Hearing your lists read aloud

From the Speak List user guide · updated 2026-10-20.

Where to start Read out

• Open a list → Read out / Read aloud (also via list ⋯), or use Read a list out / Read selected from home.
• The app reads each item and can show large print while it reads.
• Leaving the reading page does not stop reading — a small player stays available with Stop.
• Reading uses a snapshot of the list from when reading started. Edits you make during a read apply the next time you start reading.
• Finished (done) items are read like other items, with “done” spoken at the start of that item (for example “done — milk”). Reading covers the whole list; remove an item if you do not want it read.
• VoiceOver Magic Tap (two-finger double-tap) stops active read-aloud.

Reading modes and the Count down switch

On the reading screen you can choose:

• Step by step — each step is the focus; after a step that names a time is read, a countdown can run, then reading continues by itself.
• Continuous — keeps reading through the list more continuously.

A Count down switch on the reading screen turns those in-item reading countdowns on or off:

• On — write a time in the item you want to wait on (“Plank 20 sec”, “Boil 7 minutes”). After that item is read, the time counts down, then the next step starts by itself. 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.
• Off — nothing counts down; you move to the next step with the play button. Switching it off during a countdown cancels it (and that notification).

The switch is separate from independent Remind me timers and from item reminders — those keep working independently whether Count down is on or off.

Other reading controls you may see:

• Reading speed (Slow / Normal / Fast) for how fast the list is read aloud.
• Full screen — large print for the current item; tap the screen to bring controls back.
• Mute voice — keep following on screen without sound. It lives on the main reading view; exit full screen to use it.
• Pause time (Continuous only, in Count down's spot) — a quiet gap after every item; hold it to pick 1, 3, 5, or 10 seconds.
• Repeat (fourth button next to Next step) — tap cycles Off → Repeat → Sleep. Repeat loops the list until Stop; Sleep repeats, then stops quietly shortly after the time you choose — without cutting off words already being spoken (hold the button for 5, 15, 30, or 60 minutes).
• Pause / Stop (and Siri pause/stop when reading is active).

Lock-screen and earphone playback controls

During a reading session, use Play/Pause on the Lock Screen to pause or continue. Check that the player belongs to Speak List, not Music or another app. Supported next/previous playback controls move between reading items. You can also use your earphones' play/pause and next-track controls, where supported; gestures vary by model and settings. The app's own Play and Next controls are another option. After Siri Pause, resume with those playback controls, not a promised Siri resume command. A generic Siri play request may control another media app. After Stop, open the list and use Read out; it may offer your saved place. See Siri and App Shortcuts (§12) for the registered commands.

Rest and wait while reading

Write a wait into a step, for example:

Pasta into the pot (rest 12 min)

When reading reaches that step, the app can pause and count down, then continue. The words rest or wait before a time create that read-out pause. Times can also be written as digits or spelled out (“rest one minute”, “Plank 20 sec”). In Step by step reading, timed steps start a countdown after they are read. You can turn reading timers off with the Count down switch on the reading screen — Remind me alarms and item reminders keep working independently whether Count down is on or off.

Listen to any text at your pace

Share or paste any text, then listen at your pace — Slow, Normal, Fast, or with quiet pauses. It works for lists, instructions, articles, teachings, study material, prayers, routines — any plain text. Two ways, by how much control you want:

• The easy way — Continuous + Pause time. Open the list, tap Read out, choose Continuous, and switch on Pause time: reading leaves a quiet gap after every item (hold the switch to pick 1, 3, 5, or 10 seconds). Any pasted text works — no editing at all.
• The custom way — Step by step + pause marks. Write pause with a time exactly where you want silence — Breathe out slowly (pause 5 sec) — then choose Step by step with Count down on. Every pause can be a different length, placed anywhere. Nothing is spoken for a pause mark, no chime, no alarms.

Either way, the Repeat button on the reading screen can loop the list. Sleep keeps looping and stops quietly shortly after the time you choose — without cutting off the words being spoken and without a chime or alarm. rest and wait are different on purpose: they keep the spoken countdown, the chime, and that notification; quiet pause marks do not set that notification.

Reading remembers your place (per list): stop mid-way — with the Stop button, Sleep, or even by quitting the app — and the next time you tap Read out on that list, a small sheet asks "Continue from item N?", showing that item's words, with three buttons: Continue, Start over, and Cancel (nothing plays; your place is kept). Finishing a list, or choosing Start over, clears the saved place. If you edit the list's text after stopping, reading quietly starts from the top — the app never guesses at a moved place. Siri always reads from the top; tapping a row's "read from here" always wins and becomes the new saved place. Reading several lists together never offers the sheet — open the one list to continue it.

Long texts: for something book-length, give each chapter its own list — chapters keep each session tidy, and since reading remembers your place per list, stopping mid-chapter is fine too.

Pasting paragraphs: blank lines between paragraphs are fine — they are ignored and never split your list. Each line becomes one item, so keep every paragraph on its own single line (if an AI writes the text for you, ask for "one paragraph per line"). Paragraphs can be as long as you like — long passages are supported (chapter-sized lists are easier to manage), and reading speaks a long item sentence by sentence.

Ready-made examples in the free List Library on the website: Three Good Things (the easy way — plain text, no marks) and Wind-Down for Sleep (the custom way — pause marks included).

Sets and rests (exercise lists)

An item written as sets — for example Squats 3x10, rest 60s — is read as separate sets with the rests in between: “set 1 of 3”, a rest countdown, “set 2 of 3”, and so on. This happens only while reading; your list still shows the one line you wrote. A countdown of 15 seconds or more also attempts that notification, if notification permission is allowed and the phone can still schedule one more notification. In Silent mode, notifications make no sound but may vibrate. Focus may silence sound and vibration. It is an ordinary notification, not an alarm.