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How to read an article aloud on iPhone

Copy the article's link, tap URL in TTS, paste it into Paste a URL…, tap Go, then Use This Text and Speak. When the preview comes back empty, and on some sites it will, copy the article text itself and paste that into the box instead.

3 min read · Updated 2026-09-16

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Can an iPhone read articles to me?

TTS downloads the page, keeps the readable text and hands it to an iOS voice, so you get the story without scrolling and at whatever pace you set.

It works well for the long reads that get bookmarked and never actually opened, plus news in a language you can read slowly but not follow at normal speaking speed.

Steps to read a website aloud

  1. In Safari, open the article, tap the Share button and choose Copy to copy its link.
  2. Open TTS and tap URL. The Read from URL sheet opens.
  3. Paste the link into Paste a URL… and tap Go. You can leave out the web prefix at the start; the app adds it.
  4. Wait for Extracting article… to finish. The page title and a preview of the text appear.
  5. If the preview is the article, tap Use This Text. The text goes into the box on the main screen.
  6. Pick a voice in Voice, adjust Speed, and tap Speak.

Which pages work, and which do not?

It fetches the page the way a simple browser without JavaScript would: looks for the article section, then common content blocks, then paragraphs. Most news sites, blogs and documentation pages come out clean.

Sites that build the page with scripts, or sit behind a paywall or a login, are a coin flip. Sometimes you get Could not extract readable text from this page; other times a preview full of menu links and a cookie notice, nothing you'd want read aloud.

The fallback that always works

  1. In Safari, press and hold on the first word of the article and drag to select the text you want.
  2. Tap Copy.
  3. In TTS, press and hold in the box and tap Paste, then tap Speak.

There is no TTS option in the Safari share sheet, so copying the link or the text is the way in.

Save characters and read only the article

On the free plan you get 1,000 characters a day for Speak and for saving audio, plus 500 for each rewarded ad you finish. The whole box counts, so delete the leftovers before reading: newsletter sign-up lines, photo credits, related-story headlines and comment counts. A typical long read is several thousand characters, so on a free account read it in parts or use PRO.

Listen later as an audio file

If you want to hear the article on a walk, save it: tap the tray-with-arrow icon next to Stop, wait for Exporting audio…, then use the player's share button to save the M4A to Files or send it. The app does not read with the screen locked, but a saved audio file plays in any audio player that does. Saving uses characters the same way as Speak.

Common mistakes

  • Pasting a search result link or a shortened link that goes to a login page: open the article first and copy its own address.
  • Tapping Use This Text without looking at the preview: check that it starts with the headline and not with a menu.
  • Reading with an English voice when the article is in French: pick the matching voice first.

Questions and answers

Is there an app that reads articles to you on iPhone?
TTS does it: paste the article's link with URL, or paste the text itself, and tap Speak. It uses the voices built into iOS.
Why does a news site come back empty?
Some sites build the page with scripts, sit behind a paywall or need a login, and the app cannot run scripts or sign in. Select and copy the text in Safari and paste it into the box instead.
Does it need internet?
Only to download the page. Once the text is in the box, reading it aloud works offline.
Can I read a whole website?
No, one page at a time. Each Use This Text replaces what is in the box.

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