Voice Dream vs Bookshare Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Voice Dream
Transform digital and scanned text into natural-sounding speech with advanced AI. Listen to PDFs, web pages, emails, and books with customizable voices and reading styles. Supports numerous document formats and cloud services.
- AI Text-to-Speech
- Supports PDF, Web, Email, eBooks
- Customizable voices and languages
- Built-in scanner for paper documents
- Speed-reading and distraction-free modes
- Cloud service integration
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Apple Design Award Winner! Voice Dream - Read Aloud lets you listen to PDFs, textbooks, Web pages, emails, and books using advanced AI Text To Speech! Featured by Apple as Best New App and App of the Day in 81 countries. Voice Dream - Read Aloud is also part of App Store Permanent Collections in Education. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Both experts recommend Voice Dream Reader as the best app in the text-to-speech space.” - Wired “This app is one of the best educational finds of my entire career.” - Forbes “As a user myself and as a mother of a child with dyslexia, I am blown away by the features of Voice Dream.” - Quartz “Voice Dream Reader is hailed by many as the best mobile text-to-speech (TTS) app.” - Examiner ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Text-to-Speech - 36 built-in iOS voices in 27 languages are also available for free. - 200+ additional premium voices in 30 languages from Acapela, NeoSpeech and Ivona available. - Correct pronunciation with your own pronunciation dictionary. - All voices work offline and play in the background even with the screen locked. Supported Document Formats - PDF, Plain text, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, RTF, and Google Docs. - Textbooks - Web articles. - Bookshare Books. - EPUB eBooks. (DRM-free books only. Kindle, iBooks and most commercial eBook platforms are not supported.) - DAISY text-based books and audiobook. - Audiobooks in MP3, MP4 or zipped MP3 format. - Rich text and image support for all documents. Built-in Scanner - Scan paper documents with the camera for text-to-speech. - State-of-the-art A.I. is fast and accurate, even in poor lighting conditions. - Works entirely on device: No need for internet and your data stays private. - Only languages using Latin alphabets are currently supported. Reading Styles - Tee-up a list of articles and play while you drive, walk or run. - Spoken word is highlighted to improve comprehension and retention. - Auto-scrolling and full screen, distraction-free mode to help reader focus. - Finger reading. For beginners to read by at running a finger under each word. - Pac-Man. Harvard and MIT developed speed-reading method for everyone to read at 2x speed with no loss of comprehension. - High contrast and large font size for low vision readers. - Optimized for VoiceOver, Braille and switch control. Tools - Recognize text for scanned PDF documents. - Bookmarking, text highlighting and annotation. Highlights and notes can be exported. - Full-text search. - Built-in dictionary. - Automatically skip text in PDF header and footer. Content Sources - Native support for Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, Pocket, Instapaper and Evernote. - Native access to Bookshare. - Safari extension to save Web pages and Web addresses. - Support for Box and OneDrive via iOS Document Picker. Library Synchronization - Your entire library, including folders, reading locations, bookmarks and annotations are synchronized across all your devices using iCloud Drive A subscription is required to access the app. A free trial is offered to new users. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula
Bookshare Reader
Access a vast library of ebooks designed for individuals with reading barriers. Enjoy high-quality audio narration and customize your reading experience with adjustable fonts, colors, and speeds. Continue reading seamlessly from where you left off.
- Access millions of ebooks
- High-quality audio narration
- Customizable reading experience
- Adjustable font size and colors
- Follow along with highlighted text
- Offline reading
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Get the official Bookshare Reader app. Access millions of ebooks from Bookshare, the world's largest library of ebooks for people with reading barriers like dyslexia, blindness, low vision, and physical disabilities. Listen to books in high quality audio and customize your reading experience in ways that work for you. Read bestsellers, new releases, textbooks and educational books, children’s books, young adult, mysteries, biographies, and more. Read your way with these customizable features: • Listen to books in high quality audio • Adjust reading speed, font size, and colors • Follow along with highlighted text • Navigate by page and chapter • Stop reading and pick up from your last spot • Download books and read offline To use Bookshare Reader, you must have a Bookshare membership. Learn more by visiting the Bookshare website.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Voice Dream at 4.5 against Bookshare Reader's 3.3. Voice Dream also leads on ratings volume (14K vs 68) and chart position (#200 vs unranked). Bookshare Reader's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 18) and ads (none vs shown). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Voice Dream sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Bookshare Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
Voice Dream holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Voice Dream has 14K ratings behind it against 68, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 43% of Voice Dream's written reviews are positive against 36% of Bookshare Reader's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Voice Dream | Bookshare Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (14K ratings) — better | 3.3 (68 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 43.0% of reviews — better | 35.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14K — better | 68 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #200 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 267 MB | 81 MB |
| Age rating | +4 | 4+ |
| Developer | Voice Dream LLC | Benetech |
Customer experience
Voice Dream
Bookshare Reader
User reviews
Voice Dream
From 14K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent productivity tool
- 👍 Customizable reading experience
- 🔍 Useful for academics and research
- 🎨 Supports a variety of file formats
- 🔊 Natural-sounding voices
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
- 🔢 Issues with numbers and abbreviations
- 📚 Struggles with complex text formatting
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
Bookshare Reader
From 68 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great for dyslexic readers
- 👍 Realistic text-to-speech voices
- 👍 Offline book downloads
- 👍 Essential for blind users
- 👍 Significant improvements made
Room to improve
- 🐛 Prolonged pauses in speech
- 🐛 Library not syncing across devices
- 🐛 Reading lists don't sync
- 🐛 Progress not saved across devices
- 🐛 Stuck on copyright page (manga)
Bugs and requests
Voice Dream
Reported bugs
3 issues- Inconsistent behavior when importing files
- Unreliable iCloud syncing
- Jumps in playback position
Requested features
4 requests- Improved table of contents and navigation
- Ability to annotate and highlight text
- Syncing across multiple devices
- Better support for mathematical content
Bookshare Reader
Reported bugs
42 issues- Prolonged pauses in text-to-speech
- Library not syncing across devices
- Reading lists not syncing
- Reading progress not saved across devices
- Manga stuck on copyright page
Show 37 moreShow fewer
- Pages disappear during reading
- Trouble downloading books
- Frequent app crashes
- App won't load books
- App shuts down when typing
- App crashing repeatedly
- Books disappearing from library
- Cannot download added books
- Search tab closes the app
- Poor VoiceOver compatibility
- App crashes on any click
- Text-to-speech voice change kicks user out
- Copyright issues preventing audio playback
- Download errors
- Playback stops when screen is locked
- Clunky user interface
- Picture books not displaying images
- Unable to play videos from other sources
- Form controls not coded correctly for VoiceOver
- Cannot delete searched titles from library
- App requires screen to be on for reading
- Blank screen after orientation change
- Too many bugs and crashes
- Next chapter fails to load
- Blank white page after pausing and resuming
- Table of Contents only shows first few chapters
- App displays as phone screen on iPad
- Cannot access reading lists
- Synthesized speech has limited control
- Speech randomly cuts off
- Reading stops if phone ringer is off
- Pause/Play restarts from chapter beginning
- Text-to-speech voices do not indicate language
- Voice selection process is cumbersome
- No functional stop and start button
- Limited speaking speed options
- Paragraph by paragraph reading limitation
Requested features
38 requests- Fix prolonged pauses in text-to-speech
- Sync library across devices
- Sync reading lists across devices
- Save reading progress across devices
- Fix manga page navigation
Show 33 moreShow fewer
- Fix disappearing pages bug
- Improve book download reliability
- Fix app crashes
- Fix app shutdown when typing
- Improve VoiceOver compatibility
- Allow adjustment of speaking rate by specific value
- Make reading lists accessible
- Add highlighting for textbooks
- Improve navigation of Contents menu
- Highlight current location in Contents menu
- Include missing video content in textbooks
- Fix copyright issues for audio playback
- Allow background playback
- Add ability to listen to human-narrated audiobooks
- Add 'Read Now' for periodicals
- Add VoiceOver gestures for page turning
- Add percentage of reading completed on mobile devices
- Make downloaded books tab default on opening app
- Fix inability to delete searched titles
- Add 'where am I' feature (page/percentage)
- Fix blank screen after orientation change
- Make app accessible for students without teacher assignment
- Fix next chapter loading issue
- Fix blank white page after pause
- Fix incomplete Table of Contents
- Improve app scaling on iPad
- Fix inability to access reading lists
- Allow users to choose which word reader begins reading
- Fix paragraph by paragraph reading limitation
- Indicate language for text-to-speech voices
- Improve voice selection process
- Add functional stop and start button
- Increase speed options for text-to-speech
In-app purchases
Voice Dream
- Monthly Subscription14 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Annual Subscription3 Days trial$39.991 Year
- Annual Subscription7 Days trial2 variants$59.991 Year
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- Annual Subscription$59.991 Year
- Annual Subscription3 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Annual Subscription1 Month trial$79.991 Year
- Annual Subscription7 Days trial$79.991 Year
- Premium3 Days trial$79.991 Year
- Annual Subscription7 Days trial$89.991 Year
- Will (Acapela US English Voice)$4.99
- Julie (NeoSpeech US English)$4.99
- Kate (NeoSpeech US English Voice)$4.99
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Paul (NeoSpeech US English Voice)$4.99
- Salli (Ivona US English Voice)$4.99
- James (NeoSpeech US English Voice)$4.99
- Hugh (NeoSpeech US English Voice)$4.99
Bookshare Reader
No in-app purchases









