Play Text (TTS)

Listen to anything — articles, PDFs, web pages, or pasted text — read aloud with every word highlighted as it's spoken. On-device voices, works offline.

We got fed up with paying for overpriced subscriptions just to have text read aloud — basic apps that, more often than not, turned out too buggy to actually rely on. So we put our AI tools and skills to work and built Play Text in a single evening. We hope it helps you too.

Play Text turns anything you want to read into audio — and highlights each word as it's spoken, so you can listen and follow along at the same time.

Drop in text from almost anywhere and press play:

• Paste & Play — read whatever's on your clipboard • Web links — paste a URL and Play Text pulls out the readable article, skipping the menus, ads, and clutter • Files — open PDF, TXT, Markdown, RTF, or HTML documents • Share sheet — send selected text, a link, or a file straight from any other app

A single, clean reading panel shows the full text and sweeps a highlight across each word as the voice reaches it — great for focus, reading along, language learning, proofreading, or accessibility.

VOICES • Kokoro — the default. A high-fidelity neural voice that runs entirely on your device, with no account, no key, and no network. • Apple on-device voice — another fully offline option, available on every device. • ElevenLabs — optional cloud voices if you add your own API key.

Adjust the reading speed to taste, from a relaxed pace up to nearly double speed.

KEEPS PLAYING Audio continues when you lock your phone or switch apps, with Now Playing controls on the Lock Screen and in Control Center.

SYNCS ACROSS YOUR DEVICES Your engine, voice, and speed settings sync over iCloud, so Play Text feels the same everywhere you use it.

PRIVATE BY DESIGN The default Kokoro and Apple voices run completely on-device — your text never leaves your phone. ElevenLabs is strictly opt-in and only used if you choose to add your own key.