SpeakCoveIn your pocket.
Lock your phone and the SpeakCove app keeps reading aloud. The lock screen shows the book and the words being read, with buttons to pause or skip a sentence.
- aLockedThe screen is off. The voice keeps reading.
- bCover and titleOf the book that is playing.
- cThe words being readThis line moves along with the voice.
- dOne sentence back or forwardPlay and pause sit in between.
Locked, and still reading.
The Now Playing card on the iPhone lock screen, also in Control Center. The skip buttons move one sentence at a time, not a number of seconds.
Press play.
Open a book, a document or a scan in the app and start listening.
Lock the phone.
Or switch to another app. The voice reads on, and the book appears on the lock screen.
Control it from there.
Pause, play or skip a sentence from the lock screen, Control Center or your headphones.
The long version
What it does, and what to know.
Press play in the SpeakCove app and the reading no longer needs the screen. Lock the phone and slip it into a pocket, or switch to a map or your email, and the voice carries on where it was. On iPad it is the same: open another app and the book keeps playing.
On iPhone, the lock screen shows a Now Playing card, the same one that appears in Control Center. It has the cover, the title, and a line with the words being read right now, which moves along with the voice, so a glance at the phone tells you where you are. Below sit three buttons: back, play or pause, and forward. They move one sentence at a time, not a number of seconds. The play and skip controls on your headphones do the same.
It is made for the times your eyes and hands are busy: a walk, the commute, cooking, the laundry. In bed, set the sleep timer and lock the phone; the voice pauses on its own. With a PDF or a scanned book, the app recognizes the next pages ahead of time, even with the screen off, so the reading does not stall at a page break. Your place is saved after every sentence, so the book opens where the voice stopped.
A few things are worth knowing. A phone call pauses the reading, and it picks up again when the call ends. If your headphones disconnect, it pauses instead of carrying on out loud from the speaker. And on iPhone the progress bar on the lock screen can’t be dragged, so from there you move one sentence at a time.
- Keeps reading
- With the screen locked or another app open
- Lock screen
- Cover, title, the words being read and a progress bar
- Buttons
- Previous sentence, play or pause, next sentence
- Also from
- Control Center, headphone controls, CarPlay
- Phone calls
- Pauses, then picks up again after the call
- Headphones
- If they disconnect, it pauses instead of using the speaker
- Progress bar
- Counts sentences
- Sleep timer
- 5, 10, 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes, with the screen locked too
- Your place
- Saved after every sentence
- Devices
- iPhone and iPad with iOS 26 or later
Does SpeakCove keep reading when the screen is locked?
Yes, in the app on iPhone and iPad. Press play, then lock the phone or switch to another app. The voice reads on, and the lock screen shows the book with play, pause and skip buttons.
What do the skip buttons on the lock screen do?
They go back or forward one sentence, not a set number of seconds. To jump further, open the app and tap the sentence you want to hear.
Why did it stop when my headphones disconnected?
On purpose, so the book does not suddenly play out loud from the phone’s speaker. Press play on the lock screen or in the app to carry on.
Is listening with the screen locked free?
The app reads for free while it is open on screen. Listening with the screen locked or from another app is part of the one-time unlock, which also adds CarPlay and all 10 voices.
Take it on your next walk.
The SpeakCove app reads with the screen locked, in the car and offline, with the same 10 voices and 31 languages as the web reader.
Part of the app’s one-time $14.99 unlock.