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How to Get Siri to Read Web Articles on iPhone: Siri may not be the perfect friend that some people wish it was, but the voice of the personal assistant can help us in many ways. we have been using Siri for the past few months to read all the text I want to read but don’t need to. By having my personal assistant read me articles, we can focus on other things, and my reading lists and emails are basically turned into a personalized podcast.
Siri can read any text on the screen of an iPhone, iPad, or Mac computer. And yes, that means Siri will literally read out loud whatever is on the screen of an Apple device. Whether it’s a web page, an article, an email, or a text message, whatever is on the screen will be read out loud by Siri, and you’ll even be able to speed up, slow down, pause, and skip sections.
If you have an iPhone and want Siri to read text to you, this guide is for you. In this article, we ‘ll show you how to Get Siri to Read Web Articles on iPhone. Having Siri read your writing can make you feel very free. It lets you read all the books you want without having to stare at a screen. If you turn this feature on, you can also switch between apps, and Siri will keep reading the content you asked her to.
What is Siri?
Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant for iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS. It uses voice recognition and is powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Siri answers spoken questions by talking back to the user through the device’s speaker and showing relevant information from apps like Web Search or Calendar on the home screen. The service also lets people dictate emails and text messages, reads emails and messages that have been sent to them, and does a number of other things.
Siri is designed to make it easy for you to find what you need on your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple Watch, HomePod, or Mac by talking to her and having her talk back to you. You can ask her questions, ask her to show you something, or give her commands that she will carry out on your behalf without you having to touch anything.
Why You Should Use Siri to Read Web Articles
- Hands-Free Convenience: Siri allows you to listen to web articles without the need to touch your device. This is particularly useful when you’re driving, cooking, exercising, or engaged in any activity where using your hands is impractical.
- Multitasking: With Siri reading web articles aloud, you can multitask more effectively. You can continue working on other tasks or chores while staying updated on the content of the article.
- Accessibility: For individuals with visual impairments or those who have difficulty reading text on a screen, Siri’s ability to read web articles provides a valuable accessibility feature, making online content more accessible to a wider audience.
- Enhanced Comprehension: Listening to content can sometimes improve comprehension, as it allows you to focus solely on absorbing the information without the distractions of visual elements or scrolling.
- Language Learning: If you’re learning a new language, having Siri read web articles in that language can help you practice pronunciation, improve your listening skills, and expand your vocabulary.
How to Get Siri to Read Web Articles on iPhone
- Go to Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content.
- Enable Speak Selection to display a Speak button on top of any selected text.
- Enable Speak Screen to hear the entire screen with a two-finger swipe from the top to the bottom of the screen.
- Select Speech Controller and enable the Show Controller toggle button. The Speak Controller gives you quick access to the Speak Screen and Speak on Touch features with the help of an overlay on the screen.
- The other settings on the Spoken Content screen allow you to select Voices and adjust the Speaking Rate. Use Pronunciations to add difficult words to a list and have them voiced precisely. Typing Feedback is another accessibility feature that provides voice feedback as it spells each character, entire words, auto-corrections, auto-capitalizations, and typing predictions. Enable this only if necessary.
- To use Siri, long-press the button on the right side or trigger it with the “Hey Siri” voice command. Say something like “Speak screen” to make Siri read text on the screen. Alternatively, select the text you want Siri to read and then tap Speak.
How to Get Siri to Read Web Articles on Mac
- Select Apple menu > System Preferences.
- Select Accessibility > Spoken Content. Check the Speak selection box.
- Select Options to change the keyboard shortcut if required.
- Leave the other options to their defaults or change them to have words, sentences, or both highlighted as your Mac speaks. Underlined or highlighted sentences mark the spoken sentences to help your eyes track them. Select the pop-up menu for Highlight content and choose Never to disable highlighted text.
- Select the Show controller pop-up menu to choose the behavior of the controller. By default, the controller will appear with the spoken content and allow you to set the speed. Use the buttons to play, pause, skip ahead or back, or stop the narration. The turtle icon on the left slows down the speaking rate while the rabbit boosts it.
- Use the keyboard shortcut Option + Esc to make macOS read the selected text.
Alternatives to Siri for reading web articles
- Google Assistant: Google Assistant is available on Android devices and iOS. You can use it to read web articles aloud by saying, “Hey Google, read this article.”
- Amazon Alexa: Alexa is the voice assistant for Amazon Echo devices. You can enable skills like “Read My Articles” to have Alexa read web articles from popular news websites.
- Microsoft Cortana: While Cortana has been integrated into Windows 10, it can also read web content aloud. Simply ask, “Hey Cortana, read this page.”
- Pocket: Pocket is a read-it-later service that offers a text-to-speech feature. You can save web articles to Pocket and then use the TTS option to have them read aloud.
- VoiceOver (iOS) and TalkBack (Android): These are built-in accessibility features on iOS and Android devices. They provide screen-reading capabilities that can read web content aloud, including articles.
- Read Aloud Browser Extensions: Many web browsers, such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, have extensions like “Read Aloud” that can read web articles aloud. You can select the text you want to be read, and the extension will do the rest.
Questions and Answers
All you have to do is open the page in Safari (or another iOS browser) and say “Speak Screen” to Siri. Siri will then start reading the article to you.
How to use Siri to read PDFs by voice. Even though Siri wasn’t made for text-to-speech, iOS devices can use it to read text out loud. Just choose the text you want to read, press and hold the home button, and Siri will start working. Then say “read this,” and Siri will start reading the text out loud.
You can now tell Siri to read articles out loud on your iPhone. Speech-to-text has been around for a while, but with iOS 17, you can now ask Siri to read any open articles. If you want to try iOS 17, you can install the public beta version right away.
Apple added Reader mode to Safari more than ten years ago to help you stay on task by getting rid of these distractions. When Reader is turned on, a webpage is rearranged so that you only see relevant text and images. This makes it easier to read what you’re reading.