Hear books read out loud on Google Play Books

Hear text in eBooks read out loud with 'Read aloud', VoiceOver or text-to-speech.

Read aloud is available in the Play Books mobile app.

Turn on 'Read aloud' for eBooks

Important: To use 'Read aloud', view the eBook in flowing text mode. Learn about viewing options in Play Books.

1. Open the Play Books app .
2. Open a book.
3. To enter skim mode, tap the page.
4. At the top right, tap Menu .
5. Tap Read aloud.

Turn on 'Read aloud' automatically

1. Open the Play Books app .
2. At the top right, tap your Profile picture.
3. Tap Play Books settings  Automatically read aloud.
4. When you open a book, Read aloud turns on.

Tip: Not all books have this option. Publishers choose whether 'Read aloud' is available for their books.

Use a more natural reading voice

Important: You can only use this mode when your device is connected to the Internet. To use 'Read aloud' when your device is offline, turn off the natural reading voice.

1. Open the Play Books app .
2. At the top right, tap your Profile picture.
3. Tap Play Books settings.
4. Turn on More natural reading voice.

Change the default voice and language

 

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility.
3. At the bottom, tap Text-to-speech output.
   1. Next to 'Preferred engine', tap Settings .
   2. Tap Install voice data.
   3. Select the language that you want to use.
4. Go back to the text-to-speech output menu, to make your final language selection. 
   1. Tap Language.
   2. Select a language.

Change the speech speed

 

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility.
3. At the bottom, tap Text-to-speech output.
4. Under 'Speech rate', set your desired speed.

Tips:

• If you have a text-to-speech app, you can set it as the default. 
• The Play Books app uses your default text-to-speech app.

Turn on text-to-speech with TalkBack

 

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility  TalkBack.
3. Turn on TalkBack.
4. Scroll and tap Settings.
5. Scroll and turn off Explore by Touch.

Tips:

• In the Play Books app, you hear book titles first, then menu options. 
• To hear menu options first, swipe left.