TTS: Speak fails

Question

I am using a simple code to use Text-To-Speech:

package ch.yourclick.kitt.fragments;

import android.os.Bundle;
import androidx.fragment.app.Fragment;
import android.speech.tts.TextToSpeech;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.Button;
import java.util.Locale;
import ch.yourclick.kitt.R;

/**
 * A simple {@link Fragment} subclass.
 * Use the {@link GeneralFragment#newInstance} factory method to
 * create an instance of this fragment.
 */
public class GeneralFragment extends Fragment {
    private TextToSpeech tts;

    public GeneralFragment() {
        // Required empty public constructor
    }

    /**
     * Use this factory method to create a new instance of
     * this fragment using the provided parameters.
     *
     * @return A new instance of fragment General.
     */
    // TODO: Rename and change types and number of parameters
    public static GeneralFragment newInstance() {
        GeneralFragment fragment = new GeneralFragment();
        Bundle args = new Bundle();
        fragment.setArguments(args);
        return fragment;
    }

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    }

    @Override
    public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        // Inflate the layout for this fragment
        View view = inflater.inflate(R.layout.fragment_general, container, false);
        Button hello = view.findViewById(R.id.hello);

        // Text to speech
        tts = new TextToSpeech(getActivity(), new TextToSpeech.OnInitListener() {
            @Override
            public void onInit(int status) {
                if (status == TextToSpeech.SUCCESS) { // <-- I never get into that if statement
                    int result = tts.setLanguage(Locale.getDefault());
                    // Language is not supported
                    if (result == TextToSpeech.LANG_MISSING_DATA || result == TextToSpeech.LANG_NOT_SUPPORTED) {
                        Log.e("TTS", "Language not supported");
                    }
                }
                else {
                    Log.e("TTS", "" + status); // Returns -1
                    Log.e("TTS", "" + TextToSpeech.SUCCESS); // Returns 0
                }
            }
        });

        hello.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View view) {
                speak();
            }
        });
        return view;
    }

    /**
     * Speak
     */
    private void speak() {
        String text = "Hello";
        tts.speak(text, TextToSpeech.QUEUE_FLUSH, null);
    }

    /**
     * Turn off
     */
    @Override
    public void onDestroy() {
        if (tts != null) {
            tts.stop();
            tts.shutdown();
        }
        super.onDestroy();
    }
}

I get the message:

W/TextToSpeech: speak failed: not bound to TTS engine

My problem is that Text To Speech cannot be initialized:

status returns -1 and TextToSpeech.SUCCESS returns 0.

I am using Android Studio and my virtual device is Pixel 2 API 30. So Google Text-to-speech Engine seems to be installed on it:

Settings -> Accessibility -> Text-to-speech output

If I click on Play, I hear a voice and so I know that it should not be a device issue. But why is it not working on my application? I do not get any errors on it.

I have no idea what I am doing wrong. If you know the answer or have any advice on what it could be, please let me know!

Answer 1

Google says "Apps targeting Android 11 that use text-to-speech should declare TextToSpeech.Engine#INTENT_ACTION_TTS_SERVICE in the queries elements of their manifest:"

So add this to your AndroidManifest.xml:

<queries>
    <intent>
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.TTS_SERVICE" />
    </intent>
</queries>

Adding this before <application tag worked for me. (Android Studio says Element queries is not allowed here though).