diff --git a/lib/features/chat/providers/text_to_speech_provider.dart b/lib/features/chat/providers/text_to_speech_provider.dart
index 33615c0..8e57ba1 100644
--- a/lib/features/chat/providers/text_to_speech_provider.dart
+++ b/lib/features/chat/providers/text_to_speech_provider.dart
@@ -120,6 +120,16 @@ class TextToSpeechController extends StateNotifier<TextToSpeechState> {
       return;
     }
 
+    final isCurrentlyActive =
+        state.activeMessageId == messageId &&
+        state.status != TtsPlaybackStatus.idle &&
+        state.status != TtsPlaybackStatus.error;
+
+    if (isCurrentlyActive) {
+      await stop();
+      return;
+    }
+
     final available = await _ensureInitialized();
     if (!available) {
       if (!mounted) {
@@ -133,15 +143,6 @@ class TextToSpeechController extends StateNotifier<TextToSpeechState> {
       return;
     }
 
-    final isCurrentlyActive =
-        state.activeMessageId == messageId &&
-        state.status != TtsPlaybackStatus.idle;
-
-    if (isCurrentlyActive) {
-      await stop();
-      return;
-    }
-
     state = state.copyWith(
       status: TtsPlaybackStatus.loading,
       activeMessageId: messageId,
diff --git a/lib/features/chat/services/text_to_speech_service.dart b/lib/features/chat/services/text_to_speech_service.dart
index 3e275db..cef1c11 100644
--- a/lib/features/chat/services/text_to_speech_service.dart
+++ b/lib/features/chat/services/text_to_speech_service.dart
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import 'dart:async';
 import 'dart:io' show Platform;
 
 import 'package:flutter/foundation.dart';
+import 'package:flutter/widgets.dart';
 import 'package:flutter_tts/flutter_tts.dart';
 
 /// Lightweight wrapper around FlutterTts to centralize configuration
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@ class TextToSpeechService {
   final FlutterTts _tts = FlutterTts();
   bool _initialized = false;
   bool _available = false;
+  bool _voiceConfigured = false;
 
   VoidCallback? _onStart;
   VoidCallback? _onComplete;
@@ -53,6 +55,7 @@ class TextToSpeechService {
     try {
       await _tts.awaitSpeakCompletion(false);
       if (!kIsWeb && Platform.isIOS) {
+        await _tts.setSharedInstance(true);
         await _tts.setIosAudioCategory(IosTextToSpeechAudioCategory.playback, [
           IosTextToSpeechAudioCategoryOptions.mixWithOthers,
           IosTextToSpeechAudioCategoryOptions.defaultToSpeaker,
@@ -60,6 +63,7 @@ class TextToSpeechService {
           IosTextToSpeechAudioCategoryOptions.allowBluetoothA2DP,
         ]);
       }
+      await _configurePreferredVoice();
       _available = true;
     } catch (e) {
       _available = false;
@@ -84,6 +88,9 @@ class TextToSpeechService {
     }
 
     await _tts.stop();
+    if (!_voiceConfigured) {
+      await _configurePreferredVoice();
+    }
     final result = await _tts.speak(text);
     if (result == null) {
       return;
@@ -122,6 +129,312 @@ class TextToSpeechService {
     await stop();
   }
 
