Support

Answers to common questions. Still stuck? Contact us.

Getting started

What does Pockd do?

Pockd reads your books and articles aloud with a natural voice that runs on your iPhone, lighting up each word as it is spoken. You can follow along, or lock your phone and keep listening. With Ask & Summaries turned on, it also answers questions about what you are reading and makes summaries of whole books to listen to.

How do I start?

1. Open Pockd and choose your language. The voice downloads once (about 350 MB; Wi-Fi is best).
2. Try the short sample story in your library, or add your own book with the + button.
3. Press play. Follow the highlighted words, or lock your phone and listen.

Do I need an account? Is it free?

No account, ever. Pockd is free for everyone, including Ask & Summaries, with no ads and no premium plan. Building and maintaining it does cost money, so you may later see a way to support Pockd. That is optional and never unlocks anything: the app stays the same, and free, either way.

Adding books and articles

Which files can Pockd read?

EPUB and PDF files without DRM, links to web articles, and text you write or paste. Add books with the + button › Import a file, from the Files app, or by sharing a file to Pockd.

Why won’t my Kindle, Apple Books store or Kobo book open?

Books bought from those stores are usually protected with DRM, which only their own apps can open. Pockd reads DRM-free books, such as the public-domain classics from Standard Ebooks or books sold without DRM.

My PDF reads strangely

Pockd reads a PDF’s text layer. Scanned pages without real text cannot be read aloud, and unusual layouts (columns, footnotes) may come out in an odd order. EPUB usually reads best.

An article did not save, or only part of it did

Some sites block apps, show only part of a page, or sit behind a paywall. Try saving the link again, or copy the article’s text and add it with + › Write or paste text.

Does saving a link tell the website anything?

Yes, the same as visiting it: Pockd opens the page once to keep the article. The privacy policy lists exactly what is contacted.

The voice and languages

Which voice does Pockd use?

Kokoro-82M, an open text-to-speech model (Apache 2.0), running on your iPhone with the open-source sherpa-onnx engine. It is a one-time download of about 350 MB. More about the model.

Which languages can it read?

English (US and UK), Spanish, French, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil) and Mandarin Chinese. Choose the language in Settings. Books in other languages can’t be read aloud yet.

The voice is not downloading

Connect to the internet and keep about 1 GB free while it installs (the download is unpacked before the archive is removed), then tap Try again in Settings. The download continues in the background if you leave the app. The play button shows its progress, and you can listen as soon as it is installed.

Ask & Summaries

What can I ask?

In a book, tap ✦ at the top to explain the passage you are on, recap the chapter so far, or ask your own question, such as “Who is Mr. Bingley?”. Answers come from the book’s own text and show the passages they used; tap one to jump there. You can also long-press a word and choose Explain This Passage.

Will answers give away the ending?

No. By default answers use only the part you have read. You can turn on Use the whole book in Settings › Ask & Summaries.

How do I make a summary of a book?

Long-press the book in your library and choose Make a Book Summary…, or choose it from the reader’s … menu while you listen. Its progress shows on the cover, and when it is ready it appears in your library as “Summary of” the book: an overview, then each chapter in brief, ready to listen to like any book.

How long does a summary take?

Roughly a minute for a short story and 20 to 30 minutes for a long novel, on a recent iPhone. Keep Pockd open: iOS doesn’t let it use the iPhone’s graphics chip in the background, so the summary pauses there and carries on when you come back, even after a restart. You can keep reading or listening meanwhile.

What do I need, and is it private?

An iPhone with 8 GB of memory (iPhone 15 Pro or later) and a one-time download of about 3.1 GB. Turn it on in Settings › Ask & Summaries. The model runs on your iPhone, so nothing you ask or read is sent anywhere. More about the model.

Can I ask about an article or my own text?

Yes. Ask and summaries work with anything in your library: books, PDFs, saved articles and text you wrote or pasted.

Where is my summary, and how do I remove it?

It sits in your library next to its book, with a SUMMARY band on the cover, and on the Summaries shelf. Long-press it to open its book, or delete it like any other item. To make it again, long-press the book and choose Make the Summary Again….

The summary says “paused” or “waiting”

It carries on by itself. Paused while Pockd is in the background: open Pockd again. Paused while the iPhone cools down: it waits until the phone is cooler. Waiting for the reading to pause: on iPhones with 8 GB of memory the voice and the summary take turns, so it continues when you pause. If a summary stops with an error, long-press the book and choose Try the Summary Again; chapters already done are kept.

The model is not downloading

Keep about 4 GB free, connect to Wi-Fi, and tap Try again in Settings › Ask & Summaries. The download continues if you leave the app. On iPhones with less than 8 GB of memory the download button is turned off, because the model would not run well there.

Are the answers always right?

Mostly, but a small model can mix up details, especially who said what in a conversation. Every answer shows its sources so you can check.

Offline and privacy

Does Pockd work offline?

Yes, once the voice is downloaded. Listening, highlighting, notes, statistics, asking and summaries need no connection; only saving a new article from a link and the one-time downloads do.

How can I check that nothing leaves my iPhone?

Turn on Airplane Mode and keep listening. Or turn on App Privacy Report in Settings › Privacy & Security: it lists every domain an app contacts. For Pockd you will only see GitHub (the voice download), Hugging Face (the Ask & Summaries model, if you turned it on) and the sites you saved articles from.

Can anyone see what I read?

No. Pockd has no account and no server. What you read, save and listen to stays on your iPhone.

Listening

How do I start from a particular sentence?

Long-press a word and choose Read from Here, or open Contents and pick a chapter.

Can I listen with the screen locked or with AirPods?

Yes. Pockd keeps reading in the background, with play, pause and skip on the lock screen and your headphones’ controls.

Can I change the speed or set a sleep timer?

Yes, from the player: speed, a sleep timer, back 15 seconds and ahead 30.

The first sentence takes a moment to start

The voice loads into memory the first time you play; after that it starts right away. Passages already spoken play instantly from saved audio.

Storage and moving iPhones

Where are my books stored?

Only on your iPhone, in Pockd’s own storage. If you use iCloud Backup, your library and notes are included in that backup.

How do I free up space?

Settings › Reading shows what Pockd uses. Clear Saved Audio frees space (passages are spoken again when needed); you can also delete books you’ve finished, or use Remove Voice in Settings. Remove Model in Settings › Ask & Summaries frees another 3.1 GB.

I’m moving to a new iPhone

Restore from an iCloud or computer backup and your library and notes come with you. The voice and the Ask & Summaries model are not part of backups, so download them again once. Your summaries come with you.

Accessibility

Does Pockd work with VoiceOver and larger text?

Pockd works with VoiceOver, follows your text size, and adapts to Increase Contrast. If something is hard to use, please tell us; accessibility reports go first.

Contact

Email sanath.s@outlook.com. We usually answer within two working days, in English.

For a problem, it helps to include your iPhone model, iOS version and Pockd version (Settings › About), the book or link involved, and what you did before it happened. Your email is used only to answer you; see the privacy policy.