eBook TTS functionality

[ArizonaGuy]

As I have gotten older my eyes keep telling me to read less and rest more. Because I am retired and have a lot of time to read I have taken to trying TTS software to "read" when my eyes don't want to read.

I have tried several TTS add-ons and apps - the built-in Kindle app TTS, Speechify (which has a Kindle link allowing reading of Kindle books) and some of the built-in TTS functionality in eReaders like Moon+ Reader and ReadEra. Some of these are quite good, but expensive. Others are inexpensive but not so good. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions about what to use that is reasonably priced and has reasonable functionality.

What I mostly want is to be able to read my eBooks, mostly Kindle and Kobo although some from Gutenberg and other DRM-free sites, alternating between actual reading and TTS, and to be able to do so staying within the provider rules for their books. I would want to be able to listen with the phone or other device's screen dark so as to not bleed my battery dry.

Speechify allows me to access my entire Kindle library, but I don't know about other TTS software - Peech, Speechelo, Revoicer and others - so I don't know what I might be missing and I thought that people on this forum might have already done that work.

Any info would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

[JSWolf]

You could try calibre's viewer. It has built-in TTS.

[ArizonaGuy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You could try calibre's viewer. It has built-in TTS.

Thanks for that.

I generally use my phone for listening to books because it is easier than sitting with a laptop on my lap so I never actually tried to read an eBook using Calibre and so never knew there was TTS functionality in the app.

Is there any way to change the voice in the TTS Calibre?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by ArizonaGuy

Thanks for that.

I generally use my phone for listening to books because it is easier than sitting with a laptop on my lap so I never actually tried to read an eBook using Calibre and so never knew there was TTS functionality in the app.

Is there any way to change the voice in the TTS Calibre?

Yes
Inside the viewer:click the megaphone (read aloud):then click the settings icon (3 gears) on the mini-controls

[curtw]

Now that's officially been cut off from Amazon services, you should be able to find a Kindle Keyboard super cheap on eBay or Facebook marketplace.

[jonathan2022]

try Paper2audio. it is available for Android not sure about apple. You get 56 hours a week free. supports epub. you get to read along whilst audio plays. the 56 hours resets a week after you signup same time. reset time and date is shown in profile.

[pdurrant]

You don't mention whether you have an Apple or an Android phone. That will affect what options are available to you.

Some ebook DRM stops TTS working. (Publishers being worried about TTS eating into audiobook sales.)

[just41]

Hi ArizonaGuy,

I am a software developer, and I've been building an eBook reader app with a strong focus on affordable, high-quality TTS. The app is currently in its final stages of development, and I am working hard to refine the overall experience.
Since you mentioned Project Gutenberg, I actually have several public domain books from there ready to test in the app. As an avid reader looking for a budget-friendly TTS solution, your experience and feedback would be incredibly valuable to me.
I would love to invite you to try the app and give me your honest review so I can improve it further. Please let me know if you are interested, and I’d be happy to send you access!
My app in android:https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...hungvv.readbox
ios: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/readbox/id6761289734

[jonathan2022]

Originally Posted by just41

Hi ArizonaGuy,

I am a software developer, and I've been building an eBook reader app with a strong focus on affordable, high-quality TTS. The app is currently in its final stages of development, and I am working hard to refine the overall experience.
Since you mentioned Project Gutenberg, I actually have several public domain books from there ready to test in the app. As an avid reader looking for a budget-friendly TTS solution, your experience and feedback would be incredibly valuable to me.
I would love to invite you to try the app and give me your honest review so I can improve it further. Please let me know if you are interested, and I’d be happy to send you access!
My app in android:https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...hungvv.readbox
ios: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/readbox/id6761289734

Not available for all countries?

[ArizonaGuy]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

You don't mention whether you have an Apple or an Android phone. That will affect what options are available to you.

Some ebook DRM stops TTS working. (Publishers being worried about TTS eating into audiobook sales.)

I use an Android phone. I have tried Speechify, ElevenReader, Peech, Natural Reader and Paper2Audio. All seem to have free trial periods, so trying is easy. I first tried the TTS in the Kindle eReaders, but they are pretty lame by comparison with the new TTS narration.

NaturalReader and Paper2Audio do not have Kindle links although Paper2Audio says that they are going to implement that. NaturalReader says they can not and no TTS software can, but that is a joke.

As for audiobook sales being worried about TTS software, they should be. I have been an Audible member for more than 20 years, and listening has been a big part of my reading experience, but I do not plan to renew a regular membership for the first time since about 2002, and all because of the quality of some of the TTS software. They are all less than the amount I pay to Audible for one year, and some of the voices are almost (almost) as good as human narration.

[ArizonaGuy]

Originally Posted by jonathan2022

try Paper2audio. it is available for Android not sure about apple. You get 56 hours a week free. supports epub. you get to read along whilst audio plays. the 56 hours resets a week after you signup same time. reset time and date is shown in profile.

I have a Paper2Audio subscription, although the free plan is already more than I need. I was so pleased to find it that I thought I should help them along, at least for the first year. After that I may drop back to the free plan, but right now I am a happy user.

They tell me that they are planning to introduce new voices and a Kindle interface, so I will see.

I think that all of the apps providing Kindle access must be doing OCR on the read.amazon.com webpage because I get a lot of really poor translations from some of them. Words or entire sentences out of place, skipped words and sometimes really bizarre narration like reading the word stop as "sto p" and the pronunciation of some words is often using the wrong context. The word "bow" refers to a pretty decoration on a present and the front part of a boat, and all of the narration I have heard for that word use the first without understanding that the people are referring to the front of a boat or the act of courtesy in greeting nobility. Annoying, but I guess understandable.