Hearlist Support

Welcome to the Hearlist support page. We are here to help you get the most out of your listening.

About Hearlist

Hearlist turns the articles you save into a playlist you can listen to. Save a link from any app with the share sheet, and Hearlist extracts the article and reads it aloud with natural voices that run entirely on your device — offline, with no listening limits. When one article ends, the next one begins.

What you save stays on your device. Articles, audio, highlights and notes are never uploaded to our servers, and saving, reading and listening keep working without them.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I save an article?

The fastest way is the share button. With the article open in Safari, Chrome or any other app, tap Share and choose Hearlist — Hearlist opens and adds the article to your playlist.

• iPhone and iPad: if Hearlist isn't in the row of apps, scroll the row to the end, tap More, then Edit, and add Hearlist to Favorites so it stays at the front.
• Android: in Chrome, tap ⋮ and then Share. Touch and hold Hearlist in the share list and choose Pin to keep it at the front.

You can also copy a link and tap + at the top of the Library tab — the copied link is filled in for you. To bring many links at once, export bookmarks or saved articles from your browser or another read-later app as a file, then tap the import button (↓) at the top of the Library tab.

Why does the first play take a few seconds?

Hearlist's natural voices are generated on your phone, not on a server. The first time you press play after opening the app, Hearlist loads the voice model into memory and writes the first sentence before any sound comes out. This usually takes a few seconds, and longer on older phones. After that, the next sentences are prepared while you listen.

Does speed depend on my phone?

Yes. Speech is generated by your phone's processor, so newer phones make it faster. On older or busy phones you may hear a short pause between sentences while the next one is prepared. Closing other heavy apps, or listening at a lower playback speed, gives it more room.

Why are there more pauses when the screen is off?

iOS and Android slow down apps in the background to save battery, so generating speech can take two to three times longer. Hearlist prepares sentences ahead and lowers quality slightly when it falls behind. Listening for a minute with the screen on before locking your phone builds up a head start.

Why is there a separate voice download?

The natural voices need a voice model of about 400 MB. It is downloaded once (Wi-Fi recommended); after that the voices work offline with no limits. Until the download finishes, your phone's built-in voice reads instead. Articles in languages the natural voices don't support (they read 31 languages) are also read by the built-in voice.

How do I move my library to a new phone?

Open Settings → Your library → Backup and tap Create backup file. Save the file (for example to Files or iCloud Drive), then on the new phone open the same screen and tap Restore from backup. Articles, highlights, notes, categories, playlist and listening positions are restored as they were. Deleting the app deletes the data it keeps on your device, so make a backup before switching phones.

How do I restore my Hearlist Pro purchase?

Open Hearlist Pro from the top of Settings and tap Restore purchases while signed in to the App Store or Google Play account you bought with. Subscriptions are managed and cancelled in your App Store or Google Play account settings.

An article looks wrong or is missing text.

Open the article and tap Report a problem. The report sends only the article's address and how the app read it, which helps us improve that site in an update.

Can I take my library to another app?

Yes. Settings → Your library → Export for other apps creates a standard bookmark file that browsers and most read-later apps can import, and a Markdown file of your highlights and notes. Exporting is free on every plan.

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