A great app, not necessarily $10 great
First of all, let me start off by saying that this is the second ebook tts narration app I've tried (apps specifically designed to convert ebooks into text-to-speech) though I've used TTS most of my life in one form or another.
The first app I used was the free version of Capti. That app is somewhat less user friendly than this app, but its price (free) is more budget friendly.
As a note, though it offers a lesser selection of voices, many of them are also somewhat cheaper. What's the deal there, guys? Why is their free app offering the same voices for cheaper?
I rather like the accessibility controls placed in this app. They work, and they're intuitive. That's pretty high praise from me.
Most people's accessibility stuff are afterthoughts and look like it.
This review may seem slapdash and for that I apologize. I genuinely enjoy the app and find reading on it rather pleasant. Now that I have it, I'll be using it frequently.
One final note (because I could not contact support from the app's page in the app store): the app's voice management doesn't seem to recognize the enhanced Siri voices having been downloaded. I have all the enhanced English ones from each language, and Reader just isn't seeing them. It sees the iOS basic included ones but no enhanced ones for Siri. And the new Irish English voices aren't included in there at all.
Best of luck, and thanks for the app.
The first app I used was the free version of Capti. That app is somewhat less user friendly than this app, but its price (free) is more budget friendly.
As a note, though it offers a lesser selection of voices, many of them are also somewhat cheaper. What's the deal there, guys? Why is their free app offering the same voices for cheaper?
I rather like the accessibility controls placed in this app. They work, and they're intuitive. That's pretty high praise from me.
Most people's accessibility stuff are afterthoughts and look like it.
This review may seem slapdash and for that I apologize. I genuinely enjoy the app and find reading on it rather pleasant. Now that I have it, I'll be using it frequently.
One final note (because I could not contact support from the app's page in the app store): the app's voice management doesn't seem to recognize the enhanced Siri voices having been downloaded. I have all the enhanced English ones from each language, and Reader just isn't seeing them. It sees the iOS basic included ones but no enhanced ones for Siri. And the new Irish English voices aren't included in there at all.
Best of luck, and thanks for the app.
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Response from developer
Thanks for your thoughtful review. To note a few things: - Capti is free but getting full features requires a subscription of as much as $18 per year. For $15 you get Voice Dream Reader forever. No gimmicks. - Enhanced Siri voices are unfortunately not available to developers. We have raised this issue with Apple and hopefully one day this situation would change. Thanks again!
Daily app
This is one of a handful of apps that I use in my daily life. I love to read books/articles/etc. But I don’t have the time with work and kids. This allows me to “read”-listen during my commute and other times. Works great with the app Pocket. I use it with DRM-free books all the time also, which I store in Onedrive then us the “open in other app” to bring it into VoiceDream when I want them. While it isn’t up to audiobook quality, the voice “Sharon” is pretty easy to listen to. You can customize the speed of the reading to find what you like. Most of the pronunciation is well, though you’re going to get some odd ones sometimes. It is even getting pretty decent with abbreviations. Overall a great app. I’ve been using it for years.
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Amazing app
I’ve been using is for some years now, it replaced brutally expensive amazon’s audible books. I upload pdf’s, txt’s, doc’s to a folder on my website and when I want to read another book, I just tap the name and it gets it. I’m using the voices of Sharon and Paul. This awesome app helped me read hundreds of books during rush hour drive, while working and resting. It remembers position for later, it has adjustable speed and now the new version even removes long headers and footers from PDF’s. I bought it for some $20 or so (plus voices) and now it’s much less and a must have for people who don’t want to spend $20-30 per book on audible. It’s the best app I have on my phone. I can’t believe that someone would give it less than 5 stars. Also, there is a fast support, I’ve asked questions and got emails within a few hours.
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Use it all the time
I use this app mostly in the car or on the way to work while I’m walking. I get it to read my newsletters, books, random links or emails that I get.
The turning point for me was when I figured out how to use the send from browser feature. On the browser click share (box with an arrow) and then select voice dream from the list. If not there you have to click more to add it.
Honestly there should be a video for this.
I also used it to read my emails, but there I have select the whole text and copy it in. Some newsletters have the view as HTML in a browser button but the ones that don’t, it makes it hard. I wish there was a feature similar to Things app, where I just forward to an email and pops up in the app.
Anyways, thanks for the app and the hard work.
The turning point for me was when I figured out how to use the send from browser feature. On the browser click share (box with an arrow) and then select voice dream from the list. If not there you have to click more to add it.
Honestly there should be a video for this.
I also used it to read my emails, but there I have select the whole text and copy it in. Some newsletters have the view as HTML in a browser button but the ones that don’t, it makes it hard. I wish there was a feature similar to Things app, where I just forward to an email and pops up in the app.
Anyways, thanks for the app and the hard work.
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Absolutely incredible
As a totally blind avid book reader, I have been a long time user of both laptops and desktops. It is not very convenient to carry a laptop everywhere you go, especially if you’re on a nice sandy beach. This app makes it possible for me to read books where ever I am and four hours at a time. I would not be without it it is a truly incredible app and I can now take a huge collection of books in my pocket where ever I go. It is easy to navigate and has a wealth of different voices for you to find the one that suits you best.
