Notes on listening
to what you read.
Practical guides on turning PDFs and EPUBs into audiobooks, making your Mac read aloud, rescuing scanned documents with OCR, and getting through the reading pile with your ears.
What's new in Unknown 2.2
Open any web article, paper or X post from a link or Safari's Share menu, listen to Word and text files, collect 49 badges in a trophy cabinet, and follow a reader timeline split into chapters.
Read the release note → Release note · 4 minWhat's new in Unknown 2.1
A full redesign, plus reading goals that book listening sessions into your calendar and focus sessions that clear the screen until today's listening is done. Streaks, points, an activity grid and 28 narrators with faces.
Read the release note → Launch · 3 minUnknown for iPhone: your narrated library, in your pocket
The free iPhone companion is on the App Store. Every book your Mac narrates appears on your phone through your own iCloud - same voice, read-along on the real pages, progress and notes in sync, background audio with lock screen controls.
Read the announcement → Release note · 3 minUnknown 1.31: report a bug by recording it
Report Issue now records the app window while you walk through the problem and narrate into the mic - pause, start over, preview the clip, and send it with no typing. Plus a dedicated toolbar button for reports and feature requests.
Read the release note → Release note · 3 minWhat's new in Unknown 1.30
Focus sessions now open with a spoken recap of where you left off, you stay signed in across updates, updates install themselves in the background, and deleting a collection can take its books with it.
Read the release note → Release note · 3 minWhat's new in Unknown 1.28: collections
Organize your library into folders: create collections, file books with a right click, rename and rearrange them anytime - synced through iCloud. Plus steadier narration for multi-column papers and tables.
Read the release note → Release note · 3 minWhat's new in Unknown 1.27
Two-column papers now read column by column, documents process through a background queue that resumes if interrupted, arXiv search got faster, and bug reports can attach a video.
Read the release note → Release note · 2 minUnknown 1.26 fixes freezes when opening large books
Opening a big book could freeze the app for seconds, and first-launch setup could lock up the window. 1.26 moves the heavy work to the background so the app stays responsive.
Read the release note → Release note · 3 minFind Papers: search arXiv and listen to any paper
New in 1.25: search arXiv's two million papers inside the app and click any result to hear it read aloud with synced highlighting - plus a voice picker that remembers your last-used voice everywhere.
Read about the feature → Feature · 2 minDownload your PDF's audio as a file
New in Unknown 1.23 - right-click any book and save its narration as a plain audio file. Play it on your phone, in your car, anywhere; no app required.
Read about the feature → Release note · 2 minUnknown 1.22 fixes the Sign in with Google crash
The app quit the moment you clicked Sign in with Google. What was broken, what 1.22 changes, and how to update - your library and data were never at risk.
Read the release note → Comparison · 9 minThe best PDF to audiobook apps for Mac in 2026
Seven options compared honestly - native Mac apps, offline support, OCR for scans, and real prices, every claim verified from official sources in August 2026.
Read the comparison → Comparison · 8 min7 Speechify alternatives for Mac in 2026
Cheaper, on-device, and free options compared honestly - what each one costs, what works offline, and where Speechify still wins. Verified August 2026.
Read the comparison → Guide · 7 minHow to turn a PDF into an audiobook on Mac (3 ways)
A dedicated reader app, the free built-in Spoken Content tool, and a do-it-yourself Shortcuts pipeline - what each one gives you and where each one struggles.
Read the guide → Guide · 6 minHow to make your Mac read a PDF aloud
Speak Selection, better Siri voices, the say command, and the limits you will hit: no follow-along, column chaos, and silence on scans.
Read the guide → Guide · 5 minHow to turn an EPUB into an audiobook on Mac
Apple Books will not narrate the EPUBs you load into it. Here is how to give any novel you own a narrator, and why converting to PDF first is the wrong move.
Read the guide → Guide · 5 minHow to get a scanned PDF read aloud on Mac
A scan is a photograph, so text-to-speech has nothing to say. Two fixes: automatic OCR in a reader, or the manual Live Text route.
Read the guide → Workflow · 6 minHow to listen to research papers like podcasts
Two-column layouts, citations and reference sections make papers the hardest thing to narrate. A workflow that keeps comprehension high anyway.
Read the guide → Essay · 6 minIs listening to an audiobook the same as reading?
What comprehension research actually shows, where each mode wins, and the read-while-listening option that quietly beats both.
Read the essay →