Speak List — User Guide

What do you want to do?

• First list by voice → Your first list
• Kitchen timer vs med reminder → Two tools that ring
• Cook with timers / alarms → Timers from steps
• Hear a list while cooking → Hearing your lists
• Real-life examples → A week in real life
• Close / Cancel / Done / Stop → Words on the screen
• New phone / backup → Backup and restore
• Deleted something → Getting back something you deleted
• Something went wrong → scroll to the end of this guide, or Support

Where things live (the doors)

• Welcome: Speak a list · Read out a list · Quick add | View lists · underlined Templates. There is no Details button on the welcome — after Speak or Quick add, use the Details tab (or pencil) for quantity, notes, or a reminder.
• Read door names: welcome says Read out a list; the full picker title says Read a list out — same idea, slightly different label by screen.
• Home: New list · Find · sort/filter · bell · backup down-arrow · Select & More · tap the app name for welcome.
• Inside a list: Add items · pencil · bell · Read out · ⋯ menu.

Your first list

• Open the app and tap Speak a list. Say items with a short pause: “milk … eggs … bread.” Each pause becomes its own item.
• Quick add types or pastes — one line becomes one item.
• Need quantity, notes, or a reminder while adding? After Speak or Quick add, open the Details tab (or the pencil). No separate Details door on welcome.
• Or start from Templates under the examples (try Weeknight Pasta Dinner).
• To name a list by voice, put the word “list” anywhere in your first phrase — “Costco list”, “list for Costco”, or “test list for workout” — then pause and say your items.

After your first list (2 minutes)

• Open the list and check one item off.
• Tap Read out and listen.
• Tap the bell on one item and pick a time.
• Do one backup (home → down-arrow → Back up all lists).

Templates worth trying first

Grouped by type — tap to preview, then Create this list:

• Shopping: Weekly Grocery — (quantity) examples, with Default / Vegetarian / Vegan choices on the card; Mediterranean Week for a fuller basket
• Medications: Daily Medications — dose and time on rows
• Cooking: Weeknight Pasta Dinner or Mediterranean Chicken Bowl (two timers at once) — also Sheet-Pan Salmon & Veggies and Sunday Soup Batch
• Exercise: Steady & Strong or Balance for Everyday (gentle, chair-friendly); Quick Home HIIT or Gym Strength Day for more intensity
• Tasks: Morning Routine or Leaving the House; Sunday Reset for a weekly tidy-up; Before Bed (Meds & Safety) for evening meds plus a home safety check

More lists online (free)

Beyond the starters inside the app, the List Library offers more ready-to-use lists — a vegetarian stir-fry cook-along, a diabetes daily log, laundry timers, storm prep, and seasonal pages that rotate. Three ways to use them:

• Read or print the page — useful even without the app.
• Copy → Quick add in Speak List — the list becomes yours on your device, with timers and read-aloud.
• Share the link with family — plain text, no account.

Health and exercise lists are samples, not medical advice — adjust for yourself and ask your doctor or pharmacist when it matters.

Everyday lists

• Tap a list to open it. Tap an item’s circle to check it off.
• Add items offers Speak, Type / Paste, and Details. Quick add on the welcome screen opens Type / Paste.
• Print / Share (bottom of the list, next to Edit list) opens a page with the whole list in large type and one big Print button — the printed sheet has checkboxes, quantities, and each item’s reminder time. On the phone’s print screen, pick your printer at the top first — then tap the small printer symbol in the corner (it stays grey until a printer is chosen). No printer? That screen’s share button can save the page as a PDF to Files instead. (The green “Remind me” lines you see on screen are tappable buttons, not list content — the paper shows your items and any reminder you set with the bell.) To print several lists at once: home → Select & More → pick lists → tap Print on the top row — each list prints on its own page.
• List ⋯: select all, uncheck all, delete completed, sort, read aloud, change type, edit as text, and more.
• Pencil edits an item. Bell sets a calendar reminder. Share sends plain text.
• Edit as text shows names and amounts, not saved notes, dates or reminders. Renaming or removing an item can lose those details; Save warns before this happens. Choose Keep editing to return to the draft, or Save anyway to accept the loss. Use the item's Details editor to rename without losing them. Saving cancels removed items' alerts; if cancellation cannot be confirmed, the list is not replaced. Check Reminders if the app reports a scheduling problem. Enter the list title in its separate field. Typed note/date/reminder fields are supported, but existing details are not automatically printed into the text box.
• Home: search, sort, filter by type, multi-select.
• Pin to top: touch and hold a list (or its ⋯ in Select mode) to keep it above the others under every sort — a small pin mark shows. Unpin the same way.
• Each list remembers whether new items go at the top or bottom (chosen when adding to an existing list). Creating is immediate unless you pasted a multi-line batch (its review offers Reverse order) or the batch repeats an item name; a same-name list gets its own add-or-separate question.
• Sort items (⋯): Smart, Name A→Z / Z→A, or Date added. Hide completed or keep done items in place / at bottom.
• Checking an item off clears its reminder; unchecking can bring the reminder back.
• Home Select & More: pick several lists to read, copy, share, or delete. Read a list out / Read selected also available.
• Delete an item by mistake? Undo appears for a few seconds (item and its reminder come back). Deleting a whole list asks you to confirm first.

