Apple Spoken Content review

Apple's Spoken Content tools are the simplest way to hear an article on an iPhone, because they are already there. Turn on Speak Screen under Accessibility, then swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen, and the iPhone reads everything shown. A small controller lets you pause, change the rate and move forward or back, and Speak on Touch reads only the text you tap. Speak Selection reads the words you highlight, and you can ask Siri to speak the screen. Apple lets you change the highlight style and color for spoken text, which helps readers with dyslexia follow along, and you can pick the voice, dialect and default language. What you give up is a reading library: there is no queue of saved articles, no document import and no clean article mode, so it can read page clutter. Pair it with Safari Reader view for cleaner results.

Who it is for

iPhone owners who want free read-aloud in any app without installing anything.

Price

Built into iOS at no extra cost (USD check pending).

US price check pending. See the vendor pricing page.

Key features

• Speak Screen reads everything on the screen with a two-finger swipe down
• Speak Selection reads only the text you select
• Customizable highlight style and color for spoken text
• Speak on Touch reads the text you tap
• Choice of voices, dialects and automatic language detection

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Already on your iPhone, nothing to install
• Strength: Works in almost any app, including Safari and Mail
• Strength: Siri can start it with a voice request
• Weakness: No library, queue or saved articles
• Weakness: Can read menus and buttons along with the article
• Weakness: Voices are less natural than the AI voices in paid apps

Key facts

• Where: Settings, Accessibility, Read & Speak
• Start: Two-finger swipe down or Siri
• Highlighting: Yes, customizable
• Platforms: iPhone, iPad
• Price: Included with iOS

Where it ranks

Apple Spoken Content is No. 7 in our Best Text to Speech Apps verdict.