📖 EPUBReader

Your books, read aloud with the best AI voices.

Import any EPUB. Pick a voice. Tap play.

  

A simple iOS app that reads EPUB books out loud using ElevenLabs text-to-speech. Words are highlighted in real-time as they're spoken — like a personal narrator that follows along with you.

• 🎧 AI-powered narration — natural voices from ElevenLabs, not robotic TTS
• 🔦 Live word highlighting — see exactly what's being read, word by word
• 📚 Import any EPUB — open files from iCloud Drive, Files, email, anywhere
• 🎨 Themes — light, dark, sepia, or match your system
• ⏩ Speed control — 0.8x to 2.5x playback speed
• 🔊 Background audio — keep listening with the screen off

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🔑 You Need

1. A Mac with Xcode 16+
2. An iPhone running iOS 17+
3. An ElevenLabs API key — get one here (free tier works)

That's it.

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📲 Install on Your iPhone

1. Clone and generate the project

git clone <this-repo> epub-reader
cd epub-reader
brew install xcodegen    # if you don't have it
xcodegen generate

2. Open in Xcode

open EPUBReader.xcodeproj

3. Set your signing team

• Select the EPUBReader target in Xcode
• Go to Signing & Capabilities
• Pick your Personal Team (your Apple ID works — no paid developer account needed)
• Xcode will auto-create a provisioning profile

4. Build and run

• Plug in your iPhone via USB
• Select it as the run destination in the toolbar
• Hit ⌘R (or the ▶️ button)

💡 First time? Your phone will say "Untrusted Developer." Go to Settings → General → VPN & Device Management, find your profile, and tap Trust.

5. Add your ElevenLabs API key

• Open the app → tap the ⚙️ gear icon
• Paste your API key
• Tap Load Voices and pick one you like

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📖 How to Use

1. Import a book — tap the + button on the Library screen and pick an .epub file
2. Start reading — tap a book to open it
3. Play narration — tap anywhere to show controls, then hit ▶️
4. Select text to read from — long-press to select text, then tap "Speak from Here"
5. Change voice/theme/speed — use the controls overlay or ⚙️ settings

📕 Need a free EPUB to try? Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks have thousands.

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🛠 Tech

UI	SwiftUI (iOS 17)
EPUB rendering	Readium Swift Toolkit 3.7.0
TTS	ElevenLabs API (eleven_flash_v2_5)
Audio	AVAudioPlayer with rate control
Project gen	XcodeGen

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🗂 Project Structure

EPUBReader/
├── Models/          # Book data models + persistence
├── Views/           # Library, Reader, Settings screens
├── Services/        # ElevenLabs API, audio playback, EPUB parsing, Readium
└── Helpers/         # TTS highlight positioning

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💡 Notes

• ElevenLabs free tier gives you ~10,000 characters/month — enough for a few chapters. The app caches audio locally so replaying sections doesn't cost extra API calls.
• No paid Apple Developer account required. Free provisioning profiles last 7 days — just re-run from Xcode when they expire.
• Background playback works. Lock your phone and the narration keeps going.

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This is a personal project I built because I wanted a Speechify-like experience without the subscription. Sharing it in case others find it useful.