Comparison

聽閱 ReadAloud vs 随心读

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

聽閱 ReadAloud

Transform any text into a hands-free audiobook. This app supports EPUB, PDF, and TXT files, offering Cantonese, Mandarin, and English narration with customizable reading modes and voices. Enjoy a private, ad-free listening experience with extensive customization options.

Highlights
  • Text-to-speech for EPUB, PDF, TXT
  • Cantonese, Mandarin, and English voices
  • Voice + Reading and Listen-Only modes
  • Customizable fonts, themes, and playback speed
  • Offline reading and background audio
  • Image-to-text OCR for printed pages
  • Traditional/Simplified Chinese conversion
Features
Read full description

Turn any text into a hands-free audiobook. ReadAloud reads EPUB, PDF, and TXT files in Cantonese, Mandarin, or English using Apple's high-quality on-device voices — perfect for commuting, exercising, or resting your eyes. READING + LISTENING, TOGETHER Two reading modes that adapt to how you want to consume content: • Voice + Reading — see the full text with the current sentence highlighted as it's being read. • Listen-Only — distraction-free karaoke view showing the previous, current, and next sentences in large text. Ideal for closing your eyes and just listening. SUPPORTED FORMATS • EPUB (2 & 3) — automatic chapter detection • PDF — text extraction with chapter inference • TXT — plain text with smart chapter splitting • Clipboard — paste any article instantly • Printed pages — photograph a book or document and ReadAloud recognises the text on your device, then reads it aloud. Scanned PDFs with no text layer can be recognised the same way. Nothing is uploaded. MULTILINGUAL VOICES Switch between three voice languages — each remembers its own speed: • Cantonese (zh-HK) — 阿成, 善怡, and more • Mandarin (zh-CN / zh-TW) — 冬梅 (Liaoning), 浩浩 (Shaanxi), 盼盼 (Sichuan), 美嘉 (Taiwan), and others • English (en-US / en-GB / en-AU / en-IN) — Samantha, Daniel, Karen, and any installed English voice TRADITIONAL — SIMPLIFIED Built-in OpenCC engine converts between scripts at the word level — much more accurate than character-by-character mapping. Switch instantly without re-importing your book. SMART READING EXPERIENCE • Sentence-level highlighting that follows the voice • Optional auto-scroll follows the spoken position; off by default and enabled in Settings • "Return to reading position" floating button when you scroll away • Tap-and-hold any text: read from here, look it up in the dictionary, translate it, highlight it, or fix how a word is pronounced • Highlights in four colours, with notes, exportable as Markdown • Edit a chapter's text when an import needs proofreading • Search within books with jump-to-result • Auto-detected chapters with table of contents • Background audio: keep listening with the screen locked • Built-in sleep timer (15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 90 min) with soft fade-out CUSTOMISE EVERYTHING • Font size, line spacing, font family (serif, rounded, monospaced) • Three themes: dark, light, sepia • Orientation lock (auto / portrait / landscape) • Per-language playback speed • Voice gender preference (auto, male, female) 100% PRIVATE ReadAloud was built around a simple principle: your reading is none of our business. • No accounts, no sign-up, no login. • No analytics, no tracking, no ads. • Nothing you import, read, or listen to is ever sent anywhere. • All books and progress stay on your device. Delete the app and everything is gone. • The app only uses the network when you open the optional free book library and choose a book to download. BUILT FOR CHINESE READERS Many TTS apps cater only to Mandarin. ReadAloud is built by a Hong Kong developer with Cantonese readers in mind. Optimised tokenisation for traditional Chinese, comma-level phrase highlighting that keeps up with natural Cantonese rhythm, and a dedicated voice picker that surfaces "粵語 (香港)" voices first if your default is Cantonese. FREE, NO ADS, NO CATCH No ads. No subscription. No analytics, no tracking, no account. There is no "pro" tier — every reading and listening feature described above is free for everyone, permanently. That also means the app earns nothing on its own, while hosting the free book library and its downloads costs real money. If ReadAloud is useful to you, Settings has a completely optional "Support the developer" section. Supporters get an exclusive app icon and a thank-you mark — that is all it unlocks. Nothing else is ever locked, and the app will never interrupt you to ask. Developed and maintained by Heion Technologies — feedback welcome at terence@heiontech.com. Privacy Policy & Support: https://heiontech.com/readaloud

About

随心读

Features
Read full description

随心读是一款专注于纯文本阅读与朗读的 iOS 应用,适合阅读长文、整理资料和听书。 你可以通过文件导入、粘贴文本、分享扩展,或在同一网络下使用 Wi-Fi 传输导入 TXT 内容。应用会自动分页并保存阅读进度,让长文本阅读更轻松。 主要功能: - TXT 文件导入、粘贴导入、分享扩展导入和 Wi-Fi 传输 - 分页阅读、进度保存、深色模式和全文搜索 - 系统语音朗读、倍速调节、后台播放和睡眠定时 - 长按文本进行分词选择,并可套用提示词模板快速复制 随心读把阅读、朗读和文本整理放在一个清爽的界面里,帮助你更专注地处理自己的文字内容。

Screenshots

聽閱 ReadAloud4 screens
随心读3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: 随心读 at none against 聽閱 ReadAloud's 3. 随心读 also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks). 聽閱 ReadAloud's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. 聽閱 ReadAloud sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. 随心读 asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

聽閱 ReadAloud ships an update every 3 weeks, 随心读 every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 5 level
聽閱 ReadAloud versus 随心读: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter聽閱 ReadAloud随心读
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKa Hei MAK凯 曾

In-app purchases

3 purchases

聽閱 ReadAloud

One-time3
  • Coffee Supporter$0.99
  • Generous Supporter$1.99
  • Big Supporter$4.99
None

随心读

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is 聽閱 ReadAloud free?
聽閱 ReadAloud is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is 随心读 free?
随心读 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do 聽閱 ReadAloud or 随心读 have ads?
Neither 聽閱 ReadAloud nor 随心读 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, 聽閱 ReadAloud or 随心读?
聽閱 ReadAloud ships an update every 3 weeks, and 随心读 every 4 days. Most recently, 聽閱 ReadAloud was updated on October 31, 2026 and 随心读 on October 28, 2026.

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