Listen like a podcast
Up Next plays your articles in order and moves on to the next when each one ends. Your headphones' next button skips ahead, a sleep timer stops it for you, and Read remembers the speed you like.
Read: Listen Later
Save it now. Hear it later.
A read-it-later app for iPhone that reads your saved articles to you, one after another, like a podcast. The voice is natural, runs on your iPhone and works offline. No account, no ads, no tracking.
Coming soon to the App Store
Free · iPhone · iOS 26 or later
9:41100%
Field Notes · 9 min read
The last ferry keeper on the river
Every morning at six, before the first car arrives, Ana checks the ropes by hand. The ferry has crossed this stretch of river for longer than anyone in the village can remember.
There used to be four keepers. Now there is only her, a radio, and a notebook where she writes down the height of the water every single day.
ListenTranslateUp Next · 3
The last ferry keeper on the riverField Notes
What it does
Your reading list, read to you.
Most read-it-later lists only grow. Read turns yours into something you can get through on a walk, a commute or the washing-up.
A natural voice, offline
English articles are read by a natural voice built into the app. It runs on your iPhone, so it works on the Underground and in airplane mode, and nothing you save is sent anywhere. Other languages use your iPhone's own voices.
Reading or listening, same place
Switch between reading and listening from the same sentence. While Read speaks, the words light up on the page, so you can follow along whenever you look down.
Who it's for
For everything you saved and never got round to.
The commute
Press Listen as you leave the house. By the time you arrive, a few of the articles you saved this week are done, and the phone stayed in your pocket.
The long reads you keep saving
The long piece you saved for "when there's time" fits a run, a drive or the washing-up instead.
News from home, wherever you live
Follow papers and sites by country and by interest, from public news feeds in 176 countries. Save the stories you want and they join the queue.
A language you're learning, or one you don't read
Open an article already translated on your iPhone and hear the translation read aloud, or keep the original and listen to how it sounds. The original is always one tap away.
Resting your eyes
After a day of screens, let the articles come to you by ear. The words are on the page if you want to glance down.
Life after Pocket
Pocket closed in 2025. Read imports the export it gave you, so your saved articles come with you. Moving from Pocket.
Walkthroughs
How it works, step by step.
Save from anywhere
No account to make first.
- Share to ReadIn Safari or any other app, tap Share and choose Read. Articles, web pages and PDFs all work.
- Or copy a linkCopy a link anywhere and open Read: it offers to save it with one tap.
- Offline? Save anywayThe link is saved at once, and the article downloads when you're back online.
Listen on the way to work
Like a podcast, but it's your reading list.
- Press ListenOpen a saved article and press Listen. The words light up as Read speaks.
- Lock the phoneRead keeps reading with the screen off, with controls on the Lock Screen, and carries on to the next article in Up Next.
- Skip or stopYour headphones' next button skips to the next article. Set the sleep timer if you're listening in bed.
Read it in your language
Translation is done on your iPhone, by Apple's on-device translation.
- Choose your languageIn Settings, turn on Translate articles automatically and pick the language to translate into.
- Open an articleAn article in another language opens already translated, marked as machine translated.
- Listen, or check the originalPress Listen to hear the translation, or tap Original to see the words as written.
And everything else
Quiet, and yours.
Works offline
Saved articles are downloaded, so they open and play on a plane or underground.
Publishers' pages stay theirs
Stories from the news you follow open on the publisher's own page. Read makes a clean copy only of what you save, or when you ask for Reader.
Fewer cookie banners
An optional Safari extension hides cookie-consent banners as you browse. It accepts nothing on your behalf.
PDFs too
Share a PDF to Read and it joins the same queue, to read or to hear.
Your library, exportable
Export your whole library from Settings at any time. Nothing locks you in.
From Instapaper, Matter or Readwise
Import their exports as CSV, HTML, JSON or Markdown, and Read fetches each article into a clean copy on your iPhone.
What you read is nobody's business.
- No account and no sign-in. Open it and start saving.
- No analytics, no advertising and no tracking of any kind.
- The voice and the translation run on your iPhone.
- Your library stays on your iPhone. Read connects only to publishers' own sites, for the pages and feeds you choose. Read the privacy policy.
At a glance
Read in short.
- Name
- Read: Listen Later
- What it is
- A read-it-later app that reads your saved articles aloud
- Price
- Free. No subscription, ads or in-app purchases
- Device
- iPhone, iOS 26 or later
- Voice
- Natural English voice on the device, works offline; iPhone voices for other languages
- Saves
- Articles, web pages and PDFs, from the Share button or a copied link
- Imports
- Pocket, Instapaper, Matter and Readwise Reader exports
- Privacy
- No account, no tracking; library stays on the iPhone
- Made by
- Meantime Studio, London
Questions
Good to know.
Is Read free?
Yes. Read is free to download, with no subscription, no ads and no in-app purchase.
What does the voice sound like?
English articles are read by a natural voice built into the app, which runs on your iPhone, so it works offline and sends nothing anywhere. Articles in other languages use the voices built into your iPhone.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no sign-in. Your library stays on your iPhone, and Meantime Studio never sees what you save, read or listen to.
Can I bring my saved articles from Pocket?
Yes. In Settings, choose Import from Pocket or a file and pick the export file Pocket gave you. Read also imports exports from Instapaper, Matter and Readwise Reader, as CSV, HTML, JSON or Markdown. Step by step.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Saved articles are downloaded, so they open and play without a connection. A link saved while offline downloads when you are back online.
Does Read hide publishers' pages?
No. Stories you open from the news you follow load on the publisher's own page. Read makes a clean copy only of articles you save, and when you ask for Reader.
Which devices does Read run on?
iPhone with iOS 26 or later. It also runs on iPad in its iPhone layout.
Who makes Read?
Meantime Studio, a small studio in London that also makes the podcast player Current and the audiobook app Narrate. Write to [email protected] and a real person answers. More answers on the support page.
Save it now. Hear it later.
Read is coming to the App Store for iPhone, free.
Coming soon to the App Store