Best Text to Speech Android Apps to Read PDF Aloud on Android Devices

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What if your phone can read PDFs aloud for you? If you read PDFs and eBooks on your Android phone or tablet you might have wished to get PDFs/eBooks read by your Android device for you. Yes, there are text to speech Android apps that can narrate PDFs for you.

Best Text to Speech Android Apps to Read PDF Aloud
Best Text to Speech Android Apps to Read PDF Aloud

Why is Text-to-Speech feature so useful?

  • Better concentration and retention: It’s easy to retain the content consumed in audio-visual (A/V) format. The narration (audio) of the text you are reading, helps you concentrate while reading the eBook. For an immersive experience use earphones while reading and listening to an eBook using the PDF-to-voice converter apps.
  • Improves productivity: A reliable text-to-speech PDF reader app can improve your productivity. Because you don’t need to stick to the screen of your phone or tablet all the time, to consume content of PDF files.

In this article, we’ll explore the best text-to-speech Android apps for reading PDFs aloud. In the following paragraphs, I will tell you which app I like most and why. I will also share how you can read PDF Aloud on an Android Phone or Tablet using these PDF-to-voice converter apps.

There are apps on Google Play Store with text-to-speech (TTS) engine support. Out of these apps, a few work better in terms of functionality and user experience, and the rest are not that good.

Best Android Apps to Read PDF Aloud (using Text to Speech) Compared

PFD Reader App NameFeatures and SettingsRating and DownloadsPricing
ezPDF Reader– Real book-style page flip
– Text-to-Speech (TTS)
– Auto page flip support
– Annotation support
– Clean UI
Rating: 3.5 stars
Downloads: 500K+
$3.99 (Paid)
Adobe Acrobat Reader– PDF viewing, editing, annotation
– Collaborative features
– Integration with Adobe Scan
– Various file management options
Rating: 4.4 stars
Downloads: 500M+
Freemium;
In-app purchases
ReadEra – book reader pdf epub– Free offline reading
Ad-free experience
– Support for various formats
– Library management
– Customizable reading settings
Rating: 4.8 stars
Downloads: 10M+
Free
eReader Prestigio: Book Reader– Material Design UI
– Text-to-speech
– Customizable themes
– File management
– Multi-language support
Rating: 4.5 stars
Downloads: 10M+
Freemium;
In-app purchases
@Voice Aloud Reader-Read Aloud– Text-to-Speech (TTS)
– Narration of various content types
– Customizable playback settings
– OCR technology
Rating: 4.2 stars
Downloads: 10M+
Freemium;
In-app purchases
Speechify Text to Speech Voice– Text-to-speech and speech-to-text
– Conversion of various content types
– Accessible web content
– Manage emails and images
Rating: 4.2 stars
Downloads: 1M+
Freemium;
In-app purchases
NaturalReader – Text to Speech– Text-to-speech for various content types
– Support for dyslexia
– MP3 conversion
– Camera scanner feature
Rating: 4.3 stars
Downloads: 1M+
Freemium;
In-app purchases
Best Android Apps to Read PDF Aloud Comparison

How to have PDF files Read Aloud on Android

Let’s see how your Android phone can read PDF files aloud to you. Step by step process to enable your phone to narrate PDFs:

  1. Go to Google Play Store.
  2. Install Google Text to Speech Engine.
  3. Install one of the PDF reader Android apps mentioned below.
  4. Open the PDF reader app.
  5. Open a PDF file in the newly installed PDF reader.
  6. Tap on the Start narration/ Read aloud button depending on which app you have installed.
  7. Click start/OK to start PDF text narration.

Read PDF Aloud: Android Text to Speech Apps

Before installing any Text to Speech Android app (PDF reader in this case) mentioned below, make sure you have installed a Text-to-Speech (TTS) engine. Don’t confuse between Text-to-Speech (TTS) engines and Text-to-speech Android apps. TTS engine enables apps (Text to Speech Android apps) to narrate/read the text on your screen aloud. Many companies offer TTS engines including Google. I prefer Google Text-to-speech engine (also called Speech Recognition & Synthesis) to install on my Android. Other popular TTS engines are Acapela, IVONA, etc.

