- Wait, so how is this free?
- What's new in this release?
- Will you support more than just English?
- How does the Mastodon integration work?
- How does the Twitter integration work?
- Why does it take more than a minute to process?
- Why do my items seem to disappear?
- Do I have to keep typing in your website to use this app?
- Is there an easier way to add items without copying and pasting?
- Why doesn't website XYZ work in Speak It To Me?
- Do you give my personal information to anyone?
- Do you have an application for iOS / Android / Kindle / Atari / etc. ?
- Can you add a new voice for Mr. T / Morgan Freeman / etc ?
Q: Wait, so how is this free?
A: We believe that solving problems comes first. We wanted to build a solution to a problem that we had as well and we hope that by offering this current version for free, you will help us make this service even better with your feedback and support. Thanks!
Q: What's new in this release?
A:
May 13th, 2017 (version 14)
We've added Mastodon federated microblogging integration! In addition, we've improved the reading detection for many different popular sites. In addition, we now support auto-detecting the language of your submissions in order to allow us to prepare for multi-lingual text to speech (slated for the next release).
Apr 21st, 2017 (version 13)
Long URLs submitted via bookmarks are no longer a problem. We also made some under the covers changes to make the application more responsive and more secure.
Mar 9th, 2017 (version 12)
Spring is coming soon, so we felt like tweaking the UI just a bit. We've made the error handling a little better and have added a visual reminder of which site your articles are from. We also improved the text-to-speech and word detection so you can enjoy more articles!
Feb 24th, 2017 (version 11)
We've made the Twitter integration even better. Now just include a mention of
@speakittome or send us a direct message and we'll read those articles for you!
Feb 2nd, 2017 (version 10)
We've added Twitter login integration. You can now login with your Twitter account instead of creating a specific Speak It To Me account!
Jan 29th, 2017 (version 9)
We've improved the navigation for those who bookmark the app to their iOS home screens. We've also added an auto deletion function to help keep your lists tidy!
Jan 14th, 2017 (version 8)
We've recently added better error messages to make it easier for our users. We've also changed the way the adding articles works for less clicks.
Stay in touch with our
twitter account for more updates.
Q: Will you support more than just English?
A: Yes. We've added language detection to our service and in the process of rolling out other languages for our next release, version 15. We will begin with Japanese and French since there is such a large Japanese population of federated Mastodon users.
Q: How does the Mastodon integration work?
A: If you already have a Mastodon account, on a federated instance, simply login via Mastodon and begin using Speak It To Me. It's that simple.
If you are already logged in to Speak It To Me via Twitter or by email, we'll link your accounts automatically.
To process messages, simply send a direct message to @speakittome@mastodon.cloud and we'll begin reading it to you.
Please note that due to limitations in federation, if your instance limits messages between mastodon.cloud or if you're account is set up to be private, we may not always be able to send you a direct message in response.
Q: How does the Twitter integration work?
A: If you already have a Twitter account, simply login via Twitter and begin using Speak It To Me. It's that simple.
If you already created an account here and login to Speak It To Me via Twitter, we'll link your accounts automatically if they share the same email address. And don't worry, if you rather just have a Speak It To Me account, you can always create a password here if you like and unlink from Twitter later.
Also, when you follow our Twitter account at @speakittome, we can process articles that you send to use via direct message. But remember, you have to log in with your Twitter credentials for that magic to happen.
Please note that due to Twitter rate limiting, we may not always be able to send you a direct message in response, however, we will still process your requests to read articles and they will show up in your list and podcast feed.
Q: Why does it take more than a minute to process?
A: Remember that free part above? We're not investing in scaling the performance of our text-to-speech at this time, hoping rather to invest in features. In the future as we have different levels of service, this will come. At this time, our stats indicate that most people utilize the podcast feature as well so your podcast tool will pick up the new articles whenever they are available!
We recommend setting your podcast feed catcher to check every 15-30 minutes for new downloads.
Q: Why do my items seem to disappear?
A: We are currently limiting the retention of articles to 14 days while we are testing. We may offer a pay plan in the future which will allow for longer retention periods.
Q: Do I have to keep typing in your website to use this app?
A: No. You can bookmark the main page on iOS or Android devices and save that bookmark to your home page. For more information, create an account and check the help section.
In addition, be sure to check "Remember Me" on login to prevent having to enter in your password again on the same device.
Q: Is there an easier way to add items without copying and pasting?
A: Why yes! Once you create an account you can also create a bookmark shortcut, for iOS, Android, or any modern browser. This special bookmark will allow you to simply click one link while on any page and have it automatically submitted to Speak It To Me for processing.
Q: Why doesn't website XYZ work in Speak It To Me?
A: Some websites are built in such a way to make it difficult for algorithms like ours to determine which part of the article is "human readable". In addition, some websites purposefully block services like ours. We check all errors and try to improve our service as our users utilize the site.
If you think there is an error on our end, feel free to use our flagging function. Simply click
Flag for issue on the item in question. We will get an email and will take a look.
Q: Do you give my personal information to anyone?
A: No. You can read our
terms and conditions in more detail if you're curious, but the bottom line is no. We do plan to share information on what is being read by our users to help support enhancements to the site, but will do so without sharing any personally identifying information.
Q: Do you have an application for iOS / Android / Kindle / Atari / etc.?
A: No, not at this time. However, we are looking at ways to allow these devices to forward links to the Speak It To Me service more easily, and that may involve creating an application. Stay tuned for more.
In the meantime, you can bookmark our site and put it on your home screen. It will create a fancy icon for you and everything.
Q: Can you add a new voice for Mr. T / Morgan Freeman / etc.?
A: If you can get Mr. T or Morgan Freeman to
contact us, then we'll take a look at it.