How to Have Your Phone Read Text Aloud to You

Your phone comes with a built-in feature that can read almost anything on screen out loud to you — articles, emails, text messages, recipe pages, news stories, and e-books. You do not need to install anything extra. The feature is already there, waiting to be turned on.

This is particularly helpful when your eyes are tired, when you want to listen while doing something else (cooking, walking, folding laundry), or when you find small phone text straining to read. Many people also find listening to long articles easier than reading them on a small screen.

On iPhones, the feature is called **Speak Screen** and **Speak Selection**. On Android phones, it is called **Select to Speak** and **TalkBack** (though TalkBack is for users who are fully blind — Speak Screen and Select to Speak are lighter options that read specific content on request).

Neither feature changes how your phone looks or works for other people who use it. You turn them on, use them when you want. And they stay quietly in the background otherwise.

Adjusting the voice and speed

Both iPhone and Android let you change the reading voice and how fast it speaks. The default speed is often a bit fast for new users. Slowing it down to 60–70% of the default speed makes it much easier to follow along. You can also choose from several different voices — some people prefer a male voice, others prefer female, and regional accents are available too.

Which apps does this work in?

Speak Screen on iPhone works in Safari, Mail, Messages, Notes, Apple Books, and most other apps that display text. It does not work on video content (there is no text to read) and may not work in some apps that use non-standard text display.

Android Select to Speak works in Chrome, Gmail, Messages, and most apps. You tap the Select to Speak icon and then tap or highlight any text on screen.

Using this for e-books and audiobooks

If you use the Kindle app, Apple Books, or the Libby library app, these have their own built-in read-aloud features that work even better than the system text-to-speech. In Apple Books, tap the page, then tap the reading menu (the AA button) → "Listen." In the Kindle app on iPhone, tap anywhere → tap the headphones icon. In Libby, the audiobook section streams narrated books directly.

Sources: Apple Support (https://support.apple.com/en-us/111797), Google Android Accessibility Help (https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/6151848), AARP (https://www.aarp.org/home-family/personal-technology/info-2020/smartphone-accessibility-features.html).