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Listening is now unlimited, on phones and computers

2 min read

The Listen player on a phone and on a computer, reading a chapter with the paragraph highlighted

Two weeks ago I added Listen, with a daily limit, because the voice was made on my servers and that costs money. Now the voice is made right on your phone or computer instead. So there are no limits any more, you don't need an account, and computers get the same natural voices as phones.

Press play

Open a chapter, tap Listen, then Play. The first time on a device, the voice downloads once. A ring shows how far along it is and how long is left, often just a few seconds on Wi-Fi. After that, every chapter starts right away.

The Listen player downloading the voice for the first time, with a progress ring and the time left
The first time, the voice downloads once
The Listen player reading a chapter, with the paragraph being read highlighted
After that, it starts right away

Two voices, picked for you

You don't have to choose anything. Computers and recent iPhones get the HD voice, which sounds the most natural (about 66 MB, downloaded once). Other phones get the Standard voice, which is much smaller (about 9 MB) and easier on the battery. Faster Android phones can move up to HD after a few minutes of listening. That only happens between chapters, and you'll see a short note when it does.

Android phones on mobile data or Data Saver stay on Standard, unless you pick HD yourself.

The Listen player open above a chapter on a computer
Computers get the natural voices too

Pick your voice

Want someone else reading? Open ⋯ › Voice. There are eight HD voices, four women and four men, with American and British accents. Tap the play button next to one to hear a sample before you choose. You can also set the quality yourself there, or use your browser's own voice.

The player's menu, with Voice at the top
Voice is in the ⋯ menu
The Voice page with the quality setting and eight voices, each with a sample button
Eight voices, each with a sample

Offline

Once the voice is on your device, it doesn't need a connection. Download chapters for offline as usual and they'll play on a plane or a train. There's no separate audio to download any more.

Everything else stays

It keeps playing with your screen locked, and play and pause work from the lock screen and your headphones. The paragraph being read is highlighted and the page follows along, the next chapter starts by itself, and there's a sleep timer and speeds from 0.5× to 3×.

Tell me in the comments which phone or computer you listen on, how long the first download took, and whether the HD voice ever pauses. And if a voice mangles a cultivation term, I want to hear that too.

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