Reordering items

• Default view is Use mode (check off, expand rows). Tap Edit list at the bottom to reorder.
• In Edit mode: item ⋯ → Move up, Move down, or Move to top. Works when sort is Smart; close search first.
• VoiceOver: same moves from the row ⋯ menu.

List types

Shopping · Medications & Supplements · Health Log · Exercise & Fitness · Tasks & Routines · Kids & School · General.

Widgets (Home Screen and Lock Screen)

• Speak a list: small Home Screen widget that opens Speak directly, useful for capturing several items. Unlock and grant microphone/speech permission if asked. Also available as a Lock Screen microphone on iOS 16+.
• Reminders: medium Home Screen widget showing upcoming reminders. Tap it to open the app's Reminders page.
• Pinned list: medium or large Home Screen widget showing the most recently pinned list's unchecked items, up to 4 in medium or 9 in large. First touch and hold a list and choose Pin to top (also in its menu). Tap the widget to open the list; its circles are not check-off buttons.
• Home Screen: touch and hold an empty spot until the apps wiggle, tap the + (or Edit) in the top corner, search for Speak List, pick a widget, then Add Widget and Done.
• Lock Screen (iOS 16 or newer): touch and hold the Lock Screen, tap Customize, tap the row under the time, and add the Speak List microphone. That row holds only a few widgets — remove one first if it is full.
• Widgets read a small summary saved on your phone — no account or server. The app requests updates; iOS controls refresh timing. A widget is not a live countdown or proof an alert was delivered. Widgets do not need the Siri switch.

Prefer a spoken command? See Siri and shortcuts.

Speaking, typing, and pasting

• Paste in Type / Paste puts copied text into the box for checking or editing. Tap Add or the keyboard's Done to add its contents. iPhone may ask for permission to paste; the adjacent ⓘ explains the button.
• Voice: one item, pause, next item. Quantities: milk (2). Open Speak from the welcome screen's Speak a list, New list on the home screen, or Add items → Speak inside any list — same surface everywhere.
• Noisy place (busy store, kitchen fan, traffic)? The pause may never be detected and your words sit in the box — tap Add (above the microphone button) to enter them yourself; wrong words can be removed with that entry's ✕ in the list. The microphone button pauses/resumes; pausing keeps the words, and speaking again continues the same item.
• While speaking: Read back, Beep, and/or Vibrate confirmations; Settings sets read-back speed (Slow/Normal/Fast) and Speak opening tip (spoken how-to On/Off).
• App updates keep your saved feedback choices. Check the Speak sound options if Read back is unexpectedly on; VoiceOver capture confirmation has its own accessibility behavior.
• The opening-tip switch also applies with VoiceOver. After three completed plays the tip explains how to re-enable it, then switches off. Turning it back on yourself keeps it on. Turning VoiceOver on during recording pauses the mic and discards the unfinished phrase, keeping entered items. Tap the mic to resume. Other apps' spoken notifications may still be captured.
• Spoken notifications or unwanted speech? Use headphones so VoiceOver speaks through them instead of the phone's speaker while you dictate. If a notification or other unwanted speech becomes an entry, tap that entry's ✕ to remove it. The app cannot reliably pause for every other app's spoken notification. You can also use an iPhone Focus, such as Do Not Disturb, to silence unwanted notifications while dictating. Check its allowed people, apps, and time-sensitive notifications. Focus does not silence VoiceOver itself.
• Smart Bump (Settings → About): re-adding a shopping item can move it toward the top.
• No internet? Offline dictation depends on the phone, language, and available on-device recognition. If unavailable, use Type / Paste. Your lists stay on your device either way.
• Name the list: word list anywhere on the first line, or > on the name line.
• Also accepted when pasting: milk x2, milk - 2, milk, 2; bullets and numbering (-, •, 1., [ ]) are cleaned off.
• Done: [x] at the start. In Restore, shared-text import, Type / Paste or Edit as text, optional fields go on the same item line: Milk (2) > note: organic > remind: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM. Replace the date/time placeholder with your chosen date and time. A one-time reminder is kept only if that time is still in the future. Keep note: and remind: in English, with a space on both sides of each >. The list type after the list name can be in your language; the field markers cannot. Add a date with > due: YYYY-MM-DD. In Edit as text, leaving fields out retains saved details only for unchanged item names. Removing a marker does not clear a saved note or reminder; use Details or Reminders to view or remove them. Enter the list title in its separate field when editing the whole list.