+  Future<void> _configurePreferredVoice() async {
+    if (_voiceConfigured) {
+      return;
+    }
+    if (kIsWeb || (!Platform.isIOS && !Platform.isAndroid)) {
+      _voiceConfigured = true;
+      return;
+    }
+
+    var configured = false;
+    try {
+      Map<String, dynamic>? defaultVoice;
+      bool voiceSet = false;
+
+      if (Platform.isIOS) {
+        try {
+          final rawDefault = await _tts.getDefaultVoice;
+          if (rawDefault is Map) {
+            defaultVoice = _normalizeVoiceEntry(rawDefault);
+            await _tts.setVoice(_voiceCommandFrom(defaultVoice));
+            configured = true;
+            voiceSet = true;
+          }
+        } catch (_) {
+          defaultVoice = null;
+        }
+      }
+
+      if (voiceSet) {
+        return;
+      }
+
+      final voicesRaw = await _tts.getVoices;
+      if (voicesRaw is! List) {
+        return;
+      }
+
+      final parsedVoices = <Map<String, dynamic>>[];
+      for (final entry in voicesRaw) {
+        if (entry is Map) {
+          final normalized = _normalizeVoiceEntry(entry);
+          if (normalized.isNotEmpty) {
+            parsedVoices.add(normalized);
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+      if (parsedVoices.isEmpty) {
+        return;
+      }
+
+      final localeTag = WidgetsBinding.instance.platformDispatcher.locale
+          .toLanguageTag()
+          .toLowerCase();
+      final preferred = _selectPreferredVoice(
+        parsedVoices,
+        localeTag,
+        defaultVoice: defaultVoice,
+      );
+      if (preferred == null) {
+        if (Platform.isIOS) {
+          configured = true; // Allow system default voice to be used
+        }
+        return;
+      }
+
+      await _tts.setVoice(_voiceCommandFrom(preferred));
+      configured = true;
+    } catch (e) {
+      _onError?.call(e.toString());
+    } finally {
+      _voiceConfigured = configured || _voiceConfigured;
+    }
+  }
+
+  Map<String, dynamic> _normalizeVoiceEntry(Map<dynamic, dynamic> entry) {
+    final normalized = <String, dynamic>{};
+    entry.forEach((key, value) {
+      if (key != null) {
+        normalized[key.toString()] = value;
+      }
+    });
+    return normalized;
+  }
+
+  Map<String, String> _voiceCommandFrom(Map<String, dynamic> voice) {
+    final command = <String, String>{};
+    for (final key in [
+      'name',
+      'locale',
+      'identifier',
+      'id',
+      'voiceIdentifier',
+      'engine',
+    ]) {
+      final value = voice[key];
+      if (value != null) {
+        command[key] = value.toString();
+      }
+    }
+    if (!command.containsKey('name') && voice['name'] != null) {
+      command['name'] = voice['name'].toString();
+    }
+    if (!command.containsKey('locale') && voice['locale'] != null) {
+      command['locale'] = voice['locale'].toString();
+    }
+    return command;
+  }
+
+  int _iosVoiceScore(Map<String, dynamic> voice) {
+    final identifier =
+        voice['identifier']?.toString().toLowerCase() ??
+        voice['id']?.toString().toLowerCase() ??
+        '';
+    final name = voice['name']?.toString().toLowerCase() ?? '';
+
+    int score = 0;
+    if (identifier.contains('premium')) {
+      score += 400;
+    } else if (identifier.contains('enhanced')) {
+      score += 250;
+    } else if (identifier.contains('compact')) {
+      score += 50;
+    }
+
+    if (identifier.contains('siri') || name.contains('siri')) {
+      score += 150;
+    }
+
+    if (identifier.contains('female') || name.contains('female')) {
+      score += 15;
+    }
+    if (identifier.contains('male') || name.contains('male')) {
+      score += 10;
+    }
+
+    // Prefer non-compact by default when no other hints are present
+    if (!identifier.contains('compact')) {
+      score += 25;
+    }
+
+    return score;
+  }
+
+  Map<String, dynamic>? _selectPreferredVoice(
+    List<Map<String, dynamic>> voices,
+    String localeTag, {
+    Map<String, dynamic>? defaultVoice,
+  }) {
+    Map<String, dynamic>? matchesLocale(Iterable<Map<String, dynamic>> input) {
+      for (final voice in input) {
+        final locale = voice['locale']?.toString().toLowerCase();
+        if (locale == null) continue;
+        if (locale == localeTag) {
+          return voice;
+        }
+        final localePrimary = locale.split(RegExp('[-_]')).first;
+        final tagPrimary = localeTag.split(RegExp('[-_]')).first;
+        if (localePrimary == tagPrimary) {
+          return voice;
+        }
