--- title: Full Document View for iOS TTS version: 1 last-updated: 2026-09-22 --- # Full Document View for iOS TTS The purpose of this plugin is to unlock native Apple Text-to-Speech (TTS) on Obsidian notes. Normally the Accessibility Reader in iOS only sees a portion of the note, as Obsidian's preview is optimized to load only the visible portion of the note give or take some caching. This plugin presents a special preview mode that Accessibility Reader can use to read the entire document If you are using an iOS device and are using a TTS plugin with an API key, you are spending money for something your device is already capable of doing for free. Modern iOS/macOS TTS has improved substantially and is on a quality par with the best TTS API services. However, accessing it is not straightforward. By enabling a shortcut to the Accessibility Reader ([instructions](docs/reader-help.md#set-up-an-iphone-shortcut)), you can activate TTS on your notes on-device, even if you have no wifi or data connection. The one remaining limitation is that Accessibility Reader only sees a portion of the document - per Obsidian's preview optimization. This plugin enables a full-document preview for use with the Accessibility Reader. Instructions for how to use it and how to invoke it are in the help text and [the setup and usage guide](docs/reader-help.md). No speech service account or API key is needed. Requires **Obsidian 1.13+** and **iOS 26+ or macOS 26+**. ## How to use Install and enable **Full Document View for iOS TTS** from its [Obsidian Community listing](https://community.obsidian.md/plugins/ios-tts). Then set up Apple's Accessibility Reader once for each device. ### Set up iPhone (iOS) Open **Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak**. ![iPhone Accessibility settings with Read & Speak highlighted](docs/images/setup/ios-read-and-speak.png) Open **Accessibility Reader** and turn it on. ![Read & Speak settings with Accessibility Reader highlighted](docs/images/setup/ios-reader-setting.png) Turn on **Autoplay in Accessibility Reader** if you want speech to start when Accessibility Reader opens. ![Accessibility Reader and Autoplay switched on](docs/images/setup/ios-reader-autoplay.png) Return to **Settings > Accessibility** and check **Accessibility Shortcut**. ![Accessibility settings with Accessibility Shortcut highlighted](docs/images/setup/ios-shortcut-setting.png) Check that **Accessibility Reader** is selected. The default shortcut is a **triple-click of the lock button**. ![Accessibility Reader selected for the accessibility shortcut](docs/images/setup/ios-shortcut-selection.png) ### Set up Mac (macOS) Open **System Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak**. ![macOS Accessibility settings with Read & Speak highlighted](docs/images/setup/mac-read-and-speak.png) Turn on **Accessibility Reader**. ![Accessibility Reader enabled, with the info button beside System voice highlighted](docs/images/setup/mac-reader-and-voice.png) **Important: for high-quality TTS, click the info button (i) beside System voice and select a Siri voice.** The default selector alone does not expose the Siri voices; the info button opens the voice selection options. The standard voice has much lower fidelity. Download the Siri voice if prompted before using it offline. The default Accessibility Reader shortcut is **Command-Escape**. ### Listen to a note Open a note in Obsidian. The plugin's icon appears beside the normal edit/preview buttons in the document pane. ![Obsidian note toolbar with the plugin button highlighted beside the edit and preview controls](docs/images/setup/obsidian-note-toolbar.png) Click this icon: ![Full-document preview icon](docs/images/setup/reader-icon.png) This opens **Accessibility Preview**. You can also use **Preview for Accessibility View (TTS on iOS/macOS)** in Obsidian's **command palette**. On Mac, you can assign a hotkey to this command in **Obsidian Settings > Hotkeys** to open the preview from the keyboard. Accessibility Preview adds explicit breaks to rendered paragraphs and headings to support separate paragraph highlighting and pauses in Accessibility Reader. The source note is unchanged. The preview's **Help** button shows the shortcut reminder when needed. Select **Help** again to close it before starting Accessibility Reader. Invoke Apple's Accessibility Reader. The defaults are **triple-click the lock button** on iPhone and **Command-Escape** on Mac. Speech starts automatically if Autoplay is enabled. Otherwise, press **Play**. Accessibility Reader's controls manage the voice and playback. ![Accessibility Reader reading an Obsidian note aloud, with playback active and the pause control visible](docs/images/setup/ios-tts-acc.png) [Apple's iPhone instructions](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/read-listen-text-apps-accessibility-reader-iph406a46ab8/26/ios/26) · [Apple's Mac instructions](https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mac-help/mchl799f6fb9/mac) · [Choosing a Mac voice](https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mchlp2290/mac) The default limit is **100,000 words**, adjustable in plugin settings. [Shortcut setup and further help](docs/reader-help.md) · [Manual installation](docs/readme-history.md#install-and-use) · [Development](docs/readme-history.md#develop-outside-the-vault) · [Releases and provenance](docs/releases/automation.md) Licensed under [Apache License 2.0](LICENSE). ## Change history - 2026-09-22: Documented paragraph-boundary handling and linked the [accessibility bugfix, research and validation](specs/005-accessibility-preview-boundaries/spec.org). macOS paragraph separation and highlighting have been observed; iPhone validation of this change remains pending.