Details (structured add)

• Tapping Details hides the captured list to give the editor more space. Tap anywhere on the item-count row to Show list or Hide list. Hiding the list does not remove its items.
• Name, Details type (quantity, dose, sets, etc. — depends on list type), optional Notes, and a Reminder row (same sheet as the list bell).
• Add next saves and clears for another row; Clear entry abandons without saving.
• Row pencil opens the same fields while capturing or on a saved list.

If you don’t name the list

Nothing is lost. Every line still becomes an item. A new list borrows its name from the first item (a note starting with “milk” becomes a list called “milk”). Rename anytime. Type defaults to General unless you chose one. On Speak/Quick add, long auto-names are shortened; if there is nothing usable you get a dated name like List · Jul 28. When you paste inside a list you already have, lines are only items — the list keeps its own name.

Import preview & same name

• Share-into-the-app (and some import screens) show a preview with First line = name / All lines = items.
• Name line can set type: Costco list (Shopping) — recognized in any of the seven languages.
• If the name is already taken: choose add to the existing list or make a separate list (e.g. “Costco 2”). Nothing merges silently.

Hearing your lists read aloud

Where to start: welcome Read out a list · inside a list Read out · home Select & More → read selected · picker title Read a list out (same feature, slightly different label).

• Open a list → Read out. Leaving the page does not stop reading — a small player keeps Stop.
• Reading uses a snapshot from when it started.
• Done items are read with “done” at the start (for example “done — milk”).
• Reading modes: Step by step or Continuous. Count down switch turns in-item reading countdowns on/off — off, you move on with play, and switching off during a countdown cancels it. Remind me alarms and reminders are separate and keep working whether Count down is on or off.
• Also: reading speed, full screen large print, mute voice (on the main reading view — exit full screen to use it), pause/stop — plus Pause time (Continuous: a quiet gap after every item, hold for 1–10 sec) and the Repeat button (tap cycles Off → Repeat → Sleep; Sleep stops quietly shortly after the time you choose, without cutting off words already being spoken).
• VoiceOver: Magic Tap stops active read-aloud.
• Write a wait into a step: Pasta into the pot (rest 12 min) — reading can pause and count down. Words rest or wait before a time create that pause.
• Listen to any text at your pace — two ways: share or paste any text, then listen — Slow, Normal, Fast, or with quiet pauses (lists, instructions, articles, teachings, study material, prayers). easy — choose Continuous and switch on Pause time (hold it to pick 1/3/5/10 sec): a quiet gap follows every item, any pasted text, no editing. Custom — write (pause 5 sec) exactly where you want silence and use Step by step with Count down on: every pause can be a different length. Either way the Repeat button can loop the list and its Sleep setting stops quietly shortly after the time you choose — without cutting off words already being spoken and without a chime or alarm. Pasting paragraphs: blank lines between them are ignored (never split a list); keep each paragraph on one line — long passages are supported, long items are read sentence by sentence. For book-length texts, one chapter per list keeps sessions tidy — and reading remembers your place per list: stop mid-way (Stop, Sleep, or quitting the app) and the next Read out offers “Continue from item N?” showing that item's first words, with Continue / Start over / Cancel (Cancel plays nothing and keeps your place). Finishing or Start over clears it; editing the text starts fresh. Siri always reads from the top; tapping “read from here” on a row wins and becomes the new place; reading several lists together doesn't offer the sheet. Examples in the free List Library: Three Good Things (easy) and Wind-Down for Sleep (custom).
• Sets like Squats 3x10, rest 60s read as separate sets with rests between. If the app is interrupted during a long countdown (15 seconds or more), a notification can still tell you when the time is up. This is an ordinary notification, not an alarm. It needs permission to send notifications, and the phone must still be able to schedule one more notification. In Silent mode, notifications make no sound but may vibrate. Focus may silence sound and vibration.

