Sensory Reader is an iPhone and iPad app that uses your device camera to capture text from the world around you — books, signs, menus, labels, handwritten notes — and reads it aloud with word-by-word highlighting. All text recognition and speech processing happens entirely on your device.

Sensory Reader for iPhone and iPad — branding screen

What Sensory Reader does

  • Point and capture — aim your camera at any text and tap to take a photo
  • On-device OCR — recognises printed text and handwriting, all on your device
  • Text-to-speech — reads the recognised text aloud with word-by-word highlighting
  • 50+ languages — automatically detects language and selects an appropriate voice
  • Personal Voice — use your own cloned voice (iOS 17+)
  • Share — send recognised text or captured images via AirDrop, Mail, Messages, and more
  • Fully offline — works in Aeroplane Mode, nothing sent to the cloud

Quick start

  1. Grant camera access and microphone permissions when prompted on first launch.
  2. Point your camera at the text you want to read.
  3. Tap the large circular capture button at the bottom.
  4. Optionally crop the image, then tap Scan to recognise the text.
  5. Tap the green Play button to hear the text read aloud.

System requirements

  • iOS 16 or later (iPhone) / iPadOS 16 or later (iPad)
  • Built-in camera required
  • No internet connection required
  • Personal Voice requires iOS 17 or later

Free scans & purchase

Sensory Reader includes 25 free scans with full access to all features. After that, a one-time purchase unlocks unlimited scans permanently — no subscription.

Fully offline: All OCR and text-to-speech processing is on-device. Sensory Reader works without Wi-Fi or mobile data and in Aeroplane Mode.