MLXRead replaces macOS "Speak Selection" with a local, private reader. Select text in any app, press ⌥⎋ (Option–Escape), and hear it spoken by an on-device MLX model. Press ⌥⎋ again to stop. Nothing is uploaded; nothing is logged.
Website & demo: https://mlxread-web.pages.dev
Requirements
- Apple Silicon Mac, macOS 14 or newer
Install
- Download
MLXRead.zip, unzip, and drag MLXRead.app to Applications. - Open it — it's Developer ID–signed and notarized by Apple, so there's no Gatekeeper warning.
- Grant Accessibility access when prompted — it powers both the ⌥⎋ shortcut and reading the selection.
- Open Settings → Models and download a voice (Kokoro or Soprano). After that, MLXRead works offline.
- If Apple's built-in "Speak selection" uses ⌥⎋, reassign it in System Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content.
What's inside
- Local synthesis via MLX (Kokoro 82M · Soprano 80M), streaming per-sentence playback
- Accessibility + clipboard-preserving capture across Safari, Notes, TextEdit, Xcode, Mail, PDFs
- Auto-updates via Sparkle (EdDSA-signed, verified before install)
- A system Speech Synthesis Provider voice
- Signed with Developer ID + Hardened Runtime,
get-task-allowstripped, notarized + stapled - MIT-licensed — build from source:
git clone,xcodegen generate,script/build_and_run.sh --verify
Verify the download
shasum -a 256 MLXRead.zip
# 7eec4c9dd6b2fd234d41ef7da10f7b4af7d484b77a2a8ace5cbc5082dd8d6307