Two tools that ring (read this once)

Speak List has two different “ring me later” tools — most confusion comes from mixing them up:

• Remind me (on a step that names a time, like sauce (1 min)) is for a separate alert while you do something else. On supported iPhones with alarm permission and the Settings switch “Remind me in…” rings as an alarm on, it can ring as a strong alarm. With that Settings switch on but an alarm unavailable, it can use an initial notification plus up to five extra notifications, two minutes apart, then stop. With the switch off, it requests one notification. On older phones the switch is called “Remind me in…” sends extra reminders. Read any scheduling warning. In Silent mode, notifications make no sound but may vibrate. Focus may silence sound and vibration.
• The bell on an item is for medications and appointments at a clock time — a calendar-style reminder. It starts as a notification; choose Alarm explicitly where supported. It never switches by itself.
• On iPhones with alarms (iOS 26 or later): to make one reminder an alarm, tap the bell at the top of the Lists page, tap ✎ on the reminder (tapping the row itself only expands it), choose Alarm, then Save. To make every “Remind me in…” ring as an alarm: Settings → Voice → “Remind me in…” rings as an alarm. On older iPhones, Settings → Voice → “Remind me in…” sends extra reminders gives up to 5 extra notifications instead.

If the phone asks for permission

• The first time you Speak, iOS asks for Microphone and Speech Recognition. Allow both to make lists by voice. (Typing and pasting never ask.)
• Notifications are asked when you first save a bell reminder or when a step timer or long reading countdown needs a notification. If you decline, reminders can still save, but notification-based alerts cannot be delivered. Alarm permission is separate.
• On supported iPhones, a cooking-style alarm or choosing Alarm in the reminder editor may ask for separate alarm permission. If permission is off or the phone does not support alarms, a step timer with that Settings switch on can use an initial notification plus up to five extras two minutes apart, provided notifications are allowed and scheduling succeeds. In Silent mode, notifications make no sound but may vibrate. Focus may silence sound and vibration. Close on a notification stops the remaining extras (clearing the banner without a button leaves them running).
• Change permissions later in the iPhone’s Settings → Apps → Speak List (on iOS 17 or earlier: Settings → Speak List): Microphone, Speech Recognition, Notifications and, on iPhones that support alarms, Alarms. Turn Alarms on there if you declined alarm permission earlier (path checked on iOS 27.0). After changing alarm permission in iPhone Settings, reopen Speak List and check Reminders for any warnings.
• Silent mode and Focus: supported alarms can sound through both when alarm permission is on. Extra reminders are ordinary notifications. In Silent mode, notifications make no sound but may vibrate. Focus may silence sound and vibration.

Timers from steps

• A step with a recognized duration shows Remind me in… — from the list or while reading.
• Write waits in seconds, minutes or hours: “Rest 60 sec”, “Simmer 5 min”, “Bake 8 hours” or “Brine 48 hours”. Day units and recurring-frequency expressions are not treated as waits. Write clock times with a colon, like “Dentist 14:30”. Durations are not shortened to a fixed limit; unsupported values cannot be scheduled. Check the shown duration. With Count down on, recognized waits start automatically after reading; tap Next to skip or turn Count down off. Remind me needs a tap; check its scheduling result. Text such as “30 minutes before meals” can still start a countdown, including on medication lists: the app does not know when the meal happens. Turn Count down off when reading these instructions and use the item’s bell for medication schedules, dates or repeating reminders.
• Several timers can run at once — one per item; each is named after its item.
• Each item keeps one Remind me — arming again on the same item (another set of the same exercise) asks to replace the first, so Reminders shows one entry for it. Give each thing you time its own item.
• Walk-away / kitchen timing. The item bell is for calendar-style meds and appointments.

Cooking with timers (step by step)

1. Write times into steps: Boil water (10 min) or Pasta (rest 12 min).
2. Tap Read out; use Step by step if you like; leave reading Count down on so rest/wait can pause and count down.
3. For an alert while you do something else, tap Remind me in N min on that step (list or reading). You can arm more than one — one per timed item.
4. The app tells you which ring you got (alarm, extra reminders, or one notification). Extra reminders are finite; they do not continue until you answer.
5. Use Stop on an alarm; open or dismiss a notification as you prefer. This does not check the item off.
6. Rest/wait can be dual: reading counts down and Remind me can still ring.
7. For “meds at 8:00 daily,” use the item bell, not Remind me.

What rings — three honest outcomes

• Rest/wait can be timed twice: reading pause and Remind-me.
• Tap Remind me when already armed → Already set (with time left) → opens Reminders to change or cancel (no accidental double timer).
• Settings → Voice: “Remind me in…” rings as an alarm (only the one-tap Remind me button, not bell reminders) when the phone supports alarms and alarm permission is on; they can sound through Silent mode and Focus. With this switch on but an alarm unavailable, timers can use finite extra reminders. Switching it off requests one notification. Read any scheduling warning; notification permission and capacity still matter. Alarm Stop stops the sound — it does not check the item off. +5 min snoozes.
• Reopening the app does not cancel a valid Extra series. Pending extras may continue within its ten-minute window. Use Close on the notification or cancel the reminder in Reminders to stop them.

Reminders

Important reminders: for important reminders, such as medication, set one up and check that its alert behaves as you expect before relying on it. On the Reminders page, an alert that could not be confirmed as scheduled is marked Alert not confirmed.

After changing alarm permission, reopen Speak List and check Reminders. Re-enabling Alarms in iPhone Settings without reopening the app may let a leftover alarm and its fallback notification both fire before reconciliation.

Alert not confirmed means the app cannot confirm the next alert; a saved date alone does not prove it is scheduled. Limited upcoming alerts means the next alert is confirmed, but some later alerts do not fit yet. Open the app regularly to refresh upcoming notifications. Save and Snooze tell you when scheduling is deferred or could not be confirmed. Check Reminders for details. Limited later coverage alone does not show an urgent launch warning.

• Item bell → pick a date/time, or use Quick preset (days / hours / minutes from now). Optionally repeat.
• Home bell opens the Reminders page — groups: Overdue, Today, Tomorrow, Later, Repeating. Rows may say rings as alarm, extra notifications · up to 5, snoozed/stopped, etc. Edit, snooze, or clear from here. Clear checked reminders removes times only — items stay.
• On the notification: Snooze 15 min, Snooze 1 hour, or Close (puts the banner away and stops any remaining extra notifications; the reminder itself stays on the item — it does not delete anything). There is no Done on the banner; check items off inside the app.

Choosing how a bell reminder alerts

Each bell reminder has a delivery row: Notification (the default) or Alarm. In Silent mode, notifications make no sound but may vibrate. Focus may silence sound and vibration. Alarm is available on supported iPhones with alarm permission for one-time, daily, and weekly reminders only when the first occurrence can start on the selected date. Monthly reminders and reminders every N days, weeks, or months use Notification.

If Alarm is unsupported or permission is denied, a dialog explains the options. Close keeps Notification selected. Extra reminders are offered only for a one-time reminder; choose them explicitly, then save. They send up to five additional notifications two minutes apart, then stop. In Silent mode, notifications make no sound but may vibrate. Focus may silence sound and vibration. Tapping Notification turns Extra reminders off. When you reopen Reminders, check the reminder’s status to see what was actually scheduled.

+ 5× means up to five extra notifications after the first, two minutes apart, not five total. The editor keeps Notification selected for Extra; its information control explains the status. A list-row clock means a confirmed live alarm; notifications and Extra reminders use a bell.

When a backup requests Alarm but this iPhone can schedule only a notification, the reminder keeps its Alarm choice, but only a notification could be scheduled; the app warns you. This does not promise that another device will be able to use an alarm.

Sharing

• Share any list as plain text. The other person does not need the app.
• Receive text or a .txt file into Speak List, or paste into Quick add.
• Shares are clean; backups are complete: person-to-person shares are for names and amounts; notes and reminder details travel in your backup file.

