How to read a PDF aloud on iPhone
Open the PDF in Narraloud
In Files, Mail, or Safari, tap Share and choose Narraloud. You can also add a PDF from Files inside the app, or paste a link to one.
Choose a voice and a speed
The voices come with the app and run on your device. Pick one that matches the language of the PDF, then set how fast it reads.
Press play
The text highlights as it is read, so you can follow along or look away. Narraloud remembers your place in every document in your library.
What Narraloud leaves out
A PDF is laid out for print. Most pages repeat a running header, a footer, and a page number, and some carry a watermark. Read aloud word for word, they interrupt every page.
Narraloud leaves that page furniture out by default, so you hear the text and not "page 12 of 40" between sentences. It also rejoins words split by a hyphen at the end of a line and drops citation markers from the middle of sentences.
Scanned PDFs
Some PDFs are pictures of printed pages with no text inside. When Narraloud finds no text in a PDF, it recognizes the words on your device and reads those. The same works for photos and screenshots of a page.
Recognition depends on the scan. Clean, straight pages read best.
What is free
The standard voices read PDFs for free, with no word limits, no credits to buy, and no account. They run on your device, so a saved PDF plays without a connection. See the offline listening guide for more.
Narraloud Plus adds background listening, so speech keeps generating with the screen locked or another app open. Plus also exports a PDF as an audio file you can play anywhere.
Common questions
Can Narraloud read a scanned PDF?
Yes. When a PDF has no text in it, such as a scan of printed pages, Narraloud recognizes the text on your device and then reads it aloud.
Is reading PDFs aloud free?
Yes. The standard voices read PDFs for free, with no word limits, no credits, and no account. Narraloud Plus adds background listening and audio export.
Does it work without an internet connection?
Yes. The standard voices run on your iPhone or iPad, so a PDF saved on the device can be read aloud in airplane mode.