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An AppStore Staple
I've had this app for years and have it on multiple devices. As someone who absolutely hates when humans read books (strange emphasis, too much emotion, incorrect pronunciation), this app has saved my reading life.
All of my ebooks are pushed through this app and are near constantly playing as background noise. I've bought a couple different voices, and it's well worth it, in my opinion. You can teach the program how to pronounce names or fantasy words not in its lexicon already, which is indispensable for big sci-fi and fantasy readers.
The text color, size, and font can be customized for easier reading, and the background can be altered as well. It's an incredible app and if this was around when I was in school, I'd have no problem 'reading' the required material as I got ready in the morning.
All of my ebooks are pushed through this app and are near constantly playing as background noise. I've bought a couple different voices, and it's well worth it, in my opinion. You can teach the program how to pronounce names or fantasy words not in its lexicon already, which is indispensable for big sci-fi and fantasy readers.
The text color, size, and font can be customized for easier reading, and the background can be altered as well. It's an incredible app and if this was around when I was in school, I'd have no problem 'reading' the required material as I got ready in the morning.
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I’ve tried them all, get this one
TL;DR — I’ve tried them all, get this one.
I love reading the news but don’t have enough time to read all the big scoops and long-form articles I’ve saved on Pocket.
Now with a few clicks I can have all those stories read to me like an on demand ebook while I do laundry or run errands or just hangout with my dog. It’s ***** awesome.
Text to speech/natural language processor technology is getting crazy. The developers of this app 100% deserve the fee for this app. Best £ I’ve ever spent in the app store.
And I’ve tried all similar apps in this category, none come close to this.
P.S. My favorite voice option is the woman with the Australian accent. It’s an extra pound or two but again, zero regrets. Best cost to value ratio on something I’ve purchase in years.
I love reading the news but don’t have enough time to read all the big scoops and long-form articles I’ve saved on Pocket.
Now with a few clicks I can have all those stories read to me like an on demand ebook while I do laundry or run errands or just hangout with my dog. It’s ***** awesome.
Text to speech/natural language processor technology is getting crazy. The developers of this app 100% deserve the fee for this app. Best £ I’ve ever spent in the app store.
And I’ve tried all similar apps in this category, none come close to this.
P.S. My favorite voice option is the woman with the Australian accent. It’s an extra pound or two but again, zero regrets. Best cost to value ratio on something I’ve purchase in years.
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Nothing even comes close
Any negative reviews this app gets is usually due to the developer changing the layout or removing an outdated, obsolete feature, which are emotional reactions to change. Objectively, there are computer programs that do all the same things this app does, and does it better, but that is an unfair comparison. When contrasting this app to its peers here on the app store, there is nothing quite like Voice Dream Reader. I can't imagine ever using any of the alternatives. If, for whatever reason, the developer stops supporting the app, and iOS and iPhones upgrade to the point where VDR would no longer work, I wouldn't upgrade my phone or operating system, hands down. That being said, I hope Winston keeps the updates and improvements coming for a long time to come.
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You get what you pay for
Well in this case I think you get more. It reads for you, yes. But it not only reads it reads much better than any other similar free app. And I know because I tried all the free ones first and they sounded so incredibly robotic that the sentences were melting into each other and I couldn't grasp what I was reading at all. They also had bad intonations on words which also caused confusion.
No this isn't a "cheap app" by measure of general app prices but when you measure the value that you get over the life of this app allowing you to read while washing dishes, driving or eating a meal, it is well worth every cent. This app has saved me hours and time is money! Not only can I multitask but I'm also reading much faster when it's the only thing I'm doing because it's scrolling for you and the added time of each thumb swipe is gone. You're now reading hands free. Also, in addition to the included voices, there's an option for premium voices and the option of simply putting it on mute and letting it scroll for you if you prefer your own voice for reading.
If you want something that's upfront "cheap" or free they're out there in other apps. This, to me, is cheap when you do the longterm math. Btw I've had this for years and happened to just review now since I was already in the app store to share the link with a friend.
Good luck and happy shopping
No this isn't a "cheap app" by measure of general app prices but when you measure the value that you get over the life of this app allowing you to read while washing dishes, driving or eating a meal, it is well worth every cent. This app has saved me hours and time is money! Not only can I multitask but I'm also reading much faster when it's the only thing I'm doing because it's scrolling for you and the added time of each thumb swipe is gone. You're now reading hands free. Also, in addition to the included voices, there's an option for premium voices and the option of simply putting it on mute and letting it scroll for you if you prefer your own voice for reading.
If you want something that's upfront "cheap" or free they're out there in other apps. This, to me, is cheap when you do the longterm math. Btw I've had this for years and happened to just review now since I was already in the app store to share the link with a friend.
Good luck and happy shopping
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Fantastic app
I've been using Voice Dream for several years now and absolutely love it. I use it daily. I love how it connects with Pocket. Every day I add a dozen or more articles from the web to Pocket - and then listen to them using the app. It's brilliant! I've tried many text-to-speech apps and this is easily the best I know of. I share the opinion of the Forbes reviewer in calling it one of the best finds of my educational career.
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