You can use it on any internet enabled device. Desktop Mac and Windows versions uses your default browser and java to drive a webapp. On linux you'll have to straight up use the website or run a virtual machine. On the Mac and Windows the "desktop app" is more than just a shortcut to the website.
Disconnect your wifi and close your default browser (set to clear cookies, offline data, active logins, cache, site preferences, browsing and download history). Upon launching the application again, the default web browser should open, the document should still be there and the webapp should still function. Everything needed is stored locally somewhere.
Supported formats include: Adobe PDF (.pdf), Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx), Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx), Plain and Rich text (.txt, .rtf), EPUB books (.epub), OpenDocument (.odt, .odp), DAISY books (.zip).
Says it is free, then takes you to the iTunes page to pay, Capti does recognize accounts set up through iTunes, to change voices you pay, to open a pdf to read you have to buy coins to use.
Capti Narrator does not automatically sync additions from local files to playlists on the hybrid desktop/webapp client, only if you add them to a cloud storage.
You can look up translations and definitions of words and phrases. Capti will automatically take into account the part of speech of a word and its use in the sentence to generate the most correct translation and definition.
Capti is very easy to use in a school setting: there's a special organization account features for managing students, sharing content with students, monitoring student activity, etc.
10 MB per document/ ebook
No images
No access to view the original layout for PDFs
No annotation features
Searching limited to current document, not globally
Only one playlist allowed
No access to translation features
No access to a word/vocabulary game
If you look at the screen while the app is reading, the text scrolls and emphasizes the sentence and the individual words as they are read, kinda like high quality karaoke lyrics.
VDR arranges most documents you import into a clean, easy to read format that is customizable. Can control the size of margins, select from several fonts & adjust the size, change text, background & highlight colours. Can swipe and view text in original layout/format or view as plain text and lose all the formatting for a simpler view of material.
Voice Dream Reader has a share sheet extension for iOS. When you use it, there are three options, you can save in Aritcle format (text and images), PDF format, and Full Text format. and it will show you a preview of what it will look like so you know what to expect.
Just click on a new page or new paragraph to skip boring sections. Also, allows speed increments changes to a very small accurate degree - i.e. to read at the right speed.
The interface is ugly and not well thought out. For instance, putting items in folders removes the details from the list and replaces it with the name of the folder. Also, adding folder names has an ugly double popup.
If you have image based PDFs for example, this won't be able to read it, at least not without pre processing with other OCR software before exporting/uploading to Dream Reader. That being said, VoiceDream Reader now has a companion app to make OCR > Voice Dream Reader very simple and easy. Visit this link.
When bought, a voice package from the iOS App Store, as part of a package with voice writer & voice dream, had over 20 voices/accents, now there are only 2 voices.
Great options although it could be more affordable. It is not as if most average consumer is financially strong enough to afford all? If prices were lower, their premium offers could sell like other very successful great ideas.
It could be a perfect suite of voices if macOS could in extension include them when working on alternative apps or browsing, etc. You could if you preferred go along for the Standard Offering but as set forth before, Natural Reader ought to include macOS users and with recognition other than imposing Google Chrome as the default.
$69.50, $129.50, or $199.50, does not appear to be a lifetime purchase, there seems to be a limit on how many images that can be used with the OCR function within the different tiers.
You can click on a any sentence and the voice will jump to wherever that sentence is and continue on from there. Forward and back button is for one sentence. Shortcuts are available as well for pause/read, forward/back by one sentence.
The shortcuts/hotkeys that exist are simple and work well, but they are not user configurable which might be a problem for some. The app is more GUI driven, a travesty since accessibility is a big attraction for people seeking software like this.
Natural Reader can be used for a wide range of video and instructional design products over the years, but a more cost-efficient app that is very similar, is cloud-based, and it is only $9/month (and you can cancel it at any time). It's called Notevibes, and you can check it out at:Notevibes.com
Update: This Con is no longer true as of Natural Reader 16.
There is no ability to jump around the text in the document using the mouse to click where you want to start reading, nor to skip by paragraph, page, multiples of sentences, etc. or using hotkeys.
Even though the files replicate across Mac OS and iOS devices, the playback position does not replicate.across iCloud. Each device remembers it's own playback position, but it doesn't get synced to other devices.
Pressing the addon icon in the extension bar will read aloud everything on the page, unless you have some text selected, in that case it will only read what is selected. Pressing the arrow icons on the extension will advance or back track one paragraph worth of reading material.
The extension also employs editable shortcut combinations which can be triggered in Chrome or Globally.
Neospeech voices are some of the most humanlike voices you'll hear among TTS voices. Their US English voices specifically include popular TTS voices Julie, Paul, and James are all distinct and pleasant to listen to. They sound even more natural when you adjust their speed and break of their text-speech input.
The pricing of their software licensing is limited. You usually license their software on an annual basis or on an On-Demand basis with credits. The On-Demand option is great if you only need a specific amount of words to be synthesized into text-to-speech.
Neospeech VT editor is compatible on most versions of windows and is simple in design and usability. Interface has all the functions of a basic TTS software right there on its toolbar.
It is a PITA to deactivate a voice on one computer just so you can use a voice that you've purchased with your account on the same account but on a different computer in an attempt to not pay twice to use the same voice on two computers. Users have to make that choice, deal with the hassle of deactivating/activating voices or pay multiple times for the same voice for however many computers you use.
It is a luxury to be able to use a voice for 30 days in real-world use.
If you're confused when you get "This is an evaluation version of Acapella's Group' text to speech synthesizer" when using the newly downloaded/installed voice, look for the action button on the far right column for the voice downloaded/installed and in the drop-down menu click "start demo period".
Adult, children, and some variations of the same speaker, for example Will a US American voice has from afar, up close, happy and sad variations in addition to the original voice.
For a supposed "manager app" it should deal with permissions by itself and not depend on users knowing how to fool around with that.
In Finder right click on the Library/Speech folder > "Get Info" > click unlock icon bottom right corner of get info window > enter administrative level credentials > give groups "Wheel" & "Everyone" Read & Write permissions > click the small gear icon and apply to all enclosed items > Install your voice(s), trial or otherwise, then set permissions for groups "wheel" and "Everyone" back to Read Only > click gear icon and apply to all enclosed items > click the lock button and reboot your computer. Voices should show up in system prefs accessibility > speech section. Might have to enable them by clicking customize.
Often these apps support only English. But Playpost supports about 28 different languages, including, but not limited to, English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Dutch, German, Italian etc.