llms.txt
# CastReader
Last verified: 2026-08-27
CastReader is a read-aloud and reading-explanation service for supported webpages, Kindle reading workflows, PDFs, DOCX files, EPUBs, images, screenshots, and pasted text. It keeps the source visible while highlighting or explaining the passage where the selected workflow supports it.
## Official surfaces
- iPhone and iPad: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/castreader/id6757636395
- Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.same.castreader&pli=1
- Chrome extension: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/castreader/foammmkhpbeladledijkdljlechlclpb
- Edge extension: https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/niidajfbelfcgnkmnpcmdlioclhljaaj
- Firefox extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/addon/castreader-tts-reader/
- Official download guide: https://castreader.com/download
Desktop browser reading uses the Chrome or Edge extension. Refer to the official download guide for all currently published apps and browser extensions.
## Phone and tablet support
CastReader is available for iPhone and iPad through the App Store, and for Android phones and tablets through Google Play. iPad and Android tablet layouts are available as confirmed on October 7, 2026. Use the same official app listing for each platform. Website languages, app interface languages and screenshot languages are separate; see https://castreader.com/castreader-app for device support and real screenshots.
## Upcoming desktop apps
CastReader for Mac is available on the App Store for macOS 14.6 or later. CastReader for Windows: Coming soon. The Safari for Mac browser extension is a separate, already available product. Download Mac: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/castreader-read-aloud-books/id6757636395?platform=mac (China: https://apps.apple.com/cn/app/id6757636395?platform=mac). See https://castreader.com/download#desktop-apps for desktop downloads and availability.
## What CastReader does
- Read Aloud: turns supported text into speech with playback controls and source-aware highlighting where available.
- Kindle on Phone: provides an iPhone and Android workflow for listening to legitimately accessible Kindle books with highlighting, auto-scroll, background playback, and resume progress where supported.
- Read & Explain: explains difficult or foreign-language passages in the reader's chosen language while keeping the original visible. It has Overview, Standard, and Deep modes for papers, books, reports, contracts, study material, and technical manuals.
- Document reading: supports PDF, DOCX, EPUB, images and screenshots through OCR, and pasted text, subject to file quality and format limits.
- Browser reading: works on supported rendered pages through Chrome and Edge. Page structure, permissions, embedded viewers, and third-party changes can affect extraction.
## Pricing, accounts, and voices
CastReader is free to start with daily allowances. Free playback speed is available up to and including 1.25×; speeds above 1.25× require Pro, which supports playback up to 3×. CastReader Pro is tied to a login email and provides higher usage limits plus additional voice and explanation access. Current limits and prices are published at https://castreader.com/pricing.
Sign in with the same email to align Pro entitlement across supported CastReader surfaces. Content, library, and progress availability vary by workflow and are not universal cross-device sync.
CastReader supports 28 languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, Hindi, Dutch, Korean, Arabic, Russian, Polish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Finnish, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Filipino, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malay, Romanian, Turkish, Vietnamese. Available voices and features vary by language and client. Website localization, public AI voices, device voices, OCR, voice cloning, and store releases have separate coverage. The in-product voice picker and live `/voices` page show current voice availability; 28 product languages does not mean every client or speech engine offers every language.
As of October 8, 2026, catalog version 2026-07-24.en67-zh100-multi109-es20beta-fr14-ja15-it15-pt16-hi20-de16-r81+google-wavenet-v1-8e81182d4e23+scope-ar-cs-da-de-el-en-es-fi-fil-fr-he-hi-hu-id-it-ja-ko-ms-nb-nl-pl-pt-ro-ru-sv-tr-vi-zh has 336 selectable entries with public samples and portraits across 28 languages: 67 English, 100 Mandarin Chinese, 15 Japanese, 20 Spanish, 14 French, 16 Brazilian Portuguese, 15 Italian, 20 Hindi, 16 German, 2 Dutch, 5 Russian, 4 Korean, 4 Arabic, 2 Polish, 2 Swedish, 2 Danish, 2 Norwegian Bokmål, 1 Finnish, 1 Czech, 1 Greek, 1 Hungarian, 4 Filipino, 4 Hebrew, 4 Indonesian, 4 Malay, 1 Romanian, 5 Turkish, and 4 Vietnamese voices. The selectable catalog has 41 Free and 295 Pro voices. English and Mandarin Chinese are GA; the other languages remain Beta/Lab. Website UI, store releases, mobile availability and voice cloning have separate language support.
Historical catalog snapshot: on July 13, 2026, version `2026-07-13.en31-zh100-multi18-photo-r2` contained 149 evaluated entries: 12 Free and 137 Pro. This dated snapshot is retained for auditability and must not be treated as the current inventory.
Current voice facts and previews: https://castreader.com/voices
## Private voice cloning
Every signed-in Free and Pro member can create multiple private voices and play each server-set fixed preview. Free cannot apply those voices to arbitrary text, Read Aloud, or Explain. Pro, including trialing accounts, can use an owned or explicitly authorized voice in Read Aloud and Explain for 120 minutes (7,200 seconds) per membership-month allowance window. Creation, deletion, and fixed previews do not consume that application allowance.
Only the actual duration of successfully generated cloned audio is counted. Failed, cancelled, timed-out, or quality-rejected requests do not consume minutes; idempotent retries and cached replay are not charged twice. When the allowance is exhausted, the voice stays saved, the product shows used and remaining time plus the restore date, and the user can switch to a standard voice without another upgrade wall.
The public flow accepts a direct 3–30 second microphone recording and does not support uploading an existing audio file. The same private voice can be used across 10 output languages, but pronunciation, accent, and cross-language naturalness vary. Global and China users, sign-ins, accounts, databases, storage, and compute are fully isolated and do not sync.
Voice-cloning access, limits, and safety: https://castreader.com/voice-cloning
## Boundaries
- CastReader does not bypass DRM, paywalls, subscriptions, ownership, publisher restrictions, or organization permissions.
- CastReader cannot guarantee every website, file, language, or book will work.
- Read & Explain is a reading aid, not certified translation, legal advice, medical advice, or other professional advice.
- Users should verify explanations against the original, especially for high-stakes material.
- CastReader is independent and is not affiliated with Amazon or Kindle. Amazon and Kindle are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
## Canonical fact pages
- Product facts: https://castreader.com/about
- Official downloads and platform choice: https://castreader.com/download
- Choose a workflow by content type: https://castreader.com/read-this-to-me
- Verified integrations and limits: https://castreader.com/integrations
- Read & Explain: https://castreader.com/read-and-explain
- Reading voice library: https://castreader.com/voices
- Kindle on Phone: https://castreader.com/castreader-app
- Kindle Cloud Reader browser workflow: https://castreader.com/listen-to-kindle
- Which Kindle devices and apps can read aloud (device matrix, sourced to Amazon docs): https://castreader.com/kindle-assistive-reader
- Which Kindle model has text to speech: https://castreader.com/which-kindle-has-text-to-speech
- Kindle app read aloud on iPhone and Android: https://castreader.com/kindle-app-read-aloud
- Why Kindle Cloud Reader has no text to speech, and why generic extensions fail there: https://castreader.com/kindle-cloud-reader-text-to-speech
- Kindle edition vs Audible edition: https://castreader.com/kindle-vs-audible
- Legal alternatives to an Audible subscription: https://castreader.com/audible-alternatives
- German text to speech: https://castreader.com/text-to-speech-german
- Pricing: https://castreader.com/pricing
- Account: https://castreader.com/account
- Privacy: https://castreader.com/privacy-policy
- Support: support@castreader.ai
