Text to Speech - Speaky Reviews

by Dwiley1

Once I load the text file and choose it in the side bar to be read out loud, TexttoSpeech hangs. It freezes and I can’t do anything but force-quit TexttoSpeech and try again —only to experience the same problem over and over. It freezes with the sidebar half covering the page to be read. Also, no easy way of changing voice or speed or hearing a preview or soundbite to see if you like it. You have to blindly choose your settings then load a page to read to hear if you like the voice settings. If not, TexttoSpeech has already frozen by now and you have to force-quit. It’s very frustrating.

I wouldn’t recommend TexttoSpeech to any one. I’ve already deleted it from my device. I hope this candid review helps any one looking to purchase this dud. Don’t do it!

by 1283)$7474))7&8)4)3837383

I purchased TexttoSpeech specifically to read PDF files, and I’ve come to find out it’s in capable of doing that... I receive error messages about them not being simple enough. It does state that it can scrape text from the main body and read. But, That doesn’t seem to be the case!

In fact, I’m not sure what it’s capable of...

So, again how do I get a refund for TexttoSpeech since it does not read PDF files?

by Carrigan1

Tho I was pleased with the amount of voices, the fact it lets you edit the text of the articles, TexttoSpeech is poorly laid out. There should be some way of adding articles besides “importing it from the clipboard” organizing your saved articles is also a pain. It can’t read PDFs. Overall it’s inefficient. It takes a lot of time to program TexttoSpeech. If the functions of TexttoSpeech are improved I will most likely give 5 stars. I love podcasts. This is an app for someone like me. However the execution is mediocre at best.

by Vegan Yogi

All I’m getting is the title of the article can you please fix the extract and extract the entire article and not just the title there’s multiple pages here and I’m not interested in the commercials reading the text or speaking the text of the commercials there’s got to be a way to update come on guys get this fixed it’s been a year now

by Blaeref

Where has TexttoSpeech been all my life? I am a busy professional and often find myself in the car waiting for the next red light so I can read the article that i found on the web but haven't had time to finish reading yet. Speaky reads the article aloud for me while I am driving. I love it!

Only con is that speaky reads right through periods with almost no pause. It pauses at commas the way I want it to pause at periods. The pause at commas could be about 2/3 as long as it is. Wish Speaky would pause at periods - or even let me dial in how long to pause at different types of punctuation.

Over all a great productivity tool - well worth the $3.99 I spent on it.

by SarasarasarAAA

I like the convenience of being able to listen to the articles I was going to read online on my phone. It’s also nice to be able to customize the voice such as the language and accent.

Many of the voices sound unfortunately robotic. I am currently using the English (United Kingdom) Arthur (voice rate 0.40) because he sounds more natural to me. Although I have recently started using Aaron (English - United States), and I may even prefer him to Arthur.

I noticed Speaky can not always extract an article— sometimes only a few seconds of one- for whatever reason(s). Also, the voice keeps changing to other voices/ accents from my preferred one— which makes it a hassle to keep having to change it back.

Despite these issues, I recommend reading the tutorial and adding/ using share shortcut to Safari so that you can open the articles in TexttoSpeech (usually takes a few seconds to extract).

by EagleGrafix

I really like TexttoSpeech and use it frequently. The job it does is adequate but one must adjust to the delivery. The delivery is rough and choppy - we expected that. The pronunciation is good 89-93%. I find it interesting that it can correctly pronounce ’gunshot’ or ‘gunfight’ but cannot pronounce ‘gun’ and spells it g-u-n. Another, and this is the greatest annoyance, is that when a —, emdash, or long dash it translated as ‘power of’ or ‘the power of’. That is fixable.

by SD_Gringo

For the most part, a decent reader that I am now enjoying. Some of the words get mispronounced, but that is ok. I use it to read me stories I find online while I am on long drives. It would get five stars if it would it did a couple of other things. When I post a url using the uparrow icon in Safari (incognito), it usually posts the article twice. If I post a few in a row before opening TexttoSpeech , the postings are not in order. I wish I could rearrange the order so they auto read until all the postings are read. I’m also finding that it will sometimes stall while reading as it tries to download something every 15 seconds or so. Im guessing that means it won’t read anything while on an airplane (I’ll have to test that sometime).

by HRRM Exec

With technology, I find myself as an HR professional inundated with articles to read, emerging, tends, and legal updates. I couldn’t imagine having to read every single one, and I tend to comprehend more by listening versus reading.

by Birdie Lady

I just love TexttoSpeech! It allows me more freedom and frees up time! I can now do two things at I once!
With my vision not being so great, I send the articles I want to read to my “friend” Speaky!
It’s easy to use... just send what you want to read to Speaky which then reads it back to you!
It is very versatile... language, speed, font size, etc! It’s great!

by Milkman 77

It’s one of my favorite pieces of software to use. simple but efficient options with voices is incredibly well done. Being able to change the speed is a very nice touch. Have recommended it to at least 10 people and will continue to do so it’s a great piece of software.

