voice Dialing: If you've stopped using voice commands for calls because it simply doesn't work reliably with your contacts, Phonetiq empowers you to rediscover this convenience.
- Enhanced Safety and Convenience: By enabling reliable hands-free calling, Phonetiq contributes to safer driving and motorcycling.
Phonetiq bridges the gap between your native language contacts and the voice command functionality of your iOS device, making your digital life simpler and more efficient.
Important Notes About Contact Modifications
The application only modifies the phonetic fields of your contacts — it never changes the actual contact names. Before making any changes, the application automatically creates a backup of your contacts. You can remove all phonetic fields if you want to stop using the phonetic features.
After processing contacts, it may take up to 15 minutes for Siri to access the new phonetic information depending on the size of your phonebook.
Key Features
- Automatic generation of phonetic names for contacts with characters from supported languages
- Support for multiple language scripts including Greek, Georgian, and languages with Cyrillic scripts (Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Serbian, Macedonian)
- Customizable language settings that let you enable/disable specific language support
- Option to process all contacts or only contacts without existing phonetic information
- Daily background processing at 2:00 AM that automatically updates contacts when new ones are added or when the app is updated
- Optional push notifications to inform you when background processing is complete
- Processing logs to track when and how many contacts were processed automatically
- Backup and restore functionality to protect your contact data
- Privacy-first approach — all processing happens locally on your device with no data sent to the internet
Background Processing
Phonetiq can automatically process your contacts in the background, ensuring that your phonetic names are always up to date without requiring manual intervention.
Daily Processing
When enabled, contacts will be automatically processed daily at 2:00 AM when your device is likely charging and not in use. This ensures your phonetic names stay up to date without having to manually process contacts.
Push Notifications
You can optionally enable push notifications to be informed when background processing completes. This feature is useful to know when new contacts have been processed. If you don't enable push notifications, you can still view the processing logs at any time.
Processing Logs
The app maintains logs of all background processing activities, allowing you to see:
- When processing occurred
- How many contacts were processed
- The reason for processing (new contacts, app update, etc.)
Note: The phonetic mapping might not be perfect and might not work with all contacts as it's based on mapping local language characters to phonetic characters in the English alphabet.
Supported Languages
Phonetiq supports the following language groups:
Persistent
These scripts don't have overlapping characters with other scripts and can remain enabled all the time:
- Georgian
Unique
Only one language from this group can be enabled at a time:
- Greek
- Bulgarian
- Russian
- Ukrainian
- Belarusian
- Serbian
- Macedonian
Phonetic Conversion Examples
Below are examples of how names in different languages are converted to phonetic representations:
Greek Examples
| Original Name | Phonetic Representation |
|---|---|
| ΚΩΣΤΑΣ ΝΙΚΟΛΑΟΥ | KOhSTAhS NIKOhLAOhY |
| ΕΛΕΝΗ ΠΑΠΑΔΟΠΟΥΛΟΥ | EhLEhNEE PAPAhDOhPOOhLOOh |
| ΓΙΩΡΓΟΣ ΑΝΤΩΝΙΟΥ | YIOhRGOhS AhNTOhNIOOh |
Georgian Examples
| Original Name | Phonetic Representation |
|---|---|
| გიორგი მაისურაძე | giorgi maisuradze |
| ნინო ლომიძე | nino lomidze |
| დავით წერეთელი | davit tsereteli |
| თამარ გელაშვილი | tamar gelashvili |
| ლევან ჯაფარიძე | levan japaridze |
Russian Examples
| Original Name | Phonetic Representation |
|---|---|
| Владимир Смирнов | Vladimir Smirnov |
| Елена Иванова | Yelena Ivanova |
| Михаил Петров | Mikhail Petrov |
Bulgarian Examples
| Original Name | Phonetic Representation |
|---|---|
| Ивайло Петров | Ivaylo Petrov |
| Мария Иванова | Mariya Ivanova |
| Георги Димитров | Georgi Dimitrov |
Ukrainian Examples
| Original Name | Phonetic Representation |
|---|---|
| Олександр Шевченко | Oleksandr Shevchenko |
| Юлія Кравченко | Yuliya Kravchenko |
| Дмитро Бондаренко | Dmytro Bondarenko |
How to Use
- Open the Phonetiq app on your iOS device
- Go to Settings > Language Settings to configure which languages you want to enable
- Return to the main screen
- Toggle "Process all contacts" on if you want to update existing phonetic fields, or off if you only want to process contacts without phonetic fields
- Tap "Process Contacts" to begin
- Wait for the process to complete
- You'll see a success notification with the number of processed contacts
- Note: After processing is complete, it may take up to 15 minutes for Siri to access the new phonetic information, depending on the size of your phonebook
Troubleshooting
If your phonetic information is not being recognized correctly by Siri or voice commands after waiting the recommended time:
- Go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Enable Dictation
- Toggle Dictation OFF and then back ON
- This refreshes the voice recognition system and often helps Siri recognize the new phonetic information
Privacy Notice: This application doesn't send any of your data to the internet. It requires access to your contacts to work, but everything is processed locally on your device. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy.
Help Us Improve: We're always looking to improve our phonetic mappings and add support for more languages. If you have suggestions or find issues with the current mappings, please visit our Feedback & Improvements page to learn how you can help.