The sleep timer in the SpeakCove app reads you to sleep, then pauses on its own after 5 to 60 minutes. Your place in the book is kept for the next night.
Peter Pan
Peter Pan3
Peter Breaks Through
All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs. Darling put her hand to her heart and cried, “Oh, why can’t you remain like this for ever!” This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end.
Of course they lived at 14, and until Wendy came her mother was the chief one. She was a lovely lady, with a romantic mind and such a sweet mocking mouth.
Turn Off
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30 minutes
45 minutes
60 minutes
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Fig. 1 · Sleep timer
Set to 30 minutes.
The timer lives under the play button, beside the speed buttons. Tap the moon and pick a length. While it runs, the moon fills in and a countdown in minutes and seconds ticks beside it.
How it works2
Press play.
Open a book or document in the app and start listening.
Tap the moon.
It sits under the play button. Pick 5, 10, 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes.
Fall asleep.
At zero the voice pauses. Press play the next night and it reads on from there.
Notes3
The long version
What it does, and what it doesn’t.
Some books are best heard lying down, with the light off and the phone face down on the blanket. The sleep timer is for those nights. Open a book in the SpeakCove app, press play, then tap the small moon under the play button. Pick 5, 10, 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes, and the countdown starts at once.
When the count reaches zero, the voice pauses. It does not close the book or lose your place: the reader keeps the sentence it was on, and one press of play carries on from there. If you drifted off well before the end, the back button steps through the text one sentence at a time until you reach something you remember.
Changed your mind? Open the menu again. An off switch sits at the top, above the six lengths. Picking a new length starts the count over from that length rather than adding to what is left.
A few things it does not do. It counts minutes, not chapters, so it cannot stop at the end of a chapter. The voice does not fade out; it simply pauses, mid-sentence if that is where the time runs out. Pausing by hand does not stop the countdown. If the book ends first, or you open another one, the timer is cleared. And the countdown shows only in the reader: the lock screen and CarPlay show the usual playback controls, while the timer keeps counting.
The sleep timer is part of the app for iPhone and iPad. The free web reader on this site does not have one.
Details4
Where
In the reader: the moon under the play button on iPhone and iPad
Lengths
5, 10, 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes
While it runs
A filled moon and the time left in minutes and seconds
Change it
Pick another length; the count starts over from it
Turn it off
Turn Off at the top of the menu
At zero
The voice pauses and your place is kept
Pausing by hand
The countdown keeps running
Cleared when
The book ends or you open another one
Not included
Fade-out, stop at the end of a chapter
Devices
iPhone and iPad with iOS 26 or later
Questions5
Does SpeakCove have a sleep timer?
Yes, in the app for iPhone and iPad. Tap the moon in the reader and pick 5, 10, 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes. The free web reader does not have one.
Will I lose my place if I fall asleep?
No. When the time is up the voice pauses; it does not stop or close the book. Press play and it reads on from the same spot.
Does the timer work with the screen locked?
Yes. Lock the phone and the countdown keeps going, and the voice pauses on time. Listening with the screen locked is part of the app’s one-time unlock.
Can it stop at the end of a chapter?
No. The timer counts minutes only, from 5 to 60.
Try it6
Take it to bed.
The sleep timer comes with the SpeakCove app. Set it tonight, and the voice pauses on time with your place kept.
Apple Books has no read-aloud button, but iOS Speak Screen reads EPUBs and PDFs in Books and turns the pages. SpeakCove is a listening app with 10 formats, neural voices and a sleep timer.
Speak Screen is free on every iPhone: turn it on in Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak and swipe down with two fingers. What it can't do, and what SpeakCove adds.
SpeakCove