For over a decade now, Apple has been providing us with their very own virtual assistant called Siri. This virtual assistant is present on all their devices, including iPhones, iPads, Macs, TVs, and even watches. The idea behind it is to make using Apple products easier, both for people with certain difficulties or disabilities and ordinary users.

Aside from setting up your alarm clock or searching for the name of a song you’re hearing, Siri can also read the text on your screen back to you. This text to speech feature is perfect for anyone with reading difficulties, like dyslexics, people with ADHD, or those with vision impairment. So, let’s see how good this feature actually is, shall we?

How to get Siri to talk to you on your iPhone or Mac

Making conversation with Siri on either your iOS iPhone or macOS computer is easy as pie. All you have to do is tell Siri hi. For example, if you’re using an iPhone, just press the Home or Side button, depending on your iPhone, and say: “Hey, Siri! What’s up?”

Siri’s services aren’t just for those who are bored and don’t know what else to do with their time. You can ask the assistant genuine questions like what’s the weather outside, is it going to rain tomorrow, or anything else that troubles you.

Nevertheless, if you decide to go the silly route with Siri, you can expect all sorts of interesting answers. This can spark philosophical debates about subjects like life, religion, or any other abstract concept.

How to get Siri to read selected text to you

The best thing about Siri is that it can read almost any text on your display. Still, you do first have to enable this feature, as it isn’t selected by default.

On your iPhone, go to Settings first, then press Accessibility, and finally Spoken Content. Once the Spoken Content screen pops up, enable Speak Selection and your display will show a Speak button over any selected text.

When it comes to Macs, you should select the Apple menu and then go to System Preferences. After that, choose Accessibility and then Spoken Content. Once you do that, check the Speak Selection box, and you’ll be able to make Siri read any selected text by pressing the Option + Esc keyboard shortcut.

How to adjust Siri reading settings

Another great thing about Siri’s text to speech feature is that you can toggle numerous settings to your liking. Both on iPhones and Macs.

On an iPhone, once you go to Spoken Content, you can go to Speech Controller, where you can enable the Speech Controller button. Asides from that, you can choose the reading speed, text highlighting, two different Siri voices, pronunciations, and much more.

For Macs, once you go to Spoken Content that we’ve explained earlier, you can change the Options + Esc keyboard shortcut to any other you’d like. You can also toggle numerous other options like highlight content, reading speed, show controller, and many more.

Speechify—a text to speech read-aloud alternative to Siri

Siri is a great virtual assistant, but let’s face it. Its text to speech feature is pretty basic. Aside from reading the text on your screen at different speaking rates, it can’t do much more than that. And that’s okay. This isn’t its primary feature. So, if you struggle with reading difficulties or just want to listen to text instead of reading it, you should try Speechify.

Speechify is a text to speech (TTS) tool that’s available for both iPhones and Macs. You can download it through Apple’s app store as a stand-alone app for your macOS computer or iPhone, or add it as a plug-in for Safari or Google Chrome web browser. Either way, you’ll be able to turn any written content into an audio file and enjoy its numerous other options.

Some of these include over 150 different voice-overs for more than 30 different languages. Besides different AI narrators, you can snap photos of physical text, and Speechify will read it aloud to you.

FAQ

How do I get Siri to text to speech?

On your iPhone, you first need to enable screen speaking in Settings. Once you do that, say: “Hey, Siri! Speak screen,” or swipe down from the top of the screen with two fingers. However, if you want Siri to read text aloud on your macOS computer, you once again need to enable screen speaking in System Preferences and then press Option + Esc.

Does Siri do voice-to-text?

Yes, you can dictate to Siri what to write down. The speech to text option allows you to send messages, write down notes, and even compose emails.

Can you still make Siri read words out loud?

Siri voice generator can read text aloud, regardless of what Apple device you’re using. The only thing that differs between them is how to enable this feature.

How do you make Siri say something?

Firstly, you need to enable the text to speech option in Settings or System Preferences (depending on the device) and then appropriately enable it when you want Siri to read aloud. On an iPhone, tell Siri to read aloud, and for Macs, press Option + Esc.

Can iPhone do text-to-speech?

Yes, your iPhone device can read text aloud to you through their virtual assistant—Siri.

How do I turn on Apple text-to-speech?

For iOS device users, go to Settings and enable Screen Speaking. On the other hand, for Mac users, you must go to System Preferences and do the same.

How do I make Siri talk?

To make Siri talk, you should place your phone near your mouth and say: “Hey, Siri! Talk to me.”

Does Siri read text messages out loud?

Yes, Siri can read your text for you. To make her do so, say: “Hey, Siri! Read my messages to me.”

How do I make Siri read text messages?

Just say: “Hey, Siri! Read my text messages to me.”

What is Siri text to speech?

Siri’s text to speech feature allows Apple users to listen to text messages, emails, webpages, or any other text on screen instead of reading it themselves.

What does Siri say when you ask it to text to speech?

Siri doesn’t respond to you. It instead starts reading the text on the screen.