Siri has been a perfect assistant for every Apple user for its ability to perform many tasks hassle-free. But did you know that you can use Siri to read emails, articles, and other text on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac?
This accessibility feature is specially designed for the visually challenged, but anyone can use it. It comes in handy when you’re multitasking and need to know what’s on your screen. Let me show you how to get Siri to read any text on your Apple device.
How to get Siri to read you any text on iPhone or iPad
- Go to Settings.
- Tap Accessibility → Spoken Content.
- Now, customize the settings. Let’s learn more about each option:
- Speak Selection: It allows you to select a piece of text and have Siri read that text to you. Enabling Speak Selection will show you Speak button on top of the selected text.
- Speak Screen: Enable this option to make Siri read everything on your screen. You can listen to the entire screen with a two-finger swipe from top to bottom.
- Speech Controller: Toggling on Speak Screen will give you the option of Speech Controller. On enabling it, a square, black icon will pop up. It gives quick access to Speak Screen and Speak on Touch. You can further customize actions for long-press and double-tap.
- Highlight Content: Enabling this allows you to observe the words as Siri reads them. You get the option to choose preferred highlight style, highlight colors, and highlight content (shown in the image below). This feature comes in handy while you’re reviewing some documents on your iPhone.
- Typing Feedback: Enabling this provides voice feedback as you type. You can enable Siri to read out the characters, words, auto-corrections, or predictions while typing something.
- Voices: Select a different voice and language for narration.
- Speaking Rate: You can also adjust the speed of narration using the Speaking Rate slider.
- Pronunciation: If Siri mispronounces, you can add its correct pronunciation here.
- Speak Selection: It allows you to select a piece of text and have Siri read that text to you. Enabling Speak Selection will show you Speak button on top of the selected text.
- Now, summon Siri using the ‘Hey Siri’ command.
- Say, ‘Speak Screen‘ to let Siri read everything on your screen.
This is how you can make Siri read web pages and other text on your iPhone and iPad.
How to make Siri read aloud on Mac
- Open System Preferences.
- Click Accessibility.
- Click Spoken Content.
- Now, check Speak selection box.
- Next, click Options on the right side of Speak selection.
Let’s look at the various options you get on clicking Options.
- Keyboard Shortcut: The default shortcut to make Siri read the selected text is Option (⌥ ) + Esc. However, you can change the shortcut by pressing the keys you want to use. For example, press the Option (⌥ ) and D keys to set the keyboard shortcut as Option (⌥ )+D.
- Highlight Content: Similar to iPhone, you can choose the highlight style, colors, and content. Alternatively, you can also select Never to disable Highlight content.
- Show Controller: You can either choose the controller to be shown always or never.
- Voice and Speaking rate: You can change Siri’s voice and speed of the narration under the respective sections.
Once you have customized the settings to your preference, summon Siri by saying ‘Hey Siri’ and say Speak Screen to get Siri to read text offline or online on Mac.
Do you know any other cool accessibility feature? Let us know in the comments below and share this article with your friends to tell them How to get Siri to read emails, articles, and other text on iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
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