Backup and restore

Backups contain your lists and nothing else — they never record whether you contributed. Contribution memory lives with your Apple ID (Settings → Restore a previous contribution).

• Home backup control, or Settings → Data & backup → Back up all lists.
• Restore reads the same file back (including on a new phone).
• Repeating reminders resume at the next occurrence. A one-time reminder whose time already passed comes back without re-alerting.
• Empty lists are kept in backups; restore never lets an empty list overwrite a same-named list that has items.
• Settings shows last backed up freshness; banner ✕ snoozes backup tips ~7 days; the Settings switch turns backup reminders fully off. Multi-select can Back up selected lists.
• There is no Speak List server copy — only as safe as your last backup.
• Deleting the app deletes your lists with it — they live only on this device. Back up first (a backup saved to iCloud Drive survives the app being deleted); after reinstalling, Restore brings it back.

Getting back something you deleted

• A deleted item offers Undo right away — tap Undo on the message at the bottom and it comes back, reminder included.
• A deleted list works the same way: tap Undo on that message and the list comes back, with still-active reminders — future one-time reminders and repeating reminders (they continue from the next time they are due). A one-time reminder that already passed stays on the list but is not scheduled again. After the message goes away, restore a backup (Settings → Data & Backup → Restore from a backup).
• Recreate the two starter lists any time in Settings → Starter lists: choose Create latest Read me first or Create latest Sample list. Create the starter lists is also offered when the home screen is empty.
• Checking off does not delete an item — tap the circle to uncheck. Deleting checked items is a separate action.

Comfort & Settings

• Text size: AA or Settings → Display → Text size. Choose System to follow iPhone text size, up to Extra Large. System appears first in AA and beside the Text size heading in Settings. It is the default for new users; existing choices stay unchanged. Or choose Small, Normal, Large or Extra Large for a fixed app size. The menu previews each manual size. Lists and reading text follow your choice; buttons keep their fitted layouts and the welcome page keeps its fixed design.
• Appearance: Light, Dark, or System.
• iPad: Speak List works on iPad too. It is made for iPhone, so the iPad shows it as an enlarged iPhone view — the same screens and buttons, comfortably bigger to read. In the App Store on an iPad, switch the search filter to iPhone Apps to find it (a direct link installs normally either way).
• Languages: Settings → Language changes menus and buttons (seven languages + System). The globe on Speak chooses dictation language — separate from the app UI. Translations beyond English are still being reviewed.
• Getting to help: the top button of Settings — About, User Guide & Support — jumps straight to the About card near the bottom, where the User Guide and Tools & support rows live.
• About (one card, near the bottom — the welcome screen's Speak List logo also opens straight to it): who makes the app, version/build, contribution options, your App code, User Guide (short answers + Show tips again + a Help topics (English) row + a link to this online guide), Tools & support (search help topics, ask a question online, call for help, more sample lists, email), Privacy policy, open-source licenses, the Welcome screen, and the Smart Bump note.
• Starter lists: Settings → Create latest Read-me / Sample (last section) — fresh copies; does not overwrite your existing lists.
• VoiceOver: Speak pauses the mic while you explore other controls; Magic Tap stops active read-aloud; Edit list → row ⋯ for move/rename/delete (no drag-only paths). Help → Show tips again.

Messages after an action

The confirmed Extra explanation and list/reading tips leave after 12 seconds of unfocused time, with or without VoiceOver. VoiceOver focus on the words or Close pauses the timer; leaving resumes it. Ordinary confirmations are shorter. Undo and genuine scheduling warnings keep their separate policy and may stay until dismissed under VoiceOver.

Known first-generation SE / iOS 15 limitation: touching message words may reach a button behind them. Avoid the words as a touch target; use the message's Close control. Reminder information remains in the reminder information control and Reminders page. Closing an in-app message does not cancel a reminder; Close on an iOS notification stops remaining Extra notifications.

The item editor shows Saved only after saving finishes. Scheduling warnings sit above Close/Save. Leaving a slow save does not cancel scheduling; a native call that never returns can require restarting the app.

Siri and shortcuts

Start with opening the app

Say “Hey Siri, open Speak List.” Or activate Siri with the phone's Siri button, then say “Open Speak List” without saying Siri again. Unlock if asked. Opening the app does not guarantee the Lists page; it may return to your last screen.

