Looking for an app that reads text aloud.

[sw339]

I am looking for an app. that properly reads text that I write out loud. I plan to use it to teach my nephew to read and spell who has a learning disability. The functionality I am looking for is:

Read english text that I type with a natural-ish voice. Siri voice is fine.
Ability to repeat the same text a set number of times or (at the least) be able to "loop" on a particular sentence or word.

I don't mind paying for it if it can do what I want. I tried the default text-to-speech and it is horrid because everything on the screen is read - not what I am looking for. I am also aware there are a slew of text-to-speech apps in the store just looking for recommendations. Also maybe there is an actual spelling app. which someone knows of that can do this, but I have yet to find it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Sonicrobby]

I am looking for an app. that properly reads text that I write out loud. I plan to use it to teach my nephew to read and spell who has a learning disability. The functionality I am looking for is:

Read english text that I type with a natural-ish voice. Siri voice is fine.
Ability to repeat the same text a set number of times or (at the least) be able to "loop" on a particular sentence or word.

I don't mind paying for it if it can do what I want. I tried the default text-to-speech and it is horrid because everything on the screen is read - not what I am looking for. I am also aware there are a slew of text-to-speech apps in the store just looking for recommendations. Also maybe there is an actual spelling app. which someone knows of that can do this, but I have yet to find it.

Thanks in advance!

Well I haven't really looked, or used any app like that so I can't really help with that. But I would like to just chime in on the built in one. For the built in text to speech, highlight what you want it to read, and click the "speak" option (has to be enabled in settings first.) This way it reads only what you select.

Settings > general > accessibility > speak selection [on] (and I'd personally turn on highlight words so it highlights the word as it speaks)

You can even change the speed of the voice and the dialogue/language of the speech.

 

[sw339]

Well I haven't really looked, or used any app like that so I can't really help with that. But I would like to just chime in on the built in one. For the built in text to speech, highlight what you want it to read, and click the "speak" option (has to be enabled in settings first.) This way it reads only what you select.

Settings > general > accessibility > speak selection [on] (and I'd personally turn on highlight words so it highlights the word as it speaks)

You can even change the speed of the voice and the dialogue/language of the speech.

That's good to know, thank you. Still needing a repeat or loop functionality for my issue though. Shame, if I could get away with using stock I would.

 

[twerppoet]

Book Creator for iPad allows you to create your own children's books and read them in the iBooks app.

You can add text, graphics, and audio to the book.

If you don't mind recording the audio yourself, you can create a sentence on each page in large text, record each word and place a play button next to it, then a larger play button with the entire sentence. Instead of a loop repeat, each repeat is just a tap away.

It is not very powerful compared to some of the children's book creation apps out there, but it is easy to use and export to iBooks.

Here is a very basic page I created and recorded. It can be much more colorful and interesting, depending on how much effort you want to put into it. I did this in about 3 minutes.

 

[twerppoet]

I got this app some time ago, but had not really played with it; so I took this thread as an excuse to make a very silly little book. Turns out you can make the speaker buttons invisible and place them on top of images or text. Makes it less cluttered.

Here is a share link to the sample book I made, so you can check out the basic features. It took me about 15 minutes to make this book, and that was while exploring what I could do. It will only work in iBooks, so when it downloads, use Open In to copy it there.

My Dog


Addendum:

After tapping on the link, you'll need to use the share icon at the bottom right to open in Safari, and then download. The iPF app will not download.

After the file downloads, you should get an Open In option, tap that and choose iBooks.

If you download it on a computer, mail it to yourself. When it arrives in Mail on the iPad tap and hold in the attachment to get the Open In option for iBooks.

 

[scifan57]

I just downloaded your sample book. It's very good for only 15 minutes work.

 

[sw339]

I will mess around with Book Creator, thanks Poet!

 

[twerppoet]

I just downloaded your sample book. It's very good for only 15 minutes work.

Thanks.

 

[twerppoet]

I will mess around with Book Creator, thanks Poet!

No problem. Please let us know how ti goes, both with the book creation and your nephew's progress.

 

[sw339]

Just to update on my progress with this. I took a second look at the built-in speak feature on the iPad as Sonicrobby suggested and have been using it ever since. While pretty basic, it does almost everything I need. The words can be set to highlight as they are spoken which is a godsend for the kid to keep track. I wish it somehow intergrated into a siri command such as "speak text" or repeat this word X amount of times, but otherwise it is what i've been using. I did get Book Creator, and it is good for my own compositions that I create for him to read, but I love that the built-in speech can read anything, even books I purchase from the store.

Thanks guys!

 

[twerppoet]

Cool!

I had Speak turned off, because it was interfering with selection in the iBooks app. Looks like that is fixed. I can't decide if I like the Australian or Irish dialect/accent better.

Thanks for the update. It sounds like you've got most of what you need.

 

[iRager]

I can't decide if I like the Australian or Irish dialect/accent better.

Gotta go Australian