What can read web articles aloud on iPhone?

For one article, the iPhone’s built-in tools are enough: Safari’s Listen to Page reads supported web pages, and Speak Screen reads whatever is on the screen. To collect articles and listen on the go, an app is more convenient: TTS Reader, which we make, adds an article from its link or from text you share from Safari, and reads it aloud with voices that run on the iPhone.

Updated 2026-11-01

We make TTS Reader, so read this as a comparison by one side. Facts about Apple’s tools come from Apple’s iPhone User Guide; facts about other apps come from their US App Store listings, websites and help pages, checked on 31 October 2026. Prices change, so check the listing before you buy. TTS Reader here means our iPhone app, not the ttsreader.com web service.

Which tools read web articles aloud on iPhone?

Three built-in or free browser options read the page you have open; four apps also keep articles so you can listen later.

Safari Listen to Page and Speak Screen: when are they enough?

If you want to hear one article now, and it opens in Safari, you do not need to install anything.

Listen to Page is part of Safari. Listen to Page arrived in iOS 17; Apple’s iPhone User Guide has an article on listening to a webpage from iOS 17 on (in the iOS 17 guide it is titled “Use Siri to listen to a webpage in Safari on iPhone”), and the guide for earlier versions has no such page. You open the article, tap the Page Menu button in Safari and choose Listen to Page; the same menu pauses and resumes it. Apple says it reads “supported webpages”, so some pages will not offer it. AbilityNet’s guide for iOS 26 notes that if Listen to Page is not shown, the feature is not available for that page, and suggests Speak Screen instead.

Speak Screen is an accessibility setting that reads “all text on the screen” in any app, including Safari, news apps and in-app browsers. Turn it on in Settings → Accessibility → Read & Speak, as Apple’s current iPhone User Guide names the section (earlier versions of iOS call it Spoken Content), then swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen. Because it reads everything on the screen, on a busy page you may also hear menus and captions. Speak Selection, in the same settings, reads only the text you select.

Both are free and need no account. Neither keeps a list of articles: they read the page that is open now, so to listen again you go back to that page.

Do you need an app to listen to articles?

You probably do not need an app if you:

• listen to an article once in a while, right after you find it;
• read mostly in Safari, on pages where Listen to Page appears;
• are happy with Apple’s voices.

An app is more convenient if you:

• save articles during the day and listen later, on a walk, a commute or a flight;
• want the article kept with your place remembered, next to your PDFs and books;
• want to see each word highlighted while you listen, which helps many people follow along with dyslexia (a reading aid, not a treatment);
• want to listen without a connection after the article is saved.

Which reading apps can read articles aloud?

Instapaper is a read-later app: you save articles from Safari and other apps and read or listen to them later. Its US App Store listing includes text-to-speech (“Have your Instapaper articles narrated to you with text-to-speech”) and offline reading; the Premium list adds a text-to-speech playlist that plays several articles in a row, at $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year. Its newer AI Voices are described as “streaming” voices. If you want a queue that plays one saved article after another, Instapaper’s Premium playlist does that.

Speechify reads web links in its app and, according to a Speechify blog post from September 2023, offers a Safari extension that adds a play button to web pages. Premium starts from $11.99 a month in the US App Store (the listing also shows $24.99 a month); Speechify’s website lists $29 a month or $139 billed yearly. The library syncs across devices. Compared in detail: TTS Reader vs Speechify.

ElevenReader, from ElevenLabs, turns a pasted link into audio with cloud AI voices. The free plan gives 10 hours of text to audio a month; offline downloads are part of the paid Ultra plan. Its voices sound more natural than ours. Compared in detail: TTS Reader vs ElevenReader.

Microsoft Edge, a free browser, has Read Aloud, described in its App Store listing as a way to “listen to articles and pages” with natural-sounding voices. Like Listen to Page, it reads the page you have open.

Pocket, a read-later service that many people used for listening, is gone: Mozilla shut it down on 8 July 2025, and saves could be exported until 8 October 2025, after which the data was deleted.

For voices, prices and free limits across all of these apps, see text to speech apps for iPhone compared.

How does TTS Reader read web articles?

TTS Reader turns a web article into a document in your library and reads it with voices that run on the iPhone.