The custom commands below require iOS 16 or later. On iOS 15, use Siri to open the app, then use its controls. Siri's own language setting is separate from Speak List's interface language.

What can I say? (English commands)

Use Sample list, if you still have it, or the exact name of one of your lists. These examples are for English Siri. Other languages use registered localized phrases; do not assume a literal translation will work.

• Read: “Read Sample list in Speak List” — opens the app and reads from the beginning, not the saved place.
• Open: “Open Sample list in Speak List” — opens that list without reading. “Show Sample list in Speak List” does the same.
• Add: “Add to Sample list in Speak List”. Siri asks “What should I add?”; answer “milk and eggs”. This is a two-step conversation, not a command with item text inside it.
• Pause: “Pause reading in Speak List” — pauses active reading.
• Stop: “Stop reading in Speak List” — ends active reading.

If Siri asks which app to use, choose Speak List. Including the app name helps but does not guarantee Siri will skip this choice.

Start with one to three items joined by and; this is advice, not a fixed limit. Siri may stop listening, so check the items afterward. Supported separators include English and / &, Spanish y, French et, and Chinese 和 / 、 / 及. In German and Japanese, add one item per Siri request, or use Speak for more: und and と are not separators in this path. Finish or cancel an open Speak capture before asking Siri to read or add items.

Continue after Pause

While Speak List is reading, a plain “Hey Siri, pause” also works (in Chinese, “暂停”), because Speak List is the audio now playing. Siri may pause without saying anything. If another app is playing audio, say the full “Pause reading in Speak List”. A plain “stop” may only pause; “Stop reading in Speak List” ends the reading.

Use Play in the app or on the Lock Screen's Speak List player. Check the player is Speak List, not Music. Your earphones' play/pause and next-track controls may work too; gestures vary by model and settings. Supported next/previous playback controls move between reading items. A generic Siri play request may control another media app. After Stop, use Read out in the app for the saved-place choice; Siri Read starts at the beginning.

Move to the next item with Siri

Start Read out, choose Step by step, and let an untimed item finish. Say “Hey Siri, next” and wait for Siri to close. The next item reads aloud and then waits; this does not turn on Continuous mode. Timed items still follow your Count down setting.

You can use this with the app visible, in the background, or with the phone locked. The reading session must remain active, including its normal between-step wait. It does not start a new read after Stop or force-quitting. Siri must be available in the current phone state, including permission to use Siri while locked. Wording and recognition depend on Siri's language and settings.

This uses Siri's playback Next command, not a new Speak List App Shortcut or the app listening for a bare “Next.” If Siri does not respond as expected, use Next in the app or the Lock Screen's Speak List player. The separate caution about generic Siri play still applies.

Next and Play are not always the same. If Siri Play reaches Speak List during the normal wait after an untimed step, it continues to the next item like Next. After interrupted speech, Play re-reads the current item; Next skips it. Next also leaves a timed step early. Use the timer controls to pause or continue a countdown; do not assume Play means skip. Generic Siri Play can also target another media app.

There is no dedicated command to show the Lists page or read out all your list names. Show opens one named list. Creating lists, scheduling alerts, checking items off, resuming and skipping have no registered Speak List Siri commands; that does not prevent the playback Next command above. For reliable resume, use Play in the app or the Lock Screen's Speak List player; use the app for the other actions. For one-tap access, see widgets.

If Siri does not use Speak List

1. Check Apple’s Shortcuts → Library → Apps → Speak List → ⓘ → Siri. Turn it on if off. This path was checked on iOS 27.0; other versions may use different names. It is a troubleshooting check, not a required change for everyone.
2. Choose Speak List when Siri offers another app. An empty-list reply from Notes or Reminders does not mean your Speak List lists are missing.
3. Use the exact list name, open Speak List once to refresh the names, and try tapping its action in Shortcuts. If tapping works but speaking does not, check Siri's language and transcription. Settings → Siri → Siri Responses → Always Show Request shows what was heard on the tested phone.
4. If Siri previously created a list called Speak List in Apple Reminders, that is a separate list. Only if Siri keeps choosing Reminders, optionally rename that Reminders list while keeping its items. A same-name list was associated with wrong-app routing in one earlier test; renaming is an unverified experiment, not a guaranteed fix. Do not delete lists to troubleshoot Siri.

