Read Apple Notes Aloud — With Word-Level Highlight
Select any paragraph in your Mac Notes. A floating ▶ button appears next to the selection. One click — natural voice playback starts with a highlight that glides word-by-word across the real Notes window.
macOS native · Free · No login · 40+ languages
Product review — Q2 notes: ship the reader upgrade by May, align with design on the new player, and prep the launch email.
Highlight follows each word in your actual note.
One App Covers Every Native Mac Editor
Same gesture, same word-level highlight — across every Mac text editor that exposes its text natively.
TextEdit
Plain / RTF documents
Stickies
Yellow sticky notes
Notes
Apple Notes
Script Editor
AppleScript IDE
BBEdit
Pro text & code editor
CotEditor
Open-source editor
TextMate
GPL code editor
Terminal
zsh / bash shell
Three Steps — No Setup
CastReader runs as a menu-bar app. Apple Notes stays exactly as it is.
Install
Download CastReader for Mac (.dmg). Grant Accessibility permission once — that's how it reads selected text from the Notes window.
Select
Open any note. Drag to select a sentence, paragraph, or the whole note body.
Click ▶
A small play button appears next to your selection. One click — audio starts with a highlