How to have a PDF read aloud on iPhone, iPad and Mac
Your iPhone can already read a PDF aloud, with nothing to install. Here is the built-in path, step by step, and what changes when the PDF is long, like a book or a many-page paper.
On iPhone and iPad: Speak Screen
- Open Settings › Accessibility › Spoken Content.
- Turn on «Speak Screen».
- Under «Voices», download an Enhanced or Premium voice in your language. It sounds much more natural, and you download it only once.
- Open the PDF in the Files app or in Books.
- Swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen. The device starts reading and shows a small panel to pause, go back and change the speed.
On Mac
- Open System Settings › Accessibility › Spoken Content.
- Turn on «Speak selection». The default shortcut is Option + Esc.
- Open the PDF in Preview, select the text and use the shortcut.
To hear just a passage on iPhone or iPad, also turn on «Speak Selection»: select the text and tap «Speak».
Where the built-in path falls short
- Speak Screen reads what is on the screen. Headers, footers and page numbers are read too.
- In a two-column PDF, the reading order can jump from one column to the other.
- The place where you stopped is not kept.
In Lareia
Lareia turns the PDF into text to read and listen to. In the PDF, tap Share and choose Lareia, or send the file from the app itself. The conversion keeps going while you do something else, and Lareia lets you know when the text is ready.
Then it reads aloud with your device's voice, Premium voices included, and lights up each word as it is spoken. You can keep listening with the screen locked. A single-column PDF converts cleanly; with a two-column PDF, you check the text before reading.
Converting documents is one of the things that have a cost in Lareia, through the Leitura plan, which has a 7-day trial, or with lumes. Reading, highlighting and listening with your device's voice need no subscription.
Written in November 2026.