Meet Listen Mode. It's the feature you didn't know you needed—but once you use it, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.
Listen Mode takes articles, PDFs, documents, pretty much anything with words on it, and turns it into natural-sounding audio. You can listen while commuting, exercising, cooking, or basically doing anything that keeps your eyes busy but leaves your ears free. Think of it as giving your reading backlog a second chance.
The Real Problem Nobody Talks About
Here's the thing: we're drowning in content we want to read but never actually get to. There's that industry article you bookmarked last month. The research paper sitting in your Pocket app. The documentation you know you should review. That book everyone's talking about.
To be honest? Our eyes are the problem. They're busy driving, or at the gym, or chopping vegetables. But our ears? Our ears have nothing better to do.
Listen Mode solves this gap between what we want to consume and when we actually have time to pay attention.
How It Actually Works
You've probably got content scattered all over the place. Some of it's in files on your computer. Some of it's a web URL you want to convert. Maybe you just want to copy and paste something directly. Listen Mode doesn't care where it comes from.
You can drop in PDFs, EPUB files, Word documents, Markdown files, or plain text. Paste a URL and it'll grab the article. Or just paste text directly if you're feeling lazy (we get it).
The system extracts the actual content—the words you care about—and filters out all the noise. No navigation menus. No sidebar advertisements. No cookie popups. It keeps what you want to hear and throws away the rest.
Once the content is extracted, Vois uses the same 54 voices that power everything else in the app. These aren't robot voices—they're built to sound natural with proper pacing and clear articulation. You can listen to a three-hour audiobook without your brain checking out from voice fatigue.
And here's the best part: you don't wait around. Unlike production workflows where you're meticulously setting up speakers and adjusting prosody, Listen Mode gets you listening immediately. Audio starts playing while the rest of the content is still processing in the background.
Real Life: The Morning Commute
Let's say you're sitting in traffic on Tuesday morning. You've got thirty minutes before you reach the office. In that time, you could spend it stuck in your own head, or you could listen to that industry report you've been meaning to read.
Open Listen Mode. Paste the link. Choose a voice that feels comfortable (something warm and engaging, not too intense). Hit play.
By the time you're at the office, you've actually consumed the content instead of just bookmarking it and moving on. Your commute transforms from dead time into learning time.
Or maybe you're going for a run. The kind where your brain needs something to focus on besides how much your legs hurt. An article about a topic you're interested in? Now you've got entertainment and you're staying informed. The worst 30-minute workout of the week suddenly doesn't feel so bad.
Why Different Voices Matter for Listening
Not all voices are created equal when you're listening rather than reading. A voice that's great for a dramatic YouTube script might exhaust you during a long audiobook. You'll want different things depending on what you're doing.
If you're listening in the background—say, while you're cooking—you want a warm, comfortable voice that doesn't demand your full attention. Something moderately energetic but easy on the ears.
When you're actually paying attention, you can pick any voice. Speed it up if you want to get through content faster, or slow it down if you're working through something technical.
And if you're settling in for a long session? Pick a voice designed for comfort. There's a reason audiobook narrators often have a particular quality—they're trained to keep you engaged without wearing you out.
The Settings That Actually Matter
You get to control a few things. First, voice—all 54 are available. Speed lets you adjust playback from 0.5x (nice and slow) to 2.0x (if you're in a hurry). The app tracks your listening history so you can see what you've gotten through. And if you close Listen Mode halfway through an article? Pick it back up exactly where you left off.
That's it. No complicated settings. No production workflows. No multi-track mixing. Just the essentials for consuming content.
What Listen Mode Actually Isn't
Let's be clear about one thing: Listen Mode is for consuming content, not creating it. It's not a tool for producing podcasts or audiobooks. You're not going to assign multiple speakers to a script. You're not going to be exporting professional-grade audio for distribution.
That's what Vois's other modes do—Podcast, Audiobook, YouTube, Documentary. Those are built for creators who are publishing content.
Listen Mode is the personal tool. It's for you, consuming what you want to read when you actually have the time to listen.
It Works Without the Internet
Like everything in Vois, Listen Mode runs offline. You're not uploading your reading material to some cloud server. Your content stays on your computer. Your listening history stays private. Convert an article without any internet connection, and nobody knows what you've been reading except you.
Getting Started
Listen Mode is available if you're on the Creator tier or above. Open the app, navigate to Listen Mode (it's right there in the main navigation), and you're ready to go.
Add your content—file, URL, or pasted text. Choose a voice you like. Press play. Start listening.
Your reading backlog doesn't disappear, but at least now you have a way to actually get through it.