After testing/using many apps I found the following apps that stand out. Out of these apps, a few are free and the others are paid.

#1 ezPDF Reader

The ezPDF Reader is one of the best PDF reader apps for Android. It supports Text-to-Speech (TTS) and offers other useful features. The app interface is clean and intuitive. It doesn’t just let you view and highlight documents; it also plays embedded multimedia files like audio, video, and GIF animations. Generally, with ezPDF Reader you get a good reading experience.

ezPDF Reader PDF Annotate Form -Read PDF Aloud on Android
ezPDF Reader PDF Annotate Form – Read PDF Aloud on Android

Features and Settings:

  • Supports real book-style page flip
  • Supports auto page flip with and without text narration (a stand-out feature)
  • Supports Text-to-Speech (TTS) – Narrates PDF files for you
  • Can play, pause, stop, forward, and reverse narration
  • Multiple language support as it uses Text-to-Speech engine services
  • Clean and easy user interface (design)
  • The stability of the current version is satisfactory as there is a very rare β€œforce close”
  • Can bookmark pages in PDF – so that you can easily resume reading
  • Annotation support (highlight, underline, strike-out, etc. – so you can mark the important text)
  • Of course, there are no ads as it’s a paid app
  • Many settings for page views, voice settings, day mode, night reading mode, etc.

Google Play Store Rating: The ezPDF Reader holds a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5.0 on the Google Play Store, based on 25.7K reviews.

Downloads: This app has been downloaded over 500K times from the Google Play Store.

Minimum Android Requirement: To use the ezPDF Reader, your device needs to run on Android version 4.0 or higher. The current version is 2.7.1.6, last updated in July 2023.

Permissions Required: The app requires permissions to access phone functions (for TTS interruption during calls), photos/media/files (to read and modify USB storage contents), microphone (for voice recording), device ID & call information, network connections, and device sleep prevention.

Ads & In-App Purchases: The ezPDF Reader is a paid app. It is priced at $3.99. The App developer also offers a lite version of this app at a lower price of $0.99.

Developer Info: The ezPDF Reader is developed by Unidocs Inc.

Download ezPDF Reader

#2 Adobe Acrobat Reader: Edit PDF

Adobe Acrobat Reader offers all essential features for PDF reading on Android. You can view, print, and annotate PDFs, collaborate easily, fill out forms, and access files from various sources, including Google Drive. Integration with Adobe Scan enables working with scanned documents directly.

Adobe Acrobat Reader Edit PDF - Read PDF Aloud on Android using Text to Speech App
Adobe Acrobat Reader Edit PDF – Read PDF Aloud on Android using Text to Speech App

Features and Settings:

  • Supports text-to-speech PDF narration
  • View and print any PDF with options for Single Page or Continuous Scroll mode.
  • Utilize Liquid Mode for optimal PDF viewing, adjusting font size, and spacing.
  • Share PDFs for collaborative commenting, responding to feedback, and receiving activity notifications.
  • Annotate PDFs with personalized notes, comments, and text highlighting.
  • Fill out and sign forms easily within the app.
  • Store and manage files across devices, including linking online storage accounts.
  • Connect the PDF reader to Google Drive for seamless access and management.
  • Work with scanned documents by accessing and editing them directly in the app.
  • Edit text and images directly within PDFs
  • Merge and organize PDF files
  • Convert files to and from PDF format
  • Compress PDFs
  • Secure PDFs with passwords

Google Play Store Rating: Adobe Acrobat Reader holds a rating of 4.4 stars out of 5.0 on the Google Play Store, based on 6.19 million reviews.

Downloads: This app has been downloaded over 500 million times from the Google Play Store.

