Speaking For Mac

macOS comes with built-in system voices that can be accessed by any app that integrates text to speech capabilities. Speaking is a small app that uses the same system tool while providing further customization options.

The Speaking user interface is represented by a single window where you get to input the text you want to hear read out loud and to choose the voice you want to use. You can import data by pasting text from the clipboard, or by directly opening TXT or XML files.

Speaking can use any voice integrated with your system and provides support for making some adjustments. You get to change the speaking rate, the pitch base, the pitch mode, and the volume. You have the option to revert to the default values with a simple mouse click.

Once you are satisfied with the adjustments, press the play button placed in the bottom right corner and Speaking starts reading the text. In the app’s main window, the currently scanned word is highlighted, and you get to pause the playback if necessary.

Within the Speaking main window you can also edit the source text file: you can change the font style and size, the text alignment, or the line spacing. You can also create multiple lists. All the modifications can be saved to a TXT file.

At the same time, Speaking allows you to export the text to speech rendition to an MP3 file. The bad news is that the output audio file is using the default system voice, rate, and pitch. In other words, to grab the app’s personalized text to voice rendition you need to use a third party recording tool.

Lastly, Speaking comes with multiple color themes for the user interface, and you get to quickly switch between them either by using the Scheme menu or various keyboard combinations.