Open a WeRead chapter in Chrome or Edge for read-aloud with highlighting. On a phone, connect the WeRead shelf separately in CastReader. Both workflows require access to the original book.
An adaptation for chapter text in the original reader
Open a WeRead chapter in Chrome or Edge for read-aloud with highlighting. On a phone, connect the WeRead shelf separately in CastReader. Both workflows require access to the original book.
WeRead draws book text onto an HTML canvas instead of putting it in the DOM. TTS extensions that scan the page for text open a chapter and find nothing to read.
CastReader uses a dedicated chapter-data adaptation to read accessible text alongside the original reader. Website and layout changes can affect recognition.
Highlight markers sit on top of WeRead's canvas, so the paragraph being read lights up. Drifted off? One glance finds your place — click any paragraph to jump there.
Listen to a Chinese book in Mandarin or choose an available English voice for an English title. CastReader supports 28 languages, with voice options varying by language and client.
CastReader on iOS and Android can connect your WeRead shelf. Authorize with WeChat, sync the detected books and open an accessible chapter in CastReader.
Standard voices are free with no signup. CastReader Pro adds natural AI voices, more listening hours, and AI document analysis.
Add the free extension to Chrome or Edge. No CastReader account needed.
Complete official WeChat sign-in and open a chapter you can access.
Click the CastReader icon and playback starts, with the current paragraph highlighted right on the canvas.
Pause, adjust speed or choose an available voice. On a phone, connect the shelf separately in CastReader.
Open a WeRead chapter in Chrome or Edge for read-aloud with highlighting. On a phone, connect the WeRead shelf separately in CastReader. Both workflows require access to the original book.
CastReader uses a dedicated chapter-data adaptation to read accessible text alongside the original reader. Website and layout changes can affect recognition.
CastReader on iOS and Android can connect your WeRead shelf. Authorize with WeChat, sync the detected books and open an accessible chapter in CastReader. <a href="/integrations#source-weread">See WeChat authorization, shelf sync and platform support</a>.
Support requires an accessible chapter and a compatible reader layout. Membership, paid chapters and app-only titles remain subject to WeRead access; not every book or layout is guaranteed.
Everything about listening to WeRead with CastReader
WeRead can render book text on canvas, which generic text extraction may not handle. CastReader has a dedicated adaptation for accessible chapters.
CastReader uses a dedicated chapter-data adaptation to read accessible text alongside the original reader. Website and layout changes can affect recognition.
Check the current WeRead reader and title for its available options. CastReader provides a separate browser reading workflow for accessible chapters.
CastReader on iOS and Android can connect your WeRead shelf. Authorize with WeChat, sync the detected books and open an accessible chapter in CastReader.
Yes. CastReader overlays positioned highlight elements on top of the canvas. Each paragraph lights up as it's read, and clicking any paragraph jumps playback there.
Support requires an accessible chapter and a compatible reader layout. Membership, paid chapters and app-only titles remain subject to WeRead access; not every book or layout is guaranteed.
Sign in to WeRead through its official WeChat authorization. Your provider session grants book access; CastReader voice features have their own account and plan requirements.
Yes. The floating player handles pause, 0.75×–3× speed, and voice switching — with multiple natural Chinese voices to choose from.
CastReader on iOS and Android can connect your WeRead shelf. Authorize with WeChat, sync the detected books and open an accessible chapter in CastReader.
Long chapters and long books are fine. Free-tier listening uses standard voices; if you listen for hours every day, CastReader Pro adds more listening time and premium ultra-realistic voices.
Yes — CastReader is free to start, with standard voices and no signup. CastReader Pro (optional) adds natural AI voices, more listening hours, and AI document analysis.
Yes. CastReader is available on both Chrome and Edge.
CastReader supports 28 languages. Available voices and features vary by language and client; check the voice picker for your current options. English and Mandarin Chinese are GA; other languages remain Beta/Lab. For WeRead, CastReader suggests a voice based on the text language.
Only the extracted chapter text is sent to our voice API for audio generation. CastReader doesn't store your chapters and doesn't track what you read.
Troubleshooting guide for when playback won't start
WeChat authorization, shelf sync and mobile reading
Web novels on 起点中文网, read aloud
Read Kindle Cloud Reader books aloud with OCR decoding
Press Quickread and have the page explained in your language — key points marked by a moving pen
From our own read-aloud report — 41,396 anonymous listening sessions across 3,075 devices, 8 April to 22 June 2026. A behavioural sample of CastReader users, not a census of all readers.
Read the full reportCastReader is available on iPad and Android tablets, with layouts adapted for a larger reading screen.