Minimum Android Requirement: To use Adobe Acrobat Reader, your device needs to run on Android version 7.0 or higher. The current version is 24.1.0.30990, last updated in January 2024.

Permissions Required: Adobe Acrobat Reader requires various permissions including access to identity, contacts, photos/media/files, storage, camera, microphone, Wi-Fi connection information, and others. These permissions enable features such as adding or removing accounts, reading and modifying USB storage contents, recording audio, accessing Wi-Fi connections, and more.

Ads & In-App Purchases: In-app purchases range from $1.99 to $99.99 per item. The free version of the app itself does not include ads. But to use premium features you need to pay.

Developer Info: Adobe Acrobat Reader is developed by Adobe.

Download Adobe Acrobat Reader

#3 ReadEra – book reader pdf epub

ReadEra is a versatile book reader app that lets you read books for free, offline, in various formats including PDF, EPUB, Microsoft Word (DOC, DOCX, RTF), Kindle (MOBI, AZW3), DJVU, FB2, TXT, ODT, and CHM. It’s ad-free and doesn’t require registration, offering a fast and reliable reading experience without any limitations. With ReadEra, you can access books of all formats and enjoy features like margin cropping for PDF files, single-column mode for scanned PDFs, and automatic detection of books and documents.

ReadEra – book reader pdf epub: Read PDF Aloud on Android
ReadEra – book reader pdf epub: Read PDF Aloud on Android

Features and Settings:

  • Free offline reading of books in various formats: PDF, EPUB, Word, Kindle, DJVU, and more
  • Ad-free experience without any internal purchases or registrations required
  • Comprehensive format support for books, journals, and documents
  • Margin cropping and single-column mode for PDF files
  • Automatic detection of books and documents for easy access
  • Efficient library management with grouping by authors and series
  • Quick navigation through reading settings, bookmarks, and page browsing history
  • Customizable color modes, page flipping, and font settings
  • Memory optimization to save bookmarks and reading progress
  • Multi-document mode for simultaneous reading of multiple books

Google Play Store Rating: ReadEra boasts an impressive rating of 4.8 stars out of 5.0, based on a whopping 1.17 million reviews.

Downloads: This app has been downloaded over 10 million times from the Google Play Store.

Minimum Android Requirement: To use ReadEra, your device needs to run on Android version 4.1 or higher. The current version is 24.02.04+1940, last updated in February 2024.

Permissions Required: ReadEra requires permission to access photos/media/files for reading and modifying USB storage contents, as well as network connections. It also needs permission to run at startup and prevent the device from sleeping.

Ads & In-App Purchases: ReadEra is completely ad-free and does not include any in-app purchases.

Developer Info: ReadEra is developed by ReadEra LLC.

Download ReadEra – book reader pdf epub

#4 eReader Prestigio: Book Reader

eReader Prestigio: Book Reader is another good app for reading text and audiobooks. It supports multiple languages and formats. The app includes text-to-speech functionality, allowing you to listen to your favorite books read aloud.

eReader Prestigio Book Reader - Read PDF Aloud with Android Text to Speech App
eReader Prestigio Book Reader – Read PDF Aloud with Android Text to Speech App

Features and Settings:

  • Material Design and simple navigation for ease of use
  • Customizable Shelf Themes and in-book backgrounds
  • Scan library for specific file and text book formats
  • Text-to-speech functionality for read-along
  • Inbuilt dictionary for quick word definitions
  • Multiple fonts, sizes, and styles for personalized reading
  • Night mode for comfortable reading in low-light conditions
  • Books Collection feature for organizing books by genre, author, or series
  • File Manager for easy access to ebooks and text files
  • Synchronize books & text files from cloud services like Google Drive, One Drive, Dropbox
  • Smart ebooks search function to quickly find desired content
  • Support for various ebook formats including epub, djvu, pdf, and more
  • Multilingual User Interface with support for 25 languages and counting
  • In-app store library with 50,000+ text and audiobooks

Google Play Store Rating: Rated 4.5 stars out of 5.0, based on 507K reviews.