A “cannot find an app” response does not establish one particular cause. For the full explanation see Siri and App Shortcuts.

Privacy, in one paragraph

Your lists live on your phone. No account, no Speak List cloud, no tracking, and the app itself does not make network calls for your list data. Voice input uses Apple’s speech recognition (on-device when available). Sharing and backups are plain-text files you control. Full policy: privacy.

Supporting development

Speak List is free to use today. Optional one-time contributions may appear in Settings. No subscription. Public wording stays in the present tense on purpose.

A week in real life (short recipes)

• Grocery run. Say the list (“milk … eggs … bread”), shop, and check items off as you put them in the cart. On Shopping lists, things you buy often rise toward the top over time.
• Weeknight pasta. Start from the Weeknight Pasta Dinner template. Tap Read out while you cook; steps like pasta (rest 12 min) pause the reading. For the oven or a simmer, use Remind me (see cooking steps under Timers). With the Settings switch “Remind me in…” rings as an alarm on, it can use an alarm on a supported, authorized iPhone; otherwise it uses an initial notification plus up to five extra notifications two minutes apart. With that setting off, it uses one notification. In Silent mode, notifications make no sound but may vibrate. Focus may silence sound and vibration. Check the scheduling confirmation. Stop silences an alarm — check the step off yourself when done.
• Two things on the stove. Arm Remind me on two timed items (each its own line); each alert is named after its item.
• Morning medications. Use the item bell (not Remind me), set the time, choose daily. Close on a notification does not check off the item or stop its daily schedule. Checking the item's circle cancels its future alerts until you uncheck it. Do not check an item off merely to dismiss its notification. Check Reminders for the current schedule, and let the first alert arrive before you rely on it.
• Workout. Write sets like Squats (3×12, rest 60s) — reading aloud counts the sets and pauses for the rests.
• New phone Saturday. Old phone: home → down-arrow → Back up all lists → save to iCloud Drive. New phone: Settings → Data & Backup → Restore from a backup. Items, lists, and reminder times come back.

Paste this block into Quick add to try the text rules:

Costco list (Shopping)
Milk (2)
Eggs (12)
[x] Bread
Pasta (rest 12 min)

Line 1 names the list and sets its type. (2) is a quantity. [x] means already checked off. A step that names a time can pause reading and offers Remind me.

Words on the screen

• Close puts a page or mode away (Close Select, Close Edit) — nothing is lost.
• Cancel abandons something you typed or edited.
• Done marks true completion (checked-off items, finished input).
• Stop on an alarm only silences that alarm — it does not check the item off.

Quick troubleshooting

• Mic does not listen — iPhone Settings → Apps → Speak List (iOS 17 or earlier: Settings → Speak List) → Microphone + Speech Recognition; try the globe on Speak.
• Timer did not feel like an alarm — see Two tools that ring + Timers; check Speak List Settings → Voice → “Remind me in…” rings as an alarm, and alarm permission in iPhone Settings → Apps → Speak List → Alarms.
• Reminder never appeared — allow Notifications; check Focus and silent switch.
• Where is Select & More? — bottom of the home screen (lists overview).
• Welcome screen again — tap the app name on home, or Settings → About → Welcome.
• Share did nothing — save as .txt, paste into Quick add, or Restore from Files.
• Lost lists — restore from your backup file; no server copy exists.
• Read-back vs reading speed — Settings → Voice (read-back) vs speed on the read-aloud player.
• Cannot move items — Edit list; sort Smart; close search.
• VoiceOver added wrong words while I spoke — focus left the listening area; the mic pauses while you explore controls. Return focus to continue.
• Close vs Cancel — see Words on the screen.

What Speak List does not do

• No multi-user cloud sync or social login.
• No barcode scanner or camera shopping.
• No medical or dosing advice — only the lists and reminders you write.
• Basic use never depends on a chatbot or cloud AI.

Questions?

Prefer typing? Ask a question (AI) — an AI assistant answers from this guide, right in your browser (also one tap from the app: Tools & support → Ask a question (AI)).

Call 762-296-3163 — an automated voice assistant that knows this guide. Or email [email protected].

The AI helpers are free extra services and may not always be available — email always works, and this guide is the authority.