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I wish there was a reader app that was serious about text speech. This is not it, unfortunately. Reader apps need to focus on a text to speech experience that i

I wish there was a reader app that was serious about text speech. This is not it, unfortunately. Reader apps need to focus on a text to speech experience that is identical to a music player so that you can use the app while in hands free situations. The app is also hard to use as a “read it later” tool on iOS. I was really hoping they would fix these issues by now because it was promising. This app truly does feel like a portfolio demo app for a text to speech engine company rather than an actual reader app. UPDATE: yes, I have actually used the app, no it does not work well. See replies for details.

rickcarlino 2y ago
It’s interesting that they show people going on runs and driving cars in their demo videos. I’m pretty sure nobody developing that app has actually gone on a run or driven a car while using their app.
- wrsh07 2y ago
  Wow really? I use it all the time for ~equivalent activities
  - rickcarlino 2y ago
    How long are the articles you are reading? I’m reading blog articles rather than long form content. My queue is in the hundreds and the articles very in length from two minutes to 20 minutes. I found it really annoying to need to push buttons while driving to skip or auto play the next article.
    - wrsh07 2y ago
      Yeah, mostly super long form stuff. If it's only 2 minutes it's faster for me to just read it than to open it in their reader Fwiw, I would use their app way more if it were better. Right now I use it for 1-2 long form articles at a time, I am sometimes willing to push buttons in order to stay focused but will bail out to eg my podcasts app if that becomes untenable
      - rickcarlino 2y ago
        For me, it's less about the individual pieces length and more about the length of my total queue. An example might be reading the top 10 HN articles I saved for later while doing laundry or something like that. The current UI makes no accommodation for this use case, while other apps, like Pocket, do.
billbrown 2y ago
I find Readwise Reader to be a great RIL tool and I've used their TTS on my phone. I can't say I use it enough to know if it addresses your needs so I share this as "this might work for you." https://docs.readwise.io/reader/docs/faqs/text-to-speech https://docs.readwise.io/reader/docs/faqs/text-to-speech
jhiggins777 2y ago
Have you used it? I use it for both hands free and read later. When I'm on a webpage I just use the safari share sheet to send it to ElevenLabs Reader and then just listen whenever I have time.
- rickcarlino 2y ago
  Let’s say I have article 20 article articles of two minutes length each. On the iOS app, there are no next buttons and it does not automatically play the next article. If I am on a long drive, or I am running for two hours with my phone in my bag, I would need to reach into my bag and open the app every time and click the next article. If I I don’t like the article I am listening to, there is no way to skip to the next article using integrated controls on a Bluetooth device. These features already exist on apps like Pocket.
Slippery_John 2y ago
Speechify is pretty good. You gotta pay to get the most out of it, but I use it enough to justify it. (Mostly for an egregiously long serial novel.) Sometimes there's jank, but the support and dev teams are super responsive.
culi 2y ago
I only heard of Eleven today. Downloaded and tried it and I was actually shocked by how well it works. It works perfectly with my headphones and I can skip forwards or backwards as I want. I can change the speed of the voice (tho, that does get a little buggy). I just put in a random Aeon article and was shocked how quickly it did everything. Even giving me an audio length
dyauspitr 2y ago
I don’t know- I used the app last night as an audiobook reader before going to bed and it had automatic chapter detection, a sleep timer and you could even click on a word and it would start reading from there. It’s pretty solid.

rickcarlino 2y ago

It’s interesting that they show people going on runs and driving cars in their demo videos. I’m pretty sure nobody developing that app has actually gone on a run or driven a car while using their app.

wrsh07 2y ago
Wow really? I use it all the time for ~equivalent activities
- rickcarlino 2y ago
  How long are the articles you are reading? I’m reading blog articles rather than long form content. My queue is in the hundreds and the articles very in length from two minutes to 20 minutes. I found it really annoying to need to push buttons while driving to skip or auto play the next article.
  - wrsh07 2y ago
    Yeah, mostly super long form stuff. If it's only 2 minutes it's faster for me to just read it than to open it in their reader Fwiw, I would use their app way more if it were better. Right now I use it for 1-2 long form articles at a time, I am sometimes willing to push buttons in order to stay focused but will bail out to eg my podcasts app if that becomes untenable
    - rickcarlino 2y ago
      For me, it's less about the individual pieces length and more about the length of my total queue. An example might be reading the top 10 HN articles I saved for later while doing laundry or something like that. The current UI makes no accommodation for this use case, while other apps, like Pocket, do.

billbrown 2y ago

I find Readwise Reader to be a great RIL tool and I've used their TTS on my phone. I can't say I use it enough to know if it addresses your needs so I share this as "this might work for you." https://docs.readwise.io/reader/docs/faqs/text-to-speech https://docs.readwise.io/reader/docs/faqs/text-to-speech

jhiggins777 2y ago

Have you used it? I use it for both hands free and read later. When I'm on a webpage I just use the safari share sheet to send it to ElevenLabs Reader and then just listen whenever I have time.

rickcarlino 2y ago
Let’s say I have article 20 article articles of two minutes length each. On the iOS app, there are no next buttons and it does not automatically play the next article. If I am on a long drive, or I am running for two hours with my phone in my bag, I would need to reach into my bag and open the app every time and click the next article. If I I don’t like the article I am listening to, there is no way to skip to the next article using integrated controls on a Bluetooth device. These features already exist on apps like Pocket.

Slippery_John 2y ago

Speechify is pretty good. You gotta pay to get the most out of it, but I use it enough to justify it. (Mostly for an egregiously long serial novel.) Sometimes there's jank, but the support and dev teams are super responsive.

culi 2y ago

I only heard of Eleven today. Downloaded and tried it and I was actually shocked by how well it works. It works perfectly with my headphones and I can skip forwards or backwards as I want. I can change the speed of the voice (tho, that does get a little buggy). I just put in a random Aeon article and was shocked how quickly it did everything. Even giving me an audio length

dyauspitr 2y ago

I don’t know- I used the app last night as an audiobook reader before going to bed and it had automatic chapter detection, a sleep timer and you could even click on a word and it would start reading from there. It’s pretty solid.