From the Speak List user guide · updated 2026-10-20.
| Problem | Try |
|---|---|
| Mic does not listen | Check iPhone Settings → Apps → Speak List (on iOS 17 or earlier: Settings → Speak List) → Microphone (and Speech Recognition). Try the globe language on Speak. |
| No sound when reading | Check silent switch / volume; confirm reading actually started; use Stop on the mini-player if a previous read is stuck. |
| Timer did not feel like an alarm | With the Settings switch “Remind me in…” rings as an alarm (or “Remind me in…” sends extra reminders on older phones) on but Alarm unavailable or denied, the timer can use a notification plus up to five extras two minutes apart. With the switch off, it requests one notification. In Silent mode, notifications make no sound but may vibrate. Focus may silence sound and vibration. Check the scheduling result, notification permission, alarm permission (iPhone Settings → Apps → Speak List → Alarms) and §5b / §6. |
| “Already set” on Remind me | That step already has a live timer — open Reminders to change or cancel it. |
| Alarm kept ringing after I checked the item | Stop on the alarm stops the sound; checking the item off is a separate step in the list. |
| Reminder never appeared | Allow Notifications for Speak List; check Focus / Do Not Disturb and the silent switch (alarms vs soft notifications differ — §5c). |
| Where is Select & More? | Bottom of the home screen (lists overview), not inside one list. |
| How do I get the start screen back? | Tap the app name on the home screen, or Settings → About → Welcome screen. |
| Pasted list has a weird name | First item became the name because there was no “list” / > marker — rename the list, or use First line = name on share-in preview when the first line was a title. |
| Reminder still in the app after I closed the banner | Close puts the banner away and leaves the reminder on the item. If Extra reminders were still coming, Close stops the rest of that series. Open the list or Reminders page to change or clear the reminder. |
| I cleared reminders and my items vanished | Clear checked reminders only removes times — items stay on their lists. |
| I want the Read-me / Sample list again | Settings → Starter lists → Create latest Read me first or Create latest Sample list (never overwrites an existing copy you kept under another name path — creates a fresh starter). |
| Lost lists after reinstall | Restore from your plain-text backup (§9). Without a backup, the app cannot recover lists from a server. |
| Share into the app did nothing | Try saving as .txt and opening/sharing again, or paste into Quick add / Restore from Files. |
| Siri does not use Speak List or cannot find a list | Check its Siri switch in Shortcuts; choose Speak List if asked; use the exact list name and open the app once. See §12 for the tested path and a tap-to-run check. |
| VoiceOver added wrong words while I spoke | Focus left the listening area — explore controls after the mic opens only when you mean to pause; return focus to continue. |
| Read-back too fast / reading too slow | Read-back speed (Settings → Voice) ≠ reading speed on the read-aloud player — they are separate controls. |
| Cannot move items | Enter Edit list; set sort to Smart; close in-list search first. |
| App language vs spoken language | Settings → Language changes the UI; the globe on Speak chooses dictation language (§10). |
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