Downloads: This app has been downloaded over 10 million times from the Google Play Store.

Minimum Android Requirement: The Android version varies with the device. Also, the app version varies with the device.

Permissions Required: Permissions include access to identity, contacts, phone, photos/media/files, storage, Wi-Fi connection information, device ID & call information, and others. These permissions enable various functionalities such as syncing, accessing accounts, modifying storage, and more.

Ads & In-App Purchases: In-app purchases range from $0.99 – $99.99 per item. The free version includes ads. You need to pay to remove ads.

Developer Info: Developed by Prestigio Plaza Ltd.

Download eReader Prestigio: Book Reader

#5 @Voice Aloud Reader-Read Aloud

β€œ@Voice Aloud Reader-Read Aloud” can read pdf aloud for you. Other than pdf you can also add data from a mobile browser to get it narrated for you. With this app, you can choose whether you prefer reading on-screen or listening while your eyes are occupied.

@Voice Aloud Reader TTS - Read PDF Aloud using Android Text to Speech App
@Voice Aloud Reader TTS – Read PDF Aloud using Android Text to Speech App

Features and Settings:

  • Supports Text-to-Speech (TTS)
  • Can also narrate text copied from a browser or somewhere else
  • Narration play/pause, stop, forward and reverse
  • Easy access to Text-to-Speech Settings (Voice rate, pitch and volume, etc.)
  • Multiple language support with Text-to-Speech engine
  • Decent user interface
  • Listen to various types of content: web pages, news articles, emails, and documents (PDF, DOC, DOCX, RTF, EPUB, MOBI, etc.)
  • Clutter-free reading experience: removes distractions like menus, navigation, and ads from web pages
  • OCR technology: extracts text from PDFs where standard methods fail
  • Effortlessly share content from other apps
  • Create customized listening lists
  • Export WhatsApp chats for listening
  • Supports original eBook formatting, including images
  • Features TTS correction
  • Adjust volume, pitch, and speech rate

Google Play Store Rating: @Voice Aloud Reader has a rating of 4.2 stars out of 5.0 on the Google Play Store, based on 127K reviews.

Downloads: This app has been downloaded over 10 million times from the Google Play Store.

Minimum Android Requirement: To use @Voice Aloud Reader, your device needs to run on Android version 5.0 or higher. The current version is 29.2.0, last updated in February 2024.

Permissions Required: The app requires permissions to access photos/media/files for reading and modifying USB storage contents, Wi-Fi connection information, device & app history, view network connections, pair with Bluetooth devices, connect and disconnect from Wi-Fi, full network access, and prevent the device from sleeping.

Ads & In-App Purchases: @Voice Aloud Reader does not include ads. However, it offers in-app purchases for additional features.

Developer Info: @Voice Aloud Reader is developed by Hyperionics Technology LLC.

Download @Voice Aloud Reader

#6 Speechify Text to Speech Voice

Speechify is a text-to-speech and speech-to-text app. It helps you with your reading and communication tasks. It transforms various forms of content, including books, documents, web articles, emails, images, and PDFs, into spoken words, making them accessible and convenient for users like us to consume easily.

Speechify Text to Speech Voice - Read PDF Aloud using Android Text to Speech App
Speechify Text to Speech Voice – Read PDF Aloud using Android Text to Speech App

Features and Settings:

  • Transform written text into immersive audio experiences
  • Intelligently convert important documents into clear and articulate speech
  • Access web content conveniently with personalized AI voices
  • Manage emails effortlessly with spoken email functionality
  • Make visual content accessible to everyone with image-to-speech technology
  • Seamlessly convert PDFs into audio format for hands-free access

Google Play Store Rating: Speechify boasts a commendable rating of 4.2 stars out of 5.0 on the Google Play Store, based on feedback from over 113,000 users.

