# Orate: Text to Speech for Docs — Private PDF & Article Reader

> Private PDF & Article Reader (iPhone/iPad app by George Pechtol.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/orate-text-to-speech-for-docs/id6760587409 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [George Pechtol](https://appshunter.io/developer/1831087167)
- Category: Lifestyle, Productivity
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 26.0 · 19 MB
- Languages: American English, Canadian French, German (Germany), Mexican Spanish
- Released: 2026-03-30
- Data updated: 2026-10-24

## What is Orate?

Orate is private text to speech for your reading list. Turn PDFs, Word files, web articles and pasted text into natural-sounding audio, generated entirely on your iPhone or iPad. No servers. No uploads. No subscription.

YOUR READING BACKLOG, FINALLY SHRINKING

You've got articles saved, PDFs downloaded, documents bookmarked. You genuinely want to read them. But your screen time is maxed out, your eyes are tired, and there's never a quiet moment to sit down.

Orate is built for how you actually have time to consume content: with your ears, not your eyes.

IMPORT ALMOST ANYTHING
Choose a PDF, Word, text, Markdown or RTF file from your device. Paste text from your clipboard. Or paste a link to any freely accessible web article and Orate extracts the content for you, with no copying and pasting. Orate fetches web pages directly, and no data is sent to sistnt.

KEEP GENERATING IN THE BACKGROUND
Start a long document, then switch apps or lock your screen. Orate keeps turning it into audio, and iOS shows the progress. Your episode is ready when you come back. If iOS can't continue in the background, Orate picks up where it left off when you return.

PLAYBACK LIKE YOUR PODCAST APP
Skip forward and back. Adjust speed from 0.5x to 2.5x. Use lock screen controls and steering wheel buttons. Navigate by chapter. Follow a sentence-level transcript that highlights in real time as audio plays, then search it: tap a result and Orate plays from that sentence. Orate never interrupts your music or a call until you press play.

NATURAL-SOUNDING VOICES, FREE
Choose from the voices built into iOS, including Apple's Premium and Enhanced voices. They're free downloads from Apple, Premium sounds the most natural, and Orate walks you through getting them.

100% ON YOUR DEVICE
Most text-to-speech apps send your documents to the cloud. Orate doesn't. Audio generation, including the AI that suggests chapters, happens entirely on your iPhone or iPad using Apple's built-in speech engine. No servers, no uploads, no account required. Generating and listening work fully offline. Your documents are nobody's business but yours.

ONE FAIR PRICE
Start free with three episodes. When you're ready for unlimited episodes, unlock Orate once with a one-time purchase. No subscription. No recurring charges. Yours forever.

BUILT FOR REAL USE CASES
- Commuters listening to work documents on the train
- Students reviewing papers and study notes hands-free
- Researchers consuming long-form content at 2x speed
- Anyone whose eyes need a break after a long day of screens

Orate supports PDF, DOCX, TXT, Markdown and RTF files, plus freely accessible web articles via URL import. Full VoiceOver, Dynamic Type, and Switch Control support.

Get your eyes off the screen. Start listening.

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Orate Coffee Tip | $0.99 | one-time |
| Orate Premium Unlock | $4.99 | one-time |
| Orate Patron Tip | $9.99 | one-time |
| Orate Support Tip | $2.99 | one-time |


## Is Orate safe?

Not enough ratings yet to assess Orate.

## Is Orate legit?

Orate: Text to Speech for Docs appears legitimate, with a few gaps. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Orate is 65 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.


## Version history (last 2 releases)

### Orate 1.2 — 2026-10-22

Orate 1.2 is our biggest update yet.

Keep generating in the background
Start a long document, then switch apps or lock your screen. Orate keeps turning it into audio, and iOS shows the episode's progress. Your episode is ready when you come back, and you can stop generating from the progress banner at any time. If iOS can't continue in the background (in Low Power Mode, for example), Orate picks up where it left off when you return.

Made for iPad
On iPad, text and controls are larger, so Orate is easier to read and use on the bigger screen.

A fresh new look
Orate has been redesigned throughout, with cleaner cards, clearer controls and better contrast in light and dark mode. It also has a new launch screen and a new welcome.

A roomier player
The playback controls now sit at the bottom of the screen, which gives the waveform, transcript and artwork more room. Transcript text is now Medium by default, and you can change it to Small or Large in Settings › Playback.

A cover for every episode
Episodes without a photo now get a cover of their own, in a color you choose. It appears in your Library, in the mini-player and on the Lock Screen. When you import a web article, Orate can also use the article's main image as the cover.

Search that plays
Tap a transcript search result and Orate starts playing from the sentence you found.

A tidier Library
Swipe an episode to remove its audio or delete it. To regenerate an episode with your current voice, use the player's menu. Orate tells you if the new voice speaks a different language from the episode's text.

Better voices
Onboarding now walks you through downloading Premium and Enhanced voices, step by step. This is optional, and standard voices work too. Settings lists the voices for your languages first, with every other voice under More Languages.

Plays nicely with your other audio
Opening an episode or finishing a generation no longer stops your music or interrupts a call. Orate only takes over the audio when you press play.

Fixes and improvements
- Long episodes now play reliably in the background.
- Generating audio is more reliable when you leave the app and come back.
- Orate saves your place when you listen from the Lock Screen.
- Report a problem from Settings › Diagnostics. You review each report and send it yourself.

### 1.0 — 2026-03-30

No release notes.

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## More apps by George Pechtol

- [Enumerator - Tally Counter](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/enumerator-tally-counter/id6749551788)
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All apps by George Pechtol: https://appshunter.io/developer/1831087167

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-10-24.*