AI Startup ElevenLabs’ new iOS app, “ElevenLabs Reader: AI Audio,” can narrate any text file, written content, or webpage in a variety of different AI-generated voices (via VentureBeat).
“Convert text into natural, expressive speech,” reads the App Store description for the app. “Ideal for articles, ePubs, PDFs, or any text. ElevenLabs Reader puts our most capable Text to Speech (TTS) model in your pocket.”
ElevenLabs is a company focused on researching and creating AI audio technology, including but not limited to text-to-speech models. “Our mission is to make content universally accessible in any language & voice. We develop the most realistic, versatile and contextually-aware AI audio models.”
Apple Books already offers an AI-based narration feature for eBooks, but ElevenLabs Reader extends the functionality well beyond just digital books. With the new app, iPhone and iPad users can listen to any article, book, webpage, or document on the go.
Once you download the app and sign up (or log in with your existing ElevenLabs account), you’ll be greeted with a few samples you can listen to. Tapping on the “+” icon in the top-right corner will take you right to the “Add content” menu, from where you can write your own text, import a web URL, or upload a text file for ElevenLabs Reader to process and narrate.
ElevenLabs Reader comes with 11 different voices and accents for narration, including both male and female and ranging from American and British to Austrian. Users can also control the speed of the narration.
ElevenLabs Reader does a pretty decent job of converting text files into audio, even when they include images and visuals. The narration is pretty smooth and while it can sometimes get tripped up by unusual formatting, the app is still new and will undoubtedly see swift improvements in the future.
ElevenLabs has a full-fledged website that offers capabilities beyond just converting text into speech — converting speech into other voices and languages, AI dubbing, and AI sound effects, for example. There’s no reason why ElevenLabs’ other technologies couldn’t make their way to the iOS app down the line.
At launch, ElevenLabs reader only supports narration in English. However, there are plans to add all 29+ languages supported by ElevenLabs’ website to the mobile app in the future.
ElevenLabs Reader is available now for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch (iOS/iPadOS 15 or later). Click here to download the app from the App Store today.
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