How to turn any book into an audiobook
Last updated: · Product facts checked against the App Store listing and loudreader.io on July 14, 2026
How do I turn a book into an audiobook?
- Download LoudReader from the App Store on your Mac (macOS 15+, Apple Silicon) or iPhone (iOS 18+). Free, no account.
- Import the book: share an EPUB or PDF to LoudReader from the Files app, Safari, or Mail, or use the import button inside the app.
- Press play. A natural offline voice narrates the book while each word highlights in the text.
That's the whole process. The book behaves like an audiobook from then on: playback continues with the screen locked on iPhone, your position is saved automatically, and on Premium you can switch among all 8 voices and adjust speed from 0.3x to 3.0x.
Do I need to convert the book into audio files first?
No, and this is the part most people expect to be harder than it is. Older workflows meant running an ebook through a converter to produce hours of MP3 files, then loading those into a player. LoudReader skips all of it: the text-to-speech engine generates the narration live, on your device, as you listen.
Real-time narration is genuinely better than exported audio files. The text and audio stay together (so you get word-by-word highlighting and can switch between reading and listening mid-chapter), you can change the voice or speed at any moment, and a 12-hour book takes zero storage beyond the book itself.
What about books I bought on Kindle or Apple Books?
The honest answer: store-bought ebooks are usually locked with DRM, and LoudReader can't open DRM-protected files. It reads standard, DRM-free EPUBs and PDFs, the formats you get from DRM-free stores, direct-from-author sales, technical publishers, your own documents, and public-domain libraries. Any legitimate text-to-speech reader has the same limitation.
The good news is how much DRM-free reading exists. LoudReader ships with the entire Project Gutenberg catalog (70,000+ classics, free), and many publishers and authors sell EPUBs without DRM precisely so you can read them in the app of your choice.
How does TTS narration compare with a real audiobook?
| LoudReader (real-time TTS) | Professionally narrated audiobook | |
|---|---|---|
| Which books | Any DRM-free EPUB or PDF you own, plus 70,000+ free Project Gutenberg classics | Only titles a publisher chose to record |
| When you can listen | Right away, once you import and press play | Whenever (and if) it gets produced |
| Narration | Natural offline voices from modern neural TTS, consistent across every book | A human performance, still the artistic gold standard |
| Cost per book | Free tier: unlimited listening on every book; Premium from $7.99/month | Typically purchased per title or via subscription credits |
| Read along with the text | Yes, word-by-word highlighting synced to the narration | Usually audio only (text sold separately) |
| Privacy | Fully on-device and private, your library never leaves your device; no account | Store account required; purchases tracked to it |
| Works offline | 100%, speech is generated on-device | Yes, after downloading |
The concession worth making plainly: a great human narrator is a performance, and no TTS engine matches that yet. If the audiobook you want exists and narration is part of the joy for you, buy it. LoudReader's case is different. Most books never get recorded at all, and for those, a natural offline voice is the difference between a book you listen to and a book you never get to.
How long will my book take to listen to?
Divide the word count by the narration pace. At about 150 words per minute, a comfortable listening speed, a 90,000-word novel runs roughly 10 hours and a 40,000-word novella about 4.5 hours. With Premium's speed control you can push that up to 3.0x once your ear adjusts, which turns the same novel into an afternoon.
Is it private to listen to my own books this way?
Completely. LoudReader is fully on-device and private, your library never leaves your device. The speech engine runs locally, so nothing you read is uploaded, and the app works in airplane mode. There's no account and no sign-up. That extends beyond novels: manuscripts, contracts, and work documents get the same treatment. See private text to speech with no cloud for details, or the privacy policy for the two-minute read. And if the book you want to hear is a PDF on your phone, the listen to a PDF on iPhone guide walks through it.
What does it cost?
The free tier is the audiobook part: unlimited listening on every book, cover to cover, with no word quota, an unlimited library, word-by-word highlighting, and the full Project Gutenberg catalog. Every voice is free for your first 8 hours; after that, free users keep the default voice. Premium adds all 8 AI voices, playback speed (0.3x to 3.0x), a sleep timer, ambient soundscapes, and notes & highlights for $7.99/month, $49.99/year, or $199.99 once, yours for life. Details in the FAQ.
Frequently asked questions
How do I turn a book into an audiobook?
Install LoudReader on your Mac or iPhone, import the book (any DRM-free EPUB or PDF, shared from Files, Safari, or Mail, or added with the import button), and press play. Natural offline voices read it aloud in real time with word-by-word highlighting. There's no file conversion and nothing to export.
Do I need to convert my EPUB or PDF into MP3 files?
No. LoudReader narrates the book in real time on your device, so there are no audio files to generate or keep in sync. You keep the highlighting, your reading position, and the ability to switch voice or speed whenever you want.
Can I turn Kindle books into audiobooks?
Not directly. Kindle purchases are locked with DRM, and LoudReader can't open DRM-protected files. It reads standard, DRM-free EPUBs and PDFs. Any legitimate text-to-speech reader has the same limit.
Is it free to turn a book into an audiobook this way?
Yes. The free tier includes unlimited listening on every book, cover to cover, with no word quota and no account, plus 70,000+ free Project Gutenberg classics built in. Premium adds all 8 AI voices, playback speed (0.3x to 3.0x), a sleep timer, soundscapes, and notes & highlights for $7.99/month, $49.99/year, or $199.99 once.
How long does a book take to listen to?
Roughly the word count divided by the narration pace. At about 150 words per minute, a 90,000-word novel runs around 10 hours of listening. Premium's speed control (up to 3.0x) shortens that a lot.
Is TTS narration as good as a real audiobook?
Honestly, a great human narrator still gives a better performance. But most books never get an audiobook at all, and modern neural voices are natural enough to disappear into the story. If a professional recording of your book exists and you love narration as an art, buy it. LoudReader is for the millions of books that will never be recorded.
Turn your first book into an audiobook now
Import any EPUB or PDF and press play. Free, on-device, no account, no word quota.
Download on theApp StoreFree download for Mac and iPhone · works on iPad too