ibooks ipad
Apple today pushed out an update to its iBooks application for iOS devices [App Store], bringing several improvements including a new "read-aloud" narrator to select children's books.

iBooks 1.3 adds several new features and improvements:

- Help your children learn to read with the new read-aloud feature included in select children's books from the iBookstore.
The read-aloud feature uses a real narrator to read the book to you, and in some books, it will even highlight the words as you read along.
- Enhanced books can now automatically play audio or video included with the book.
- Makes iBooks more responsive when opening very long books.
- Addresses an issue where some books may display the same page twice.

It is possible that the text-to-speech aspect of the new read-aloud functionality is based on technology from Nuance that has been rumored to be making its way into iOS 5, but Apple has not specifically disclosed the basis for the new feature.

We have not been able to track down any books compatible with the new read-aloud feature yet, so it will be interesting to see how quickly and how widely it is adopted by authors and publishers.

Apple's new iTunes 10.3 offers access to the iBookstore from the desktop for the first time, although an iOS device is still required to read the books.

Top Rated Comments

notjustjay Avatar
180 months ago
While I think this is a great feature to have, and is also quite a technical feat on Apple's part, it worries me that kids might be growing up listening to their iDevice narrate stories to them instead of their parents doing this. Story Time was an important part of bonding and learning with my parents when I was growing up, and this will give busy parents an easy way to outsource this part of parenting to a device.

One of my friends has a son who hangs out with me sometimes. We started bonding when we realized that we were both Calvin & Hobbes nuts. One of the things he loves to do is to sit down with someone (his parents, his older sister, sometimes me) with one of his C&H books and read the strips out loud.

The little guy is 14 now, and the other day he lamented to me that his family just doesn't have the time that they used to, to sit and read with him!

Read with your kids, folks. They will love it and remember it for a lot longer than you think!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
spillproof Avatar
180 months ago
Neat feature.

While I think this is a great feature to have, and is also quite a technical feat on Apple's part, it worries me that kids might be growing up listening to their iDevice narrate stories to them instead of their parents doing this. Story Time was an important part of bonding and learning with my parents when I was growing up, and this will give busy parents an easy way to outsource this part of parenting to a device.

And imagine if kids started to read and speak like the text-to-speech voice because that's how they learned.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MauiBoy Avatar
180 months ago
I only found one book with the read-aloud functionality:

Dragon's Alphabet Soup: Learn ABC with Eric the Dragon (ENHANCED EDITION: Read-Aloud Audio Option) (http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dragons-alphabet-soup-learn/id417558473?mt=11)

Raggedy Ann & Andy (http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/raggedy-ann-andy/id429767605?mt=11) also came up with a search, but it does not indicate the "ENHANCED EDITION", as above.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mdorazio Avatar
180 months ago
Great feature, but might be misused by parents

While I think this is a great feature to have, and is also quite a technical feat on Apple's part, it worries me that kids might be growing up listening to their iDevice narrate stories to them instead of their parents doing this. Story Time was an important part of bonding and learning with my parents when I was growing up, and this will give busy parents an easy way to outsource this part of parenting to a device.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
milo Avatar
180 months ago
Is it a real narrator or text to speech? Because those are entirely different things.

Definitely need a book reader for computers, it's weird they didn't ship one from the start of the book store.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight

Tuesday April 1, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Visa wants to pay Apple approximately $100 million to be the new payment network for the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. As of right now, the Apple Card is on the Mastercard payment network, but that is set to change because Apple is ending its partnership with Goldman Sachs. Both American Express and Visa are vying to replace Mastercard as Apple's card services provider, while...