As with other apps, you can adjust the speed, as well as select from several voices and languages.Īudiobook Maker development is still in process. It also offered an option to highlight the word being read, while showing the surrounding text, in an adjustable size font. All the other apps pronounced the four letter word “live” incorrectly for the context, as if it rhymed with “give.” Audiobook Maker pronounced it correctly: “Live” rhymes with “hive.”Īudiobook Maker also was the only app with the option to display one word at a time, centered in the screen. Audiobook MakerĪudiobook Maker was the only app of the four to properly pronounce the words “live” and “livestream” with the default voice setting. The desktop platform apps are not free, at $6.99 for macOS and $9.99 for Windows 10, although the mobile apps are free, with an optional one-time $4.99 upgrade that gives you the ability to add unlimited articles. Speech Central also offers the ability to shuffle voices, so you don’t have to listen to several articles in a row read with the same synthesized voice. The app will announce the calculated reading time for longer articles, which may be useful if you listen while traveling, and you can change playback speed (between. Speech Central shows the text, with a subtle colored vertical line displayed along the left side of the text of the paragraph as it is spoken. On iOS, the app supports the system voices, although you can adjust the voice pitch, as well as the default 1x speed to be slightly faster or slower. ![]() It also supports the ability to read text from other formats, such as Word, PDF, and more. Speech Central works on more platforms than any of the other apps here, with apps available for iOS, macOS, Windows, and Android (although the app is available from Amazon, not the Google Play store). Voice Dream Reader typically costs $14.99, and a wide selection of additional voices are available for purchase, too–at a cost of up to $4.99 per voice. You can also add documents to listen to from Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, and other sources. You can select from several system voices, and set a preferred speed, pitch, and volume for the voice. Voice Dream supports adjustable playback speeds, and allows you to customize pause time between sentences, too. Since the app was originally developed as an assistive tool, you can adjust the size, font, spacing, and color of the text displayed during playback. Voice Dream Reader shows the text of the article being read, and highlights each word as it is spoken. The app is free, although you can upgrade (for $1.99/month or $19.99/year) to get the ability to add an unlimited number of articles. You can also choose to display the text of the article as you listen. The app reads articles in a single voice, although you may adjust the playback speed. (As of early July 2017, an Android app is listed as “coming soon”.) There are Chrome and Safari extensions that let you add an article to your Motoread list from your desktop browser with a click. I think of Motoread as a podcatcher for articles: Send an article to the app, then listen to saved articles later. (iOS, Chrome, and Safari desktop extensions) Importantly, as of July 2017, all four of these apps are under active development: The iOS app for each was updated in June or July 2017 at least once. ![]() ![]() Some apps show the text as it is spoken, while others offer a variety of voices.Īll of these apps work on iOS, and support the capability to share an article from the browser to the app via the native iOS sharing system functions. While all of these apps provide text-to-speech capabilities, each app serves a slightly different set of needs. The following four TTS apps specialize in reading articles and documents you choose. These tools typically read everything on a page–content plus navigation. TTS solves a slightly different problem than the assistive voice capabilities available for the major platforms, such as Android TalkBack, iOS VoiceOver, Chromevox, Windows Narrator, and Mac VoiceOver. Mobile malware is on the rise: Know how to protect yourself from a virus or stolen dataĦ easy tips for cleaning up your inbox (TechRepublic Premium) For example, Mozilla’s read later service, Pocket, includes the ability to listen to articles. TTS can be a great way to catch up on articles you intend to read. Text-to-speech (TTS) offers an alternative to listening to music, podcasts, or audiobooks. When you walk, bike, or drive, for example, it’s safer to keep your eyes focused on the world around you. Sometimes, it’s better to listen than to read.
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