Downloads: With over 1 million downloads from the Google Play Store, Speechify has gained popularity among users seeking efficient text-to-speech and speech-to-text solutions.

Minimum Android Requirement: To utilize Speechify, your device should run on Android version 6.0 or higher. The current version, 1.83.9451, was updated in February 2024.

Permissions Required: Speechify requires permissions to access various functions on your device, including phone status and identity, photos/media/files, storage, camera, Wi-Fi connections, device ID and call information, and others related to network connectivity and device operation.

Ads & In-App Purchases: While Speechify does not contain ads, it offers in-app purchases ranging from $69.99 to $139.99 per item, providing users with additional features or functionalities.

Developer Info: This app is developed by Dyslexia Reading (Speechify – Text To Speech).

Download Speechify Text to Speech Voice

#7 NaturalReader – Text to Speech

NaturalReader is a mobile app that reads aloud various types of text, including PDFs, online articles, cloud documents, and images captured by your camera. It offers features such as converting and downloading text into MP3 files, OCR text recognition for PDFs, and a camera scanner, etc.

NaturalReader Text to Speech: Read PDF Aloud on Android
NaturalReader Text to Speech: Read PDF Aloud on Android

Features and Settings:

  • Read aloud books, PDFs, documents, and more with 140+ AI-powered voices
  • Supports over 25 languages and dialects for diverse users
  • Convert text into MP3 files for convenient listening on the go
  • Enhances accessibility for individuals with dyslexia and reading difficulties
  • Offers dyslexia-friendly font for closed captions and within the text box
  • Simple document upload and listening process
  • Customize experience with preferred speaker voice and optimal reading speed
  • Includes camera scanner feature to convert physical text into audio
  • AI text filtering to remove distracting content
  • Customizable settings for a natural listening experience
  • Cross-device compatibility with free NaturalReader account
  • Supports various document formats including PDF, Microsoft Word, and image files

Google Play Store Rating: NaturalReader holds a rating of 4.3 stars out of 5.0 on the Google Play Store, based on 28.1K reviews.

Downloads: This app has been downloaded over 1 million times from the Google Play Store.

Minimum Android Requirement: To use NaturalReader, your device needs to run on Android version 5.1 or higher. The current version is 6.3, last updated in January 2024.

Permissions Required: The app requires permissions to access phone functions, photos/media/files, storage, camera, device ID & call information, and other functions such as disabling or modifying the status bar, viewing network connections, having full network access, and preventing the device from sleeping.

Ads & In-App Purchases: NaturalReader offers in-app purchases ranging from $9.99 to $109.99 per item. These purchases provide access to features such as Plus voices, which offer natural-sounding text-to-speech, and additional functionalities.

Developer Info: NaturalReader is developed by Naturalsoft Limited.

Download NaturalReader – Text to Speech

Bottom line

Apart from the apps mentioned above, other text-to-speech Android apps can narrate PDFs for you. But, these apps are not up to the mark in terms of functionality and stability.

I like ezPDF the most because of its functionality, stability, and interface. Though it’s a paid app, paying a little for such a useful app, is certainly worth it.

I hope you’ll enjoy listening and reading PDF eBooks using these Text-to-speech Android apps. Let me know your views about these apps and how much you’ll rate these apps out of 5. Also, share if you use some other app to read PDFs aloud on Android.

Cheers!

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Shashank Singh
Shashank is a web addict and amateur blogger. His current interests include blogging, SEO, and WordPress. See his social profiles to know him even better.
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2 thoughts on “Best Text to Speech Android Apps to Read PDF Aloud on Android Devices”

  1. Avatar of Greg

    A new simple and useful Android PDF text to speech reader app on google play witch I found. Contains ads but is a performant:
    BTS – Text to Speech book reader.

    Reply
  2. Avatar of Navin Gohite

    The apps you shared are awesome.
    Thank you for sharing this useful information!

    Reply

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