Text Reader Narrator How do you slow down text to speech on iPhone?
In Text Reader Narrator, tap the speed button in the Reader and choose a slower preset, or drag the Speed slider down. The slider runs from 0.0x to 2.0x, and 0.8x is a reasonable first setting to try.
★ 4.1 (31) The speed button sits next to the voice button in the Reader and shows the current setting, 1.0x by default. Tap it and Speed & Pitch opens with two parts.
Presets, then the slider
Under Speed Presets there are six rows: Slow, Study, Normal, Podcast, Fast and Very Fast. Study is 0.8x, Normal 1.0x, Podcast 1.25x, Fast 1.5x and Very Fast 2.0x. Tapping one applies it and closes the sheet.
Under Fine Tuning the Speed slider shows the exact multiple, and a Pitch slider sits below it. At low speeds, nudging pitch up a little when a voice drags works better than slowing down further.
Where slow stops being useful
Stay at 0.8x for anything you want to follow word by word, and go to 0.5x only for a single hard sentence. Below that, expect words to separate and the sentence to lose its tune; how bad it gets depends on the voice, so preview before committing.
The Slow preset is the lowest rate iOS allows. The list labels it 0.5x, but after you tap it the speed button reads 0.0x. It looks like a bug, so neither number should be trusted. Use Study or the slider when you want a speed you can name.
What it does to a page
The app's own estimate of listening time uses 150 words per minute at 1.0x. Scaling that by the speed gives a rough picture for a 500-word page. Real voices vary by a few seconds, and the app's per-document estimate in Documents does not change when you change speed.
| Setting | Speed | Time per page |
|---|---|---|
| Slider | 0.5x | 6 min 40 s |
| Study | 0.8x | 4 min 10 s |
| Normal | 1.0x | 3 min 20 s |
| Podcast | 1.25x | 2 min 40 s |
| Fast | 1.5x | 2 min 13 s |
| Very Fast | 2.0x | 1 min 40 s |
So going from Normal to Study costs 50 extra seconds a page. Over a 20-page handout that is 16 minutes 40 seconds.
Two things to know about
- A speed change may not take effect mid-speech. If it does not, press Stop and then Play.
- Pause in the Reader restarts from the top, so test speeds on a short paragraph, not your whole text.
iOS also has its own Speaking Rate slider in Settings, under Accessibility and Spoken Content. It affects Speak Selection and Speak Screen; this app keeps its own speed, so changing one does not change the other.
Questions and answers
How do I change text to speech speed on iPhone?
What is the slowest speed?
Does a slower speed change the voice?
Is the speed control free?
Can I slow down a voice memo or podcast with it?
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