Text-to-speech app Speechify launches Gmail integration and voice cloning

Text-to-speech startup Speechify is launching a new version of its iOS app (v3.0) with features like a redesigned home page, the ability to scan documents, Gmail and learning platform Canvas integration, and an explore page for in-app content.

Speechify is revamping its homepage to provide shortcuts to import files with options like iOS Files, Google Drive, Kindle, Gmail, Text, Scan and Link. The new update has a scan feature, which lets users scan a physical document and import the text to listen to it later. Users can simultaneously scan two pages of a book as well.

The remodeled home page also has an Apple Fitness Ring-styled daily reading goal, which you can adjust.

The company is introducing a feature to let users read their emails by integrating their Gmail accounts. The app can also help users import their PDF attachments into the Speechify app. The startup is also launching a Canvas integration with the learning management system so students can access their homework assignments. Plus, there is a new iCloud integration that automatically brings your files to Speechify.

Speechify is taking advantage of interactive widgets features in iOS 17 and launching new widgets to easily import sources, track reading progress and continue listening to an imported document. The new app will also let users listen to tracks offline in premium voices.

The company said that the app now has new pre-set AI voices with improved speech models. It has also updated the celebrity voices of Snoop Dogg and MrBeast. Users can also get an AI-powered summary of a document and article, and the app can read it out loud.

Another AI-powered feature that is part of Speechify 3.0 is users’ ability to clone their voice and have it read out text. Last year, Apple released an accessibility-related feature called Personal Voice, which creates a voice that sounds like you. Earlier this month, Clubhouse also released a feature that reads your chats in your voice.

Speechify says it has 23 million users when you are signing up on the app. The company didn’t clarify if this number was indicative of registered users or active users. The startup has forged partnerships like Instagram co-founders’ app Artifact, which was shut down last month, and Medium. The company’s co-founder and head of AI Tyler Weitzman said that it plans to release a public API of its text-to-speech solutions for more business-related partnerships.

Apart from developing support for external reading sources, the company has made a redesigned explore page to put its own content in areas like productivity, self-improvement and learning differences. This content is in a format akin to Instagram Stories.

The company said it observed that once users listen to around 500 words on Speechify, they are likely to love the service. With the preloaded content, the company wants to give users a head start. The startup noted that it wants to bring more content to the app. It notably allows users to read content on different websites through an in-app browser. Plus, it has a separate audiobook business vertical.

Speechify has different types of competitors in the space. For instance, read later app Pocket, which is owned by Mozilla, has an in-app text-to-speech feature. Last year, The New York Times launched its own audio app based on the Audm product it acquired in 2020. Speechify wants to stand out in this market and wants to become a one-stop shop for anyone thinking about reading experiences by offering all kinds of integrations.