Summarise first
Convert a batch of saved links to short spoken summaries. You find out in two minutes which pieces actually earn a full read.
Use case
Turn your saved articles into something you will actually finish
Everyone with a read-later app has the same private statistic: the save rate is far higher than the read rate. The bookmark was never the problem. The problem is that reading needs a screen, two free hands and quiet attention, and the moments when you have all three are rare.
Saving is not reading
A saved article feels like progress. It is not - it is a deferred decision, and deferring is free, so the pile grows without limit. Eventually the list becomes something you avoid opening, which is a strange fate for a collection of things you were interested in.
The moments you actually have spare are not screen moments. They are commute, walk, gym, washing up, waiting. Hands busy, eyes busy, ears completely free. Audio is the format that fits the gap you actually have.
The bit that makes it stick: it keeps playing
Converting one article to audio is mildly useful. Converting twenty and then having to pick each one is worse than not bothering - you have swapped a reading pile for a tapping chore, in the exact moments your hands are busy.
So the articles go into a playlist and the playlist plays through. One into the next, in the background, at whatever speed suits you. You start it leaving the house and it is still going when you arrive, and you have not looked at your phone once.
So build the queue deliberately: a commute playlist, a work-reading playlist, a things-I-keep-postponing playlist. That is what turns a converter into a habit.
The workflow
- Paste the link. Loudly takes a web link directly - no need to copy the article text out by hand.
- Pick your output. Full narration when the piece deserves it, a spoken summary when you only need to know whether it does.
- Let it build. Most articles finish in under five minutes. It lands in your library.
- Group into a playlist. A commute playlist, a work-reading playlist, a things-I-keep-postponing playlist.
- Listen and move on. Speed control, background playback, and it remembers where you stopped.
The summary-first trick
The highest-value habit is not converting everything. It is triaging.
Promote the winners
The two or three that turn out to matter get the full narration. Everything else you can archive honestly, having actually heard what it said.
Stop the guilt loop
The pile shrinks because you are making real decisions about it, not because you found more reading time.
Where this stops being useful
- Short news items are faster to skim than to listen to. Reserve this for pieces long enough that reading them was the problem.
- Reference and how-to articles read badly aloud, because you need to jump around rather than go start to finish.
- It reads the article text; it will not reach paywalled content you cannot open yourself.
- It will not generate a two-host discussion about the article - that format is marked coming soon.
Frequently asked questions
Can I just paste a URL?
Yes. A web link is one of the accepted inputs, alongside PDF, Word and pasted text.
Is this an actual podcast feed?
It behaves like one - a queue of episodes, playlists, speed control, background playback, resume where you left off - but the audio is yours, in your library, not published publicly.
How long does a typical article take?
Most finish in under five minutes. Average production time is around four minutes.
What does it cost per article?
Credits are minutes: one credit is one minute of finished audio, so a 12-minute narration costs 12 credits. If a generation fails, the credits are refunded automatically.
Can I download the audio?
Yes, the audio is downloadable.
Pick the oldest thing in your saved list
Convert one article and see whether you finish it.
No commitment - credit packs, cancel anytime. · 1 credit = 1 minute of finished audio