Hard numbers — not vibes — from authoritative sources
$2.22 billion
US audiobook sales in 2024, up 13% year-over-year (Publishers Weekly / Audio Publishers Association)
Source →51%
of US adults have listened to an audiobook in 2025 — roughly 134 million people (APA Consumer Survey 2025)
Source →2.2 billion
people globally with near- or far-vision impairment (WHO Fact Sheet, 2024). TTS is the primary access path for digital reading content.
Source →78%
of audiobook listeners multitask while listening — commute, chores, exercise (Audiolibrix Great Audiobook Survey, 2024)
Source →27.2 minutes
average single-trip US commute in 2024, up from 26.8 (US Census ACS via Statista). That's nearly an hour each day of audio-only time.
Source →effect size 0.35
measured comprehension lift from TTS for reading-disabled students across 22 studies (Wood, Moxley, Tighe & Wagner, Journal of Learning Disabilities, 2018)
Source →15.5 million
US adults with ADHD per CDC 2024 — about half diagnosed in adulthood (CDC MMWR, October 2024)
Source →Every Chrome Web Store review below is verifiable at the link in each card. We don't hide negative feedback — we answer it within 24 hours.
“This is 1 of the best TTS and its smooth. If this is truly free i'll keep this 100%. Every other TTS says its free but has a secret. They interrupt or they just say better ai voices pay. But i like this voice. I've tried loads and this is 1 of the best ones that actually says free.”
“Works perfectly on vivaldi. One suggestion though. I wish it had a play button appear next to a paragraph when we hover over it. Just like in the case of speechify.”
“Extremely user friendly short keys. Placed forward backward and speed up down as Natural as it could be. Voices are great and smooth. I would recommend it over many hyped products.”
“At the very least it's better than many paid TTS models. Still not as good as ElevenReader or LAP, but maybe the best free model for TTS.”
“So glad I can finally switch voices! The default was fine but I found one I actually enjoy listening to for hours. Small thing, huge difference.”
“Best one i found, user friendly, and great voice over.”
“ChatGPT's long answers are finally listenable. Let it generate while I listen — doubles my productivity. Love the inline button next to each response.”
“I tried using this add-on to listen to an ebook on the O'Reilly learning platform, and it works smoothly. However, it always restarts from the first paragraph whenever I scroll or select a different paragraph. Please consider adding a bookmark or checkpoint feature so users can mark where the reading should begin.”
↪ Founder reply
Replied by CastReader founder Yan Xu within 48 hours: acknowledged the issue, shipped a bookmark feature in the following release. Reviewer's verbatim feedback drove the v1.2 roadmap.
“Need to highlight text and select it.”
“Hard to select text.”
↪ Founder reply
Replied by CastReader founder Yan Xu within 24 hours: apologized, asked which site/browser the issue occurred on, provided a workaround using the keyboard shortcut, and offered direct support at support@castreader.ai.
We re-test, re-write, and ship continuously. Every entry has a real date.
Rewrote landing pages with verbatim Chrome Web Store testimonials, real audiobook market data, and tested-12-extensions methodology. Every claim now has a sourceable link.
CastReader provides native apps for iPhone and Android; Android downloads are available directly from Google Play.
Wrote up the OCR pipeline: how CastReader handles Amazon's 184 random font alphabets and 361 unique glyphs per Kindle book. Shared in dev.to.
The phone app flow now has its own landing page for bookshelf sync, Read Aloud, synced highlighting, auto-scroll, background playback, and resume progress.
Ranked #10 in Daily, 99 upvotes, 4 community comments shaped the v1.2 roadmap.
Switched from older TTS engines to Kokoro neural voices. User reviews shifted from 'usable but robotic' to 'enjoy listening for hours' (verbatim from review by patrick chiang).
OCR success rate improved from 78% to 89% on English-language Kindle books. Multi-column page detection added for academic PDFs.
I built CastReader because I owned hundreds of Kindle books and couldn't listen to them on my morning runs without buying separate Audible copies. The technical problem — Amazon's Cloud Reader font encryption — turned out to be solvable with OCR. The product problem — making it actually pleasant across different devices and languages — took two years of iteration. We're a small team. I answer every Chrome Web Store review personally (see testimonials above — including the 3-star and 1-star ones). If something's broken or missing, email support@castreader.ai.
— Yan Xu, founder
Last reviewed: · CastReader Team — reviewed against 2025 testing data
Free to start, no signup — standard voices included, CastReader Pro for premium ultra-realistic voices and more listening hours. Install, open a chapter, press play.
Listen to supported articles, Kindle books and AI conversations right on the page.
Your first read in SafariiPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets
Explore the appCastReader for Mac is available on the App Store for macOS 14.6 or later. The Safari extension is a separate download. CastReader for Windows is available on Microsoft Store.
Available now · macOS 14.6+
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