Speak Selected Text

Speak text from the current selection

This Rule is a starting point for listening to a passage while reviewing a document. It retrieves text exposed by the frontmost app and passes that text directly to speech, without first saving the passage in a separate file.

When: The exact typed phrase ;speak is detected. Do: Get Selected Text, then Speak Text using the retrieved Text output. There is no If Condition. This is a typed Trigger rather than a keyboard shortcut in the supplied sample.

Configure and try it

1. Import with Open this Rule in Rulr and review Text Typed. Choose a distinctive phrase if you keep this Trigger.
2. Grant Accessibility and System Events Automation access for selected-text retrieval. Accessibility also supports the typed Trigger.
3. Test with a short, nonessential selection in an application that exposes selected text. Observe whether entering the trigger phrase changes or replaces that selection before Rulr reads it.
4. If typing interferes with the selection in your app, replace Text Typed with Hotkey Pressed and test the selection again. Confirm that the speech matches the passage and that your audio output is audible.

Requirements and limits

Text Typed and Speak Text require Rulr Pro. Reading a selection depends on application support, and some apps may briefly use the clipboard to retrieve it.

The sample speaks the text it actually retrieves; it does not automatically read a whole document, recognize words in an image, or translate the passage. Typed-trigger compatibility needs checking in each target app. For translating accessible selected text instead, see Translate Selected Text.