by Daveinnashville

I’ve been using TexttoSpeech for years to grab articles from the web and then listen to them in the car on the way to and from work. It is in increase ability. I have to read articles that are important to keeping up with everything that’s going on in the world.

by CCO16

It generally works well with a few annoying exceptions. Pasting text to read takes many actions to acknowledge permissions each time, create the item, name it, paste, then speak it. Text highlighting synchronization is slower than the reading speed.

by Stargap01

Love what I have right at this time. Helps me keep up with political new while work with my hands. I need to keep most articles but can not get they from inbox to read box. What am I doing wrong. Thank you for application. Want to send you a tip (sorry not a big one) but still what I can afford. Tip is not working.

by DigitalSophisticate

Speaky is one of the few apps I simply can’t live without. I love learning, so I listen to a ton of podcasts & audiobooks on the go. When I have time, I also enjoy reading the content I’ve saved. But reading isn’t nearly as convenient as hearing it. Speaky magically converts the digital text content I want to consume into audio that I can listen to whenever I want, wherever I want. It’s a necessity for me, and I’m grateful to the developer for creating it!

by Jose ACA

I use it for everything I need to read. With modern OCR I scan the documents and listen to them while I work on the yard or in the shop. Or I just let it read the urls. It’s fantastic.

by ChrisKoniges

I use this all the time, you can watch the words and see how long it will take as well as set the playback speed, and the details tab allows you to share the article or see the original web page. I recommend TexttoSpeech without any reservation. Enjoy.

by Lsubenson

I absolutely love TexttoSpeech and use it all the time to read blog articles to me while walking. One of my favorite productivity hacks for Speaky is proofreading. I cut and paste my drafted emails or articles into it and let it read it back to me. My ear always catch things that my eyes glossed over. I can confidently say that Speaky is one of the team around here.

by Contractorslim

Sometimes when reading it won’t pronounce it the way you would or it may miss something that’s separated by bullets etc. however for me... TexttoSpeech allows me to enjoy articles that I don’t have time to read. So I’m giving it 5 stars! They stay on top of bugs and such with updates. You won’t go wrong picking TexttoSpeech at all!

by Seniorhacker

I love listening to news articles and informative business articles on speaky. Wish all the articles worked on here

by Sarsi819

***Update*** Please fix the compatibility issues with article titles. When trying to use the “read all entries” feature, an endless string of html appears and TexttoSpeech crashes. I’m not sure if it is an issue solely with the websites I’m using or if it’s something you can fix on your end. I would really like to be able to listen to multiple articles at once again. Thanks!

Speaky had been one of my favorite apps! I’m constantly driving and TexttoSpeech allows me to catch up on my article reading while on the road. I’ve noticed more instances of compatibility issues with webpages and TexttoSpeech crashes often without rhyme or reason. Please release an update soon fixing these issues! I would give it 5 stars if I could!

by Dasdasdasdasdasdasdasdasdasdas

I am updating this review, because of an issue of tech support. I had a question that was solved simply and quickly. Awesome support for an excellent app! I've had TexttoSpeech for some time now, and since I enjoy it so much, I'll write a review. Speaky does exactly what it says it will. I continue to be amazed at how it extracts articles from a URL. Impressive. I listen to articles on Speaky when driving, when working around the house etc. If TexttoSpeech sounds at all appealing to you, get it.

by Cushla69

Allows me to save articles to read later and to multitask. I don't have to carved out time to devoted to long articles. One complaint has developed since I first reviewed Speaky. One at least 3 occasions a foreign language version (German and Romanian) of an English language article is read aloud. Why does this occur, and why isn't there an option to set a default language and/or change the language?

by Kokohtfhrfjtcbdsvkjbgdxy

After all these years while other similar apps have come and gone, this one is still arguably the simplest and most useful TTS apps out there.

There is a new problem that began after a recent OS update. When you tap Preferred Voice Settings, the whole app crashes. This is not a deal breaker, bur it’s just annoying…

by Mariachi&Marine

TexttoSpeech helped me multitask reading college text books while I commuted to my full time day job. I could not have squeezed it in anywhere else. Recent changes have resolved many issues. I highly recommend.

by Robert Banks

When you’re on your way to work, found this really good article you want to read but since you’re driving it’s difficult. TexttoSpeech will read the article for you. I love it. TexttoSpeech is so underrated. Don’t forget fixing bugs and minor issues because I love it.

by Ksc6000

App was having issues and developer responded promptly and fixed the issue. I love getting to listen the articles I feel like I have no time to read while I drive or play a video game.

by Fereuchemy

I’ve used many text to speech apps and Speaky is the best. The speed, language, linking, and audio-visual options are top of the line and outpace anything else out there right now.

by Ymipaul

I get so much more work done with TexttoSpeech. It takes all my articles and read them at double the speed. Very easy to use as well.

by Neutral Gear

Great program… simple and very functional. I’ve used it for several years. But now, with iOS 17, it has stopped working. It hangs in a loop, even after I turn off every other app on my phone to ensure that there is no conflict. Looking forward to an update. Love TexttoSpeech .