Listen to a PDF while driving, walking or commuting
A trip is a good time to listen to a report, a course or an article. The golden rule: prepare everything before you leave, so you never have to touch your phone once you are on your way.
Can you listen to a PDF safely while driving?
Listening to a document, the way you listen to the radio, is possible as long as you never handle your phone while driving. Everything must be ready before you start: document, voice, speed, connection to the car.
If the text needs your full attention, save it for another time: the road comes first. And if you need to change something, pull over somewhere safe to do it, and follow your local rules on phone use in the car.
Why is the MP3 better for the car?
Because the MP3 plays offline and in your phone's usual audio player, with the steering-wheel controls if your car supports them. Reading in the browser, on the other hand, goes through our servers and needs a connection, which is not guaranteed for a whole trip.
MP3 download is part of Readotte Plus (€3.99 a month, no commitment). The file contains the whole document, with the voice and settings you chose; see convert a PDF to MP3.
How long does it take to prepare the MP3?
For a short document, the MP3 is ready quickly; for a long document, allow several minutes. The file is assembled in your browser: keep the page open until it finishes.
So prepare your files the night before or before you leave, never at the last minute in the parking lot. You can prepare several for the week.
What if you don't have Readotte Plus?
Without a subscription, you can listen in your phone's browser, for about 10 minutes a day, as long as you have a connection. Start playback before you leave and leave the screen as it is.
This works for a short trip on foot or on transit, less so in the car, where a dropped connection would tempt you to pick up the phone.
How do you listen while walking or on public transit?
On foot or sitting on a train, reading in the browser works well: you can tap a sentence to go back to it and follow the highlighted text when you look at the screen. The document picks up at the sentence where you stopped.
Keep one ear free or the volume reasonable while walking, so you can hear traffic, and lower the listening speed one step if your attention is divided. On transit, the MP3 avoids cut-outs in tunnels.
Which documents work best for listening on the go?
Texts that flow without tables or figures: articles, written reports, course chapters, minutes. Readotte already removes headers, page numbers and small-print notes, which makes listening smoother.
Tables of figures or diagrams are hard to follow by ear; keep them for reading on screen. If a PDF will not play, see why my PDF won't read aloud.
Listen to your document
PDF with selectable text, 25 MB max. Scanned PDFs (images only) are not read yet.
Free, no account: about 10 minutes of listening a day. The text is extracted and read by our servers in Europe.
Frequently asked questions
Does Readotte have an app for the car?
No, Readotte works in the browser, with no mobile app or extension. For the car, the simplest option is the Readotte Plus MP3, played by your phone's audio player.
Does the MP3 keep the voice I chose?
Yes, the MP3 is made with the voice and voice settings active when you start the download. Set them before you launch it.
Can I listen to a scanned PDF in the car?
No, a scanned PDF contains only images and Readotte does not read it. You need a PDF whose text can be selected.