Do the modern Fire tablets support Text to speech in ebooks?

dhume01 · 09-16-2020, 03:26 PM

I have an old HDX 7 that supports TTS in the Kindle app ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custo...deId=201730270 ).
Does anyone know if similar functionality exists in the modern Fire tablets? If so, does it highlight the word or sentence that it's reading aloud?

tomsem · 09-19-2020, 11:39 AM

Yes, all Fire tablets have TTS in the Kindle app. No, it does not highlight the text as it reads. It also works in Scrolling mode.

Highlighting text does happen with Immersion Reading (book + audiobook companion).

dhume01 · 09-19-2020, 06:59 PM

Thanks! Do you know if it still supports 1x and 1.5x reading speed, but not 1.25x speed? It was a frustrating omission on the HDX.

Barbara1955 · 09-22-2020, 11:55 AM

ALL fire Tablets support TTS & Immersive Reading. Wish the Kindles did. They did for 2 months when it first came out.

tomsem · 09-22-2020, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhume01

Thanks! Do you know if it still supports 1x and 1.5x reading speed, but not 1.25x speed? It was a frustrating omission on the HDX.

TTS speeds on latest Fire HD8:
.7x
1x
1.5x
2x
3x
4x

For Audible:
.5x
.7x
1x
1.25x
1.5x
2x
2.5x
3x

For VoiceView (screen reader) the speeds are:
.66x
.8x
1x
1.25x
1.5x
1.75x
2x
2.5x
3x
4x

But unless you have vision issues, VoiceView will probably not be something you’ll want to use (and yes, there are people who can comfortably listen at 4x).

Fire also has the Alexa app, which will read books, but I don’t know the speeds it supports. In theory you can follow along in the text as it reads, but in my furtive experiments it gets confused as to reading position. Maybe with WiFi turned off it works okay.

It’s kind of baffling as to why the same speeds aren’t available for TTS as for VoiceView.

dhume01 · 09-25-2020, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomsem

It’s kind of baffling as to why the same speeds aren’t available for TTS as for VoiceView.

Agreed. Thanks for sharing the reading speeds, really helps!

tomsem · 09-25-2020, 01:07 PM

The Audible app for iOS supports speed increments of .1x (0.5-3.5x range), and the one for Android supports increments of .05x over the same range.

Given the very low price of Fire tablets, it seems Amazon’s priority is to keep development costs to a minimum. FireOS 7 looks pretty much the same as FireOS 4. But you’d think they could work in some minor changes, such as adding more speed options.

09-16-2020, 03:26 PM	#1
dhume01 Connoisseur Posts: 98 Karma: 2537209 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: NYC Device: Samsung Chromebook Pro, Note 10 Lite	Do the modern Fire tablets support Text to speech in ebooks? I have an old HDX 7 that supports TTS in the Kindle app ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custo...deId=201730270 ). Does anyone know if similar functionality exists in the modern Fire tablets? If so, does it highlight the word or sentence that it's reading aloud?

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09-19-2020, 11:39 AM	#2
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,477 Karma: 26425959 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	Yes, all Fire tablets have TTS in the Kindle app. No, it does not highlight the text as it reads. It also works in Scrolling mode. Highlighting text does happen with Immersion Reading (book + audiobook companion).

09-19-2020, 06:59 PM	#3
dhume01 Connoisseur Posts: 98 Karma: 2537209 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: NYC Device: Samsung Chromebook Pro, Note 10 Lite	Thanks! Do you know if it still supports 1x and 1.5x reading speed, but not 1.25x speed? It was a frustrating omission on the HDX.

09-22-2020, 11:55 AM	#4
Barbara1955 Non-Techy Posts: 4,454 Karma: 15499273 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: WV---USA Device: Samsung Cell Phone & Amazon Fires & Kobo eReaders	ALL fire Tablets support TTS & Immersive Reading. Wish the Kindles did. They did for 2 months when it first came out.

09-25-2020, 01:07 PM	#7
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,477 Karma: 26425959 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	The Audible app for iOS supports speed increments of .1x (0.5-3.5x range), and the one for Android supports increments of .05x over the same range. Given the very low price of Fire tablets, it seems Amazon’s priority is to keep development costs to a minimum. FireOS 7 looks pretty much the same as FireOS 4. But you’d think they could work in some minor changes, such as adding more speed options.