TTS ReaderHow to read a PDF aloud on iPhone
Open the PDF in TTS Reader and press play. The app reads the page in its original layout, highlights the sentence and the word being spoken, and skips page numbers and headers. It is free and works offline.
Steps
- Install TTS Reader and pick a voice on the welcome screen.
- Add the PDF: tap Add → Files, or open the PDF in Files, Mail or Safari, tap Share and choose TTS Reader.
- Press Play. Tap any sentence to start from there, and use the speed button to read faster or slower (0.5× to 3×).
- Lock the iPhone if you like: reading continues, with controls on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island.
It keeps the page as it is
Many readers pull the text out of a PDF and show it as plain text. TTS Reader also reads in the original page, so tables, columns and figures stay where you expect them, and the highlight moves across the real page. That makes it easy to follow along in textbooks, papers and forms.
Before reading, TTS Reader cleans up the text the way a person would read it:
- lines are joined into whole sentences, and words split by a hyphen at the end of a line are put back together;
- running headers and page numbers are skipped;
- the language is detected, and a voice for that language is chosen automatically (31 languages).
Scanned PDFs
Some PDFs are only pictures of pages, with no text inside. TTS Reader recognises the text in them page by page, on the iPhone, and shows “Page N of M” while it works. Long scans take a while; you can cancel at any time. Clear printed pages give the best result.
Other ways and when they are enough
iPhone’s built-in Speak Screen (turned on in Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content) reads what is on the screen with Apple’s voices, which is fine for a page or two. For long documents a reader app is more comfortable: it remembers your place, cleans up page numbers and headers, lets you jump to any sentence and keeps reading in the background.
Questions
How do I make my iPhone read a PDF aloud?
Open the PDF in TTS Reader and press play. Add it from the Files app, from Mail or Safari with the Share button, or from the Add menu in the app. The page keeps its layout and the current word is highlighted.
Can it read a scanned PDF?
Yes. If a PDF has no text layer, TTS Reader recognises the text page by page on your iPhone and shows the progress, then reads it like any other document. Clear printed pages work best.
Does it read page numbers and headers?
No. TTS Reader joins lines into sentences, removes hyphenation at line breaks and skips running headers and page numbers, so the text flows like a book.
Is there a page limit?
No. TTS Reader is free and reads whole documents, not just the first pages.