Here's how to listen to emails on iPhone: copy an email's text from Mail, paste it into Readwalk and press play. Readwalk keeps reading with your phone locked. For a free option, enable Speak Selection or Speak Screen in Settings › Accessibility › Read & Speak, then select text and tap Speak or swipe down from the top with two fingers.
Why listen to emails instead of reading them?
It's easy to save a long newsletter for later and still have it sitting unread a week later. Work updates and reports need time, too. Listening gives those emails a place in your day: a walk, a commute or the time you spend cooking dinner.
You can choose a method for each message. Speak Selection suits a few paragraphs. Speak Screen reads an open email. Readwalk lets you take a long newsletter with you and put your phone away. These are three options for text to speech for iPhone.
How to listen to emails on iPhone with Readwalk
For a long Substack newsletter, Morning Brew email or work update, Readwalk lets you listen in a natural voice with the phone locked.
- Open the email in Mail.
- Tap and hold the email's text, then choose Select All › Copy.
- Open Readwalk and paste the copied text.
- Press play in Readwalk.
- Lock your phone and listen with headphones.
If you've set up Readwalk's Read Clipboard workflow in Shortcuts, you can copy the email text and say "Hey Siri, Read Clipboard." Readwalk reads the copied text aloud.
Readwalk remembers your place in each item, so an interruption doesn't mean starting again. You can adjust the speed from 0.75x to 3x, use the lock-screen controls, or follow the word-by-word highlighting on screen. Pasted text is read without Markdown symbols, links and URLs. You can also listen to articles, PDFs and scanned pages.
Standard voices run on your iPhone, work offline and have no listening limit. Readwalk Studio includes those voices plus 10 hours of the most lifelike Studio voices each calendar month. Studio voices stream from Readwalk's servers. Unused hours don't carry over; when they run out, reading continues with Standard voices.
Readwalk costs $6.99/month or $39.99/year. Readwalk Studio costs $14.99/month or $99.99/year. Both yearly plans have a 7-day free trial, which includes 1 hour of Studio voices. Prices are in USD; see subscription plans.
How do I hear a full email with Speak Screen?
Speak Screen is free and built into iPhone. Use it for a quick read while the email is open, without copying text into another app.
Set it up once on iOS 26:
- Open Settings.
- Go to Accessibility › Read & Speak.
- Turn on Speak Screen.
Then open the message:
- Open an email in Mail.
- Swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen.
- A playback bar appears and iPhone starts reading from the top.
- Use the controls to pause, change the speed or skip ahead.
Speak Screen reads what's on screen, so you may hear the sender, recipient and timestamp along with the message.
How do I hear one paragraph with Speak Selection?
Speak Selection is another free option built into iPhone. It's useful for a short message or a paragraph you want to hear again.
Set it up once on iOS 26:
- Open Settings.
- Go to Accessibility › Read & Speak.
- Turn on Speak Selection.
To hear part of an email:
- Open the email in Mail.
- Tap and hold the text you want to hear.
- Drag the selection handles to cover the passage.
- Tap Speak in the menu.
Speak Selection reads only the text you've selected. To hear another passage, select it and tap Speak again.
For text beyond your inbox, see how to make your iPhone read to you.
Should I use Readwalk, Speak Screen or Speak Selection?
| What matters to you? | Readwalk | Speak Screen | Speak Selection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Long emails and newsletters | Full emails and quick reads | Short emails or specific paragraphs |
| Voices | Natural Standard voices; Studio voices on Readwalk Studio | iPhone system voices | iPhone system voices |
| Speed control | Yes, 0.75x to 3x | Yes | Yes |
| Cost | $6.99/month or $39.99/year; Studio costs more | Free | Free |
How can I fit email listening into my day?
- In Gmail, open the email and copy its text into Readwalk. You can also use Speak Selection or Speak Screen while the message is open in Gmail.
- In Outlook, open the email and copy its text into Readwalk, or use the same built-in iPhone speech options with the message open.
- For daily newsletters, pick one you keep saving for later and listen during a walk or while doing chores.
- Start at 1x speed. Try 1.25x or 1.5x when you're comfortable following the email by ear.
- To hear several emails in Readwalk, copy and paste each one into your library. Readwalk plays the next item automatically.
What about attachments and PDFs?
You can read PDF attachments aloud with Readwalk:
- Open the PDF attachment in Mail.
- Tap Share › Readwalk.
- Press play in Readwalk to hear the PDF's text.
Running headers and page numbers in the PDF may be read, too. See how to get a PDF read aloud for more detail.
Frequently asked questions
Can I listen to emails with the Mail app on iPhone?
Yes. Open a message in Mail and use iPhone's Speak Screen or Speak Selection. For listening with the phone locked, copy the email's text into Readwalk and press play.
How do I listen to Gmail on my iPhone?
Open the email in Gmail, copy its text and paste it into Readwalk. Once enabled in Settings, Speak Selection and Speak Screen also work while the email is open: select text and tap Speak, or swipe down from the top with two fingers.
Can I listen to Outlook emails on iPhone?
Yes. Copy the email text from Outlook into Readwalk, or use Speak Selection or Speak Screen with the email open in Outlook. The numbered steps above explain how to enable each iPhone feature.
Will it read emails with the phone locked?
Readwalk keeps playing with your phone locked, with playback controls on the lock screen.
Can I listen to long newsletters like Substack?
Yes. Copy the newsletter text from Mail or your browser and paste it into Readwalk. You can lock your phone while it reads and return to your saved place after a break.