+      }
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    Map<String, dynamic>? matchDefaultVoice() {
+      final dv = defaultVoice;
+      if (dv == null) {
+        return null;
+      }
+
+      final identifiers = <String>{};
+      for (final key in ['identifier', 'id', 'voiceIdentifier', 'voice']) {
+        final value = dv[key]?.toString();
+        if (value != null && value.isNotEmpty) {
+          identifiers.add(value.toLowerCase());
+        }
+      }
+
+      if (identifiers.isNotEmpty) {
+        for (final voice in voices) {
+          for (final key in ['identifier', 'id', 'voiceIdentifier', 'voice']) {
+            final value = voice[key]?.toString();
+            if (value != null && identifiers.contains(value.toLowerCase())) {
+              return voice;
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+      final defaultName = dv['name']?.toString();
+      final defaultLocale = dv['locale']?.toString();
+      if (defaultName != null && defaultLocale != null) {
+        final lowerName = defaultName.toLowerCase();
+        final lowerLocale = defaultLocale.toLowerCase();
+        for (final voice in voices) {
+          final name = voice['name']?.toString();
+          final locale = voice['locale']?.toString();
+          if (name != null &&
+              locale != null &&
+              name.toLowerCase() == lowerName &&
+              locale.toLowerCase() == lowerLocale) {
+            return voice;
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    Map<String, dynamic>? pickIosVoice() {
+      final userDefault = matchDefaultVoice();
+      if (userDefault != null) {
+        return userDefault;
+      }
+
+      final siriCandidates = voices.where((voice) {
+        final name = voice['name']?.toString().toLowerCase() ?? '';
+        final identifier = voice['identifier']?.toString().toLowerCase() ?? '';
+        final voiceId = voice['id']?.toString().toLowerCase() ?? '';
+        return name.contains('siri') ||
+            identifier.contains('siri') ||
+            voiceId.contains('siri');
+      }).toList();
+
+      if (siriCandidates.isNotEmpty) {
+        siriCandidates.sort((a, b) => _iosVoiceScore(b) - _iosVoiceScore(a));
+        final localeMatch = matchesLocale(siriCandidates);
+        if (localeMatch != null) {
+          return localeMatch;
+        }
+        return siriCandidates.first;
+      }
+
+      final ranked = [...voices];
+      ranked.sort((a, b) => _iosVoiceScore(b) - _iosVoiceScore(a));
+      final localeMatch = matchesLocale(ranked);
+      if (localeMatch != null) {
+        return localeMatch;
+      }
+      return ranked.isNotEmpty ? ranked.first : null;
+    }
+
+    Map<String, dynamic>? pickAndroidVoice() {
+      int qualityScore(String? quality) {
+        switch ((quality ?? '').toLowerCase()) {
+          case 'very_high':
+          case 'very-high':
+            return 3;
+          case 'high':
+            return 2;
+          case 'normal':
+            return 1;
+          default:
+            return 0;
+        }
+      }
+
+      final preferredEngineVoices = voices
+          .where(
+            (voice) =>
+                (voice['engine']?.toString() ?? '').toLowerCase().contains(
+                  'google',
+                ) ||
+                voice['engine'] is! String,
+          )
+          .toList();
+
+      preferredEngineVoices.sort((a, b) {
+        final qualityDiff =
+            qualityScore(b['quality']?.toString()) -
+            qualityScore(a['quality']?.toString());
+        if (qualityDiff != 0) {
+          return qualityDiff;
+        }
+        final latencyA = a['latency']?.toString() ?? '';
+        final latencyB = b['latency']?.toString() ?? '';
+        return latencyA.compareTo(latencyB);
+      });
+
+      final ordered = preferredEngineVoices.isEmpty
+          ? voices
+          : preferredEngineVoices;
+      return matchesLocale(ordered) ?? matchesLocale(voices);
+    }
+
+    Map<String, dynamic>? selected;
+    if (Platform.isIOS) {
+      selected = pickIosVoice();
+    } else if (Platform.isAndroid) {
+      selected = pickAndroidVoice();
+    }
+
+    if (selected == null) {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    final name = selected['name']?.toString();
+    final locale = selected['locale']?.toString();
+    if (name == null || locale == null) {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    return selected;
+  }
+
   void _handleStart() {
     _onStart?.call();
   }