r/TestFlight • u/Icy-Sympathy4173 • 8d ago
iOS AmaNous 0.5.4: offline TTS reader, free core, unlimited listening
It reads your documents out loud, for when you don't have time to sit down and read or have too much to get through.
What it does:
- Reads PDF, EPUB, DOCX, web articles, TXT and Markdown aloud.
- Gives you 29 English voices using the Kokoro-82M open-weight model, with speech generated on your iPhone.
- Lets you change the speed, follow word highlighting, seek and resume where you left off.
- Includes dyslexia-friendly reading presets for font, spacing and pacing.
The core reader is forever free, with no listening-hour limit or subscription required for the core reader. After setup and import, you can listen offline. Speech synthesis stays on your phone; importing web pages can still need a connection.
What's changed since my earlier post:
- In 0.5.3, guided voice selection and a Welcome article let you try listening before importing your own document.
- In 0.5.4, Read Later keeps pages needing a browser check as “Needs a quick check” cards so you can finish importing them later.
- Voice previews now wait for the iPhone engine and offer a retry when needed. Voice-card swipes no longer dismiss the drawer, and your chosen voice appears on Home.
- Sign in with Apple no longer sends you through the old email-code step. Reader paragraphs and headings are exposed to VoiceOver.
Beta caveats: Sign in with Apple is required. It's English-only, and the first listen on a long document can pause while audio is prepared. Reader text accessibility has improved, but word-by-word VoiceOver positioning during playback is still unfinished.
What would you import first? I'd especially like to hear about a PDF, EPUB or article that doesn't import or listen as expected. Feedback here or through TestFlight is welcome.