How to listen to a PDF on your iPhone

Four steps; import time depends on the document:

1. Download LoudReader from the App Store (free, no account or sign-up).
2. Find your PDF (in the Files app, a Mail attachment, or a download in Safari) and tap the Share button.
3. Choose LoudReader from the share sheet. The PDF appears in your library after import and any text recognition finish.
4. Open it and press play. A natural offline voice reads the document aloud while each word highlights on the page.

From then on the PDF stays in your library. LoudReader remembers exactly where you stopped, and you can keep listening with the screen locked, with full playback controls on the lock screen, like a podcast app for your own documents. LoudReader runs on iPhone and iPad; compatible Apple Silicon Macs can also run its iPad build.

Yes. iOS ships with an accessibility feature called Spoken Content. Turn it on under Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content, enable Speak Screen, then open your PDF and swipe down from the top of the screen with two fingers. Your iPhone reads what's on the screen, and an on-screen controller lets you adjust the speaking rate.

It's genuinely useful, and free, but it's a screen reader rather than a reading app. It speaks what's currently visible, it keeps no library, and it won't remember where you were in a 300-page PDF tomorrow. For a quick paragraph it's perfect. For reading whole documents or books by ear, a dedicated reader is the better tool.

The short version: Speak Screen is a free, built-in convenience for reading the screen in front of you. LoudReader is built for long-form listening, with a library that keeps your place, natural offline voices, and background playback with no word quota.

LoudReader 1.12 includes on-device text recognition for image-based PDFs. It attempts OCR when much of the document lacks text and processes up to 300 OCR pages in one import.

Scan quality and page layout affect the result. Check the imported text and any partial-import message, especially for handwriting, equations or tables. A dedicated OCR tool can still help with difficult scans.

The document is not uploaded to a speech service for narration. Speech and text recognition run locally. The app also sends crash/performance diagnostics and usage analytics. Version 1.12 has no visible in-app switch for these diagnostics and analytics; website analytics consent is separate.

Read the privacy policy and check your organisation's requirements before importing confidential work files.

Try every available voice for your first 8 hours of listening. Afterwards, keep a free English voice selection and unlimited book listening. No LoudReader account or word quota. Individual book imports, notes, highlights and word-following highlighting are free.

Premium adds every available narrator, continued voice cloning, playback speed (0.3x to 3.0x), sleep timer, ambient soundscapes, unlimited article saving and uncapped batch imports. US prices are US$7.99/month, US$49.99/year or US$199.99 one-time (lifetime); prices vary by storefront. See the FAQ.