• Adding an article. Paste the article’s link into TTS Reader, or select text in Safari and share it to TTS Reader. Files and text can also be shared from Files and other apps.
• Reading. The current sentence and word are highlighted; tap any sentence to start there; speed goes from 0.5× to 3×, with ready-made modes such as Commute and Skim. Reading continues with the iPhone locked, with controls on the Lock Screen and in a Live Activity.
• Languages. The language of the text is detected automatically, and the built-in voices read 31 languages.
• Privacy. When you import a link, the app connects only to that website. The saved article stays on the iPhone; there is no account and no server of ours.
• Price. Free, with no purchases, no subscription, no ads and no listening limit.

What it does not do: there is no sync with other devices; and no export to MP3. TTS Reader is for iPhone only and needs iOS 26 or later.

What happens with paywalls and sign-in pages?

An article behind a paywall or a sign-in may not open from its link in TTS Reader. Some pages need a sign-in, block apps, or contain almost no text. TTS Reader does not get around paywalls.

If a link fails, open the article in Safari, where you are signed in to your subscription, select the text and share it to TTS Reader, or copy it and paste it into the app. The text is then saved and read like any other document.

The built-in tools work differently here: Speak Screen reads what Safari already shows on the screen, so it can read an article you are signed in to, as long as it is on the screen.

Can you listen to saved articles offline?

In TTS Reader, yes: an internet connection is needed only to load the article from its link. After that, the article is in your library and the voices on the iPhone read it without a connection. The 10 built-in voices work offline from the first launch; the 15 optional English voices work offline after a one-time download of about 190 MB. Save articles before a flight or the subway, and they stay in your library. Details: how offline text to speech works.

Elsewhere: ElevenReader’s offline downloads are an Ultra feature; Instapaper offers offline reading, while its AI Voices are described as streaming voices. Safari’s Listen to Page and Speak Screen read the page that is already open; they do not save it for later.

Sources

• Apple iPhone User Guide: Listen to a webpage in Safari on iPhone: “You can have supported webpages read aloud in the Safari app”; Page Menu button → Listen to Page; pause and resume from the same menu. The iOS 17 version of the page exists, titled “Use Siri to listen to a webpage in Safari on iPhone”; the iOS 16 address redirects to the guide’s welcome page. Checked 31 October 2026.
• Apple iPhone User Guide: Speak Screen and Speak Selection: Settings → Accessibility → Read & Speak; Speak Screen reads “all text on the screen” after a two-finger swipe down from the top; Speak Selection speaks selected text. Checked 31 October 2026.
• AbilityNet, How to listen to web pages in iOS 26: if Listen to Page is not shown, the feature is not available for that page; use Speak Screen and Speak Selection instead. Checked 31 October 2026.
• AbilityNet, How to listen to web pages in iOS 17: in iOS 17, open the page in Safari, tap the AA button in the address bar and tap Listen to Page. Checked 31 October 2026.
• Instapaper, US App Store listing: text-to-speech (“Have your Instapaper articles narrated to you with text-to-speech”), offline reading; the Premium list adds a “Text-to-speech Playlist to seamlessly listen to multiple articles”, Premium $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year; AI Voices described as “streaming”, iOS 26.0 or later. Checked 31 October 2026.
• Speechify, US App Store listing: in-app purchases include Premium Monthly at $11.99 and at $24.99, Speechify Premium $159.99 and Premium $139.99 (the period of the last two is not stated); cloud sync across devices. Checked 31 October 2026.
• Speechify pricing: Premium "$29 /Month” “or $139 billed yearly”. Checked 31 October 2026.
• Speechify blog, Listen to websites in the app (dated 26 September 2023): “Copy the URL of the page you want to listen to” and paste it in the app, or share the page from Safari or Chrome. Checked 31 October 2026.
• Speechify blog, Listen to websites with the Safari extension on iOS (dated 26 September 2023): play button on web pages in Safari. Checked 31 October 2026.
• ElevenReader pricing: free plan with 10 hours of text to audio a month; offline downloads listed under Ultra; Ultra $8.25 a month billed annually, $11 a month otherwise. Checked 31 October 2026.
• ElevenLabs help center: How do I add content to ElevenReader?: “Paste a link to input a URL, and the app will convert the contents of the web page.” Checked 31 October 2026.
• Microsoft Edge, US App Store listing: “Listen to articles and pages with Read Aloud”, free. Checked 31 October 2026.
• Mozilla blog, 22 May 2025: “Pocket shuts down July 8, 2025”; saves can be exported until 8 October 2025, after which data is permanently deleted. Checked 31 October 2026.

More

• How offline text to speech works
• All text to speech apps for iPhone compared
• TTS Reader vs Speechify