LIGHTREADR
About LightReadr
A reading app built around one idea: your eyes shouldn’t be the only way into a book.
What it is
LightReadr is an ebook reader for iPhone that reads your books to you, out loud, in a voice that actually sounds like a person. Import the books you already have, then either read normally or switch to narration mid-page — the app keeps your place either way.
Why it exists
Most e-readers treat text-to-speech as an afterthought bolted on top of an accessibility API. We wanted narration good enough to actually listen to for hours — on a commute, doing chores, falling asleep — without the flat, robotic cadence that makes most synthesized speech exhausting to listen to for long.
How it works
Import an ebook from Files, and it's on your shelf. Open it and read normally, or tap Read Aloud and LightReadr starts narrating from wherever you are — tap any sentence to jump narration there instead. Voice generation happens entirely on your device, using a compact neural text-to-speech model built to run locally rather than call out to a server.
Where to find free books
LightReadr opens unlocked ebooks, including the ones you’ve downloaded yourself — and if you’re starting from scratch, there’s no shortage of free, legal ebooks online:
- Project Gutenberg — over 70,000 free public-domain ebooks, the largest and longest-running collection of its kind.
- Standard Ebooks — public-domain classics, carefully re-typeset and proofread for a genuinely nice reading experience.
- Internet Archive — a huge, free digital library, including many ebooks available for direct download.
LightReadr also comes with five free public-domain classics already in your library the moment you install it, so you've got something to read (or listen to) immediately.
Who's behind it
LightReadr is an independently built app. If something's broken, confusing, or missing, an actual person reads every email at hello@lightreadr.com.