New: Read-along mode shows each word in sync with the narration — eyes on the page while you listen. On-device AI voices, no account, works offline.
Turn any EPUB or PDF into a natural-sounding audiobook — fully offline, no subscription required to listen. Now with Read-along: see each word as you hear it.
Éist (pronounced "esht", Irish for "listen") uses on-device AI voices to read your ebooks aloud. Import a file, pick a voice, press play. Your library stays on your device. No internet required after a voice is downloaded. No ads. No tracking.
READ ALONG AS YOU LISTEN
New in this version. As the voice narrates, each word appears one at a time, perfectly in sync with the audio, with the focal letter highlighted — so your eyes stay on the page and your focus stays on the story. Tap the bolt icon while listening to switch it on, and use the sync dial to fine-tune the timing to your taste. Great for focus, following along, and language learning.
LISTEN TO ANY BOOK
Import any EPUB or PDF from your device, and Éist reads it aloud with remarkably natural AI voices. Perfect for commutes, workouts, household tasks, or winding down at the end of the day.
EXPRESSIVE AI VOICES
Choose from a curated selection of on-device voice engines — Kokoro, Piper, and Supertonic. Each has a distinct character and accent. Preview before you commit, and switch any time mid-book.
SMART AHEAD-OF-PLAYBACK SYNTHESIS
Éist pre-generates audio ahead of where you're listening, so playback is seamless. Chapters you've already heard play back instantly from your local cache.
FULL PLAYBACK CONTROLS
- Adjustable playback speed (0.5×–3.0×)
- Sleep timer
- Background playback with lock-screen and Control Centre controls
- Chapter navigation
- Skip forward / back
OFFLINE FIRST
Download a voice once, listen forever without an internet connection. Your books, your reading progress, and your synthesised audio all live on your device.
DISCOVER PUBLIC-DOMAIN BOOKS
Browse and download thousands of free books from Project Gutenberg, directly inside the app.
YOUR LIBRARY, YOUR WAY
- Track reading progress across all your books
- Resume exactly where you left off
- View per-chapter progress at a glance
PRIVACY RESPECTED
No account required. No personal data collected. No tracking. No analytics. Your books, your progress, and your listening data stay on your device.
ÉIST PREMIUM
Unlock the full experience with Éist Premium — a 3-month free trial is included with your first subscription.
- Unlimited book library (free tier is 5 books)
- All AI voice engines and voices
- Premium themes and font families
- Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase
- Subscription automatically renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period
- Account is charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period
- Manage or cancel any time in Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions
Privacy Policy: https://eist.app/privacy
Terms of Use: https://eist.app/terms
I’ve been using éist for a while now and it’s genuinely transformed how I get through my reading list. The AI narration is surprisingly natural with none of that robotic, stilted delivery you’d expect. It actually sounds like someone is reading to you.That said, it’s not without its quirks. PDFs can have encoding issues where ligature characters get mangled and odd symbols appear in the text. There are also occasional random skips and stops that seem to be glitches, and sometimes subheading text gets mixed into the body text which can make it hard to follow unless you’re reading along with the audio. One UI thing I’d love to see fixed: it’s too easy to accidentally tap other text while reading ahead, which jumps the audio unexpectedly. A double-tap to navigate would go a long way.But for an app doing something this ambitious, these feel like growing pains rather than dealbreakers. What keeps me coming back is how effortless it makes long-form reading. Commutes, workouts, doing the dishes, content I’d otherwise never get to is now just part of my day.Highly recommended for anyone who wants to actually get through their backlog.
Developer Response
Wow thanks for the review!I can add double tap to jump to text in the settings and will look into ironing out more of the pdf parsing issues !
Amazing
OmarrC_.
I can easily put my pdf into an audiobook and the reading is good thank you. And i thank you for the premium rewards for reading
Developer Response
Thanks for the feedback!!I really appreciate the review it helps so much
Very well made and appreciated
Haus8090
Great
Developer Response
Thanks for the feedback!You should check out the new Read Along feature!
NEW: READ-ALONG MODE
Read along as you listen. Each word appears one at a time, perfectly in sync with the narration, so your eyes stay on the page and your focus stays on the story. The focal letter of each word is highlighted to make it effortless to follow. Tap the bolt icon while a book is playing to try it — tap again to return to the normal text view.
Great for staying locked in on dense non-fiction, tricky passages, following along, or learning a language.
ALSO NEW
- Sync dial: nudge the words a touch earlier or later to match your reading style, with a clear "in sync" centre mark. Remembered per voice.
- "Wait for read-along timing" setting (Settings → Playback): on slower voices, hold the opening words of a chapter until their timing is ready, so they never rush ahead. Off by default.
- The sleep timer now works in Read-along mode too.
RELIABILITY & POLISH
- Pause is instant and reliable, including on iOS — no half-second of audio sneaking through.
- Unplugging your headphones no longer resumes playback through the phone speaker.
- Fixed rare phantom replays at the end of a chapter or book.
- Smoother, gap-free playback between segments.
- Éist now pronounces its own name correctly ("esht") when read aloud.
As always: fully on-device, no account, no tracking.
Version 1.2.0
The developer, William O'Meara, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Purchases
Identifiers
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Seller
William O'Meara
Size
135.5 MB
Category
Books
Compatibility
Requires iOS 14.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 14.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 14.0 or later.
iPod touch Requires iOS 14.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 11.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
