Comparison

聽閱 ReadAloud vs iRead

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. Supports EPUB, PDF, and TXT files, offering multiple reading modes and multilingual voices. Customize your reading experience with adjustable fonts, themes, and playback speeds.

Highlights
  • Text-to-speech conversion
  • EPUB, PDF, TXT support
  • Multiple reading modes
  • Multilingual voices (Cantonese, Mandarin, English)
  • Traditional/Simplified Chinese conversion
  • Customizable reading experience
  • Background audio playback
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

iRead

Listen to your EPUB, TXT, and MOBI books with natural-sounding voices, completely offline. Import your existing library and enjoy background playback with lock screen controls. A Pro version unlocks premium voices with a one-time purchase.

Highlights
  • Listen to EPUB, TXT, MOBI aloud
  • Natural neural voices
  • Fully offline operation
  • Background playback
  • Import from Files/Share Sheet
  • Light/dark themes
  • Library management
Features
Read full description

iRead reads the books you already own out loud — natural voices, fully offline, no subscription. LISTEN TO YOUR OWN BOOKS • Natural neural voices read EPUB, TXT and MOBI aloud • Keeps playing in the background, with the screen locked • Lock screen and headphone controls, like a podcast • Voices in nine languages: English, Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese and Korean — each chapter is read in its own language automatically • Runs entirely on your phone — your text is never uploaded READ THEM TOO • Import from Files, the share sheet, or your computer over Wi-Fi • Light and dark themes, adjustable size and spacing • Shelf with covers, categories and reading progress • One backup file carries your library, progress and settings between devices GOOD TO KNOW • PDF opens for reading but cannot be read aloud — convert it to EPUB first (free converter at iread.gaiya.cc) • DRM-protected books, including Kindle and Apple Books purchases, cannot be opened • There is no store inside iRead. It never sells or ships books; it opens the ones you already have FREE AND PRO • Free: the whole reader, plus your device's built-in system voice • Pro: unlocks the natural neural voices. One-time purchase, yours forever • No subscription, no account, no ads, no tracking

Screenshots

聽閱 ReadAloud4 screens
iRead4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: iRead at every 3 days against 聽閱 ReadAloud's every 3 weeks. 聽閱 ReadAloud's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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 and iRead sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

聽閱 ReadAloud ships an update every 3 weeks, iRead every 3 days. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
聽閱 ReadAloud versus iRead: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter聽閱 ReadAloudiRead
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB44 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKa Hei MAKShuhui Sheng

Customer experience

聽閱 ReadAloud

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

iRead

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

聽閱 ReadAloud

One-time3
  • Coffee Supporter$0.99
  • Generous Supporter$1.99
  • Big Supporter$4.99
1 purchases

iRead

One-time1
  • iRead Pro$11.99

Questions

Is 聽閱 ReadAloud free?
聽閱 ReadAloud is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is iRead free?
iRead is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do 聽閱 ReadAloud or iRead have ads?
Neither 聽閱 ReadAloud nor iRead shows ads.
Which is updated more often, 聽閱 ReadAloud or iRead?
聽閱 ReadAloud ships an update every 3 weeks, and iRead every 3 days. Most recently, 聽閱 ReadAloud was updated on October 25, 2026 and iRead on October 25, 2026.

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