Spokn

Text-to-speech app with karaoke flair.

A macOS menu bar app for text-to-speech with a karaoke-style overlay.

Features

• Global Hotkey - Press Cmd+Shift+S to read selected text from any application
• Karaoke-style Overlay - Words highlight as they're spoken
• Multi-language Support - Automatic detection for English and German
• Playback Controls - Play, pause, stop, restart, and adjustable speed (0.5x - 3.0x)
• Content Type Detection - Handles plain text, Markdown, HTML, and RTF

Installation

1. Download the latest Spokn-x.x.x.dmg from Releases
2. Open the DMG and drag Spokn to Applications
3. First launch: Right-click Spokn.app → Open → Click "Open" (required because the app isn't signed yet)

Requirements

• macOS
• Accessibility permissions (for global hotkey and clipboard access)

Premium Voices (Optional)

For better quality voices, download premium voices like "Anna (Premium)" or "Jamie (Premium)" in macOS:

System Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → System Voice → Manage Voices

Apple Support: Change the voice your Mac uses to speak text

Usage

1. Select text in any application
2. Press Cmd+Shift+S
3. Spokn will read the text aloud with word highlighting

Development

Reset app state

defaults delete com.niklasheer.spokn hasLaunchedBefore

Reset accessibility permissions

tccutil reset Accessibility com.niklasheer.spokn