How to Use Siri to Read Texts on iOS and macOS

In 2011, Apple introduced a game-changing feature that revolutionized digital interactions: ‘Siri.' This wasn’t just an update; it was a leap into the future. An invisible assistant living in our gadgets, ready to make calls, set alarms, control music, and more at our command.

Fast forward a decade, and Siri has evolved significantly. The latest update even allows Siri to read text out loud for you. That’s right, Siri’s text to speech (TTS) feature can vocalize the text on your screen, proving to be a handy tool for times when you can’t or prefer not to read the screen yourself.

For example, if you’re driving and receive an important text message, Siri’s text to speech can read it out loud, allowing you to keep your eyes on the road while also listening to the message.

In this blog post, we’ll explore how to use Siri’s TTS feature on both iPhone and Mac. We’ll also include examples to make the process as clear and engaging as possible.

Step-by-Step Guide to Make Siri Read Text Out Loud

For iPhone and iPad:

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad
2. In the Settings menu, look for and tap on ‘Accessibility.’
3. Under Accessibility, you’ll find an option called ‘Spoken Content.’ Tap on it.
4. Here’s the fun part! You’ll see an option called ‘Speak Screen.’ Swipe the button to the right to turn it on. And you are done!

For Mac and Macbooks

1. Click on the Apple menu located at the top left of your desktop.
2. From the drop-down menu, click on ‘System Preference.’
3. In the System Preferences window, find and click on ‘Accessibility.’
4. In the navigation bar on the left, click on ‘Spoken Content.’
5. Look for the checkbox that says ‘Speak selection’ and click on it to enable screen speaking.

Now that you’ve enabled the text to speech feature, it’s time to put it to use:

1. Open any App: Open any app where you want Siri to read the text. It could be a news app, a book, or even your messages!
2. Say the Magic Words: Simply say, “Hey Siri, speak screen.” If you’re feeling adventurous, you can also swipe down from the top of the screen with two fingers.
3. Listen and Control: Siri reads the text on the screen. A pop-up control will appear, which you can use to pause, play, change the speed, or skip sentences. If it disappears after a few moments, don’t worry! Just tap on the side of the screen to bring it back.

And there you have it. You’ve now turned your iPhone or iPad into a personal narrator. Enjoy!

Benefits of Siri Text to Speech

A Guiding Light for the Visually Impaired

Siri TTS can be a game-changer for individuals with visual impairments. It’s like having a personal virtual assistant who can read out everything from text messages to emails, making it easier for them to interact with their device. Imagine not being able to read a restaurant menu and having Siri read it out for you!

One with the Apple Universe

Siri’s text to speech is like a universal remote for all your Mac devices. It seamlessly integrates with the entire Apple ecosystem, ensuring a smooth and unified user experience.

Without a doubt, Siri has transformed the way Apple users interact with their devices. With Siri’s text to speech feature, you can have almost any text read aloud in a human-like voice. This convenient feature is accessible through the system preferences under the accessibility settings.

To enable this functionality, go to the Apple menu, select ‘System Preferences,’ then ‘Accessibility,’ and finally, ‘Spoken Content.’ Here, you can enable ‘Speak Selection’ and ‘Speak Screen.’ With ‘Speak Selection,’ Siri will read aloud selected text when you tap ‘Speak.’ ‘Speak Screen,’ on the other hand, allows Siri to read the entire screen when you swipe down from the top of the screen. You can adjust the speaking rate and choose from different Siri voices under ‘Speech Controller.’ Siri can even read your new text messages aloud, making it a cutting-edge technology for hands-free communication.

Furthermore, Siri voice generator can also highlight content as it’s spoken for better comprehension. You can also activate Siri by saying ‘Hey Siri.’

That said, Siri is not just limited to English; it supports different languages, making it a global feature. Remember, you can always go back to the settings to adjust the voice, speed, and more according to your preference.

Tailor-Made Auditory Experience

Think of Siri’s TTS as your robot that you can customize. Prefer a slower word reading speed or a higher pitch speech part? No problem! Siri adjusts to your preferences, offering a truly personalized auditory experience.

Limitations of Siri and Practical Alternatives

While Siri is a fantastic feature on Apple devices, offering a wide range of functionalities, its text to speech option does have its limitations. It’s great for reading out text on your screen, but when it comes to creating content, you might find yourself needing something more robust.

That’s where Murf comes into the picture!

Think of Murf as a super-talented artist who can add human-like voices in different languages and accents to your content. Want to create a podcast with an Australian accent or a video voiceover in Spanish? Murf has got you covered!

But the fun doesn’t stop there. With Murf, you can change the pitch and speed of the voice, just like a DJ mixing music! You can even clone your voice, creating a digital twin that can speak for you. Ever thought of having a vocal doppelganger? Murf has you covered.  

And if you’re working with multiple languages, no worries! Murf Studio can translate and vocalize text in different languages, making it a handy tool for global communication.

It offers a world of possibilities, transforming the way you create and consume voice content.

However, when it comes to building real-time voice agents, call automation, conversational assistants, or voice-driven applications, the requirements go beyond simply reading text aloud. In these scenarios, speed, responsiveness, and consistency become critical. This is where a dedicated, high-performance TTS engine designed specifically for real-time voice generation becomes essential and that’s where Murf Falcon comes in.

Meet Murf Falcon: The Fastest, Most Efficient Text to Speech API 

Murf Falcon is engineered to deliver human-like speech at an industry leading model latency of 55 ms across the globe. Use Falcon to deploy AI voice agents that not only talk like regular humans, but also deliver the speech at blazing fast speed with ultra precision.

Falcon is the only TTS API that consistently maintains time-to-first-audio under 130 ms across 10+ global regions, even when processing up to 10,000 calls at the same time. Falcon delivers uninterrupted, natural speech. No lag, no clipped phrases, no robotic tone.

Engineered for Real-Time Performance

Falcon’s architecture is tuned specifically for ultra-low latency and responsiveness:

• Model latency under 55 ms
• Time-to-first-audio under 130 ms
• Edge deployment across 10+ regions for global consistency

Its lightweight, compute-efficient model outperforms larger LLM-based TTS systems on context precision and response timing delivering premium naturalness without inflated infrastructure demands.

Human-Like Speech, in Any Language

Falcon ensures voices sound fluent and expressive:

• 35+ languages, 150+ expressive voices
• Code-mixed multilingual output without accent distortion
• 99.38% pronunciation accuracy
• Conversational prosody for natural tone, rhythm, and pauses

Falcon separates how words are pronounced from the unique qualities of the speaker’s voice, preventing odd tone changes. This also enables the voice to switch languages smoothly in the middle of a sentence.Your AI voice doesn’t just speak multiple languages, it sounds native in each.

Integrates in Minutes

Falcon fits easily into modern development stacks:

• RESTful API
• Python, JavaScript, and cURL SDKs
• Works with Twilio, Anthropic Claude, Discord, and more

Go from API key to live call in minutes, no complex provisioning or specialized infrastructure needed.

Stable and Cost-Efficient at Scale

• Supports 10,000+ concurrent calls with no latency drop
• Predictable performance worldwide via edge routing
• On-prem deployment option for full internal control
• Priced at 1¢ per minute, reducing voice agent costs by up to 50%

Fast everywhere. Accurate always. Affordable at scale. Try Murf Falcon now!