They may never have worked for the simple reason that the tts_nua_ve1 Voices on Pal-estine don't work, they do not even appear in the Settings / Regional / Voice Language menu.

There are two alternatives, or he uses the TTS VocalizerEx:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

or use the Universal Unisex Voice which allows him to use Google's TTS voice:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

however I don't know if Google's TTS voice is already installed on his device, it is not a phone but an car radio.