Listen 2 Reader vs PageEcho
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Listen 2 Reader
This app reads your documents aloud using natural-sounding neural voices that run entirely on your device. It offers offline functionality, supports various file formats, and includes features like word-by-word highlighting and AI-powered descriptions for images and charts. Your documents remain private as all processing is done locally.
- Offline neural text-to-speech
- 25 built-in Phonon voices
- 13 supported languages
- Word-by-word highlighting
- Import PDF, EPUB, DOCX, TXT
- AI-powered figure descriptions
- Customizable pronunciation rules
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Listen2 reads your documents aloud with natural neural voices that run entirely on your iPhone or iPad. Because nothing is sent to a server, there is nothing to sign up for and nothing to keep paying for. You can try every feature free for 7 days, then buy the app once. Most text-to-speech apps give you two options. You can use the tried and true system voices, or you can pay every month for cloud voices that read your documents on someone else's computers. Listen2 runs its voice models on your device's Neural Engine and CPU instead, so the voices sound natural and your documents stay on your phone. WHAT MAKES LISTEN2 DIFFERENT Natural voices, built in Listen2 comes with 25 Phonon voices, American and British, female and male. They are installed with the app, so you can start listening the moment you open it, even without an internet connection. Phonon reads long chapters with smooth, steady phrasing and is very efficient on your device. 13 languages Download the Supertonic engine and its 10 voices speak English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Greek, Hindi, Vietnamese, Swedish and Hungarian. More languages are on the way. Apple's system voices are available too (Download premium voices for best results). Word-by-word highlighting Listen2 matches the audio to the text with on-device machine learning, so each word lights up as it is spoken and the page scrolls along with you. If that feels busy, you can highlight whole sentences instead. Import almost anything PDF, EPUB, DOCX, DAISY, Markdown, plain text, the clipboard or a web article. Share a page from Safari and Listen2 pulls out the article text. This also works for subscription sites, as long as you are signed in to them in your browser. Smart document reading Listen2 handles multi-column layouts, skips footnote markers in PDFs and rejoins words hyphenated across lines. Scanned PDFs are read with on-device text recognition. Figure descriptions When the reading reaches a chart, diagram or photo in a PDF or EPUB, on-device AI vision describes it aloud. If the document is in another language, Apple's on-device Translation framework translates the description. Pronunciation rules Teach Listen2 how to say a name, term or abbreviation without changing the text on screen. You can hear a rule before you save it, and apply it everywhere or to one document. Highlighting stays in sync either way. Built-in rules silence footnote markers. Voice tuning Adjust how Supertonic voices sound and save your favorite settings as presets. Private by design Text processing and speech both happen on your device. Your documents never leave your phone, and Listen2 has no accounts and does not track you. FEATURES - 25 built-in Phonon voices, plus 10 Supertonic voices in 13 languages - Apple system voices, including enhanced and premium voices - Word-by-word or sentence highlighting - PDF, EPUB, DOCX, DAISY, TXT and Markdown - Figure descriptions with on-device translation (PDF and EPUB) - Collections with intros, cover art and auto-advance - Web Article Collections: turn a batch of articles into one playlist - Clipboard import and Siri Shortcuts - Playback speed from 0.5x to 2.5x - Background playback with lock screen and headphone controls - Sleep timer - Elapsed and remaining time in the reader and on the lock screen - Import from Files, links, the Share sheet or other apps - Export any document as plain text - Atkinson Hyperlegible and OpenDyslexic fonts - Full VoiceOver support with rotor navigation and Magic Tap WHO IT IS FOR - Commuters turning drive time into reading time - Students working through papers and textbooks - Professionals whose documents must stay private - VoiceOver users who want a fully accessible reader - Readers with dyslexia who benefit from seeing and hearing each word together - Anyone tired of paying for text-to-speech every month Listen2 is a one-time purchase with a 7-day free trial.
PageEcho
Listen to any text with an AI-powered reader that processes everything locally for ultimate privacy. Enjoy distraction-free reading, on-device summaries, and interactive book Q&A. Supports multiple eBook formats and offers natural text-to-speech.
- On-device AI processing
- Offline text-to-speech
- AI chapter insights
- Instant on-device summaries
- Interactive book Q&A
- EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, FB2, PDF support
- Distraction-free reading experience
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Listen to anything you read — books, PDFs, papers, web articles and notes — in natural voices, right on your iPhone or iPad. No account. No servers. No tracking. Your texts never leave your device. Reading, listening, translation and AI summaries keep working in airplane mode. LISTEN • Six on-device text-to-speech engines with dozens of natural voices • Works offline once a voice is downloaded, with background playback • Follows along sentence by sentence, at the speed you choose • Reads numbers and dates naturally READ ANYTHING • EPUB, PDF, TXT, Markdown, RTF, MOBI, AZW3 and FB2 (DRM-free files) • Save web articles from the share sheet, or paste a link • Free public-domain books from Project Gutenberg and Wikisource, and papers from arXiv, inside the app • Themes, fonts, spacing, page turns or scrolling • On iPhone Duo, unfold to a two-page book UNDERSTAND • Translate on device and read the original next to the translation • Summaries, questions, mind maps and recaps with on-device AI (on devices that support Apple Intelligence) • Search inside a book by whole word or regular expression KEEP • Highlights, notes and bookmarks, with export • Reading statistics • Optional iCloud sync across your devices PRIVATE BY DESIGN Everything is processed on your device. The app lists every network destination it can contact — voice and model downloads, the free catalogs you browse, purchases, and iCloud if you turn it on — so you can check for yourself. FREE TO START Apple and Kitten voices have no monthly limit. PageEcho Premium unlocks every voice engine and all AI features, as a monthly, yearly or lifetime purchase. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://page-echo.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Listen 2 Reader at 4.8 against PageEcho's 4.0. Listen 2 Reader also leads on iOS requirement (18.2 vs 26.0). PageEcho's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 10 days). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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. Listen 2 Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and PageEcho sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Listen 2 Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 13 and 6 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 89% and 88% positive.
Listen 2 Reader ships an update every 10 days, PageEcho every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 12, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Listen 2 Reader | PageEcho |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (13 ratings) — better | 4.0 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 88.9% of reviews — better | 88.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 13 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.2 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 313 MB | 166 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Zach Swift | harim kang |
Customer experience
Listen 2 Reader
PageEcho
In-app purchases
Listen 2 Reader
- Listen2 Full Access$19.99
PageEcho
- PageEcho Premium Monthly$4.991 Month
- PageEcho Premium Yearly$24.991 Year
- PageEcho Premium Lifetime$29.99








