Introduction
Are you getting tired of listening to the same silly pop songs on the radio while you're stuck in traffic on your way to and from work? So were we! Ever since one of our employees discovered the "Speak Screen" feature on the iPhone, sitting in traffic has never been the same.
To make the best of time spent commuting (and to keep yourself from having to look down at your phone while driving!), have your iPhone read out loud to you. By enabling the setting called "Speak Screen," your phone will read the words on your device out loud.
Speak Screen
Follow these step-by-step instructions to enable your iPhone to read aloud to you:
Step one:
Open the Settings application on your iPhone. It looks like the image on the right.
Step Two:
Under Settings, click General, located at the bottom of the page.
Step Three:
Under General, click Accessibility, located towards the bottom of the page.
Step Four:
In the Accessibility folder, click on Speech. It is located in the middle of the page.
Step Five:
Finally, to get your iPhone to read to you, turn on Speak Screen. All of the settings within the Speech folder will help to adjust the speed and tone of voice your phone will use to speak aloud.
Final Step
Last, but not least, close out of Settings and navigate to a page with text (ex: a web article, your text messages, etc.). Drag three fingers from the top of your screen and your iPhone will begin to read to you.
Other Applications for the Car
Audible
Audible is an Amazon application that allows you to download and listen to audiobooks, radio and TV programs, and audio editions of newspapers and magazines. To use Audible, make sure you have an active Amazon account. Then, simply download the Audible application to your phone or computer and browse the shop – the first 30 days are FREE!
Pocket (the iPhone App, not your pants)
Pocket is an application that our president, Pete Fowler, swears by. This app was originally intended for desktop computers and went by the name "Read It Later." Once you have downloaded Pocket, it allows you to search for articles across the internet that interest you. The best part is that you can save the articles to read at a later time (hence, Read It Later...) or as we prefer – to listen to later!
Pocket has features to adjust the size of the text for easy reading, but more importantly, it can play the articles aloud for you.
Why We Care
Using your phone and driving is dangerous. Using Speak Screen or applications like Audible or Pocket keep you entertained while your eyes remain on the road. Next time you're in the car and need something to listen to, sign in to PFCS Client Access and tune in to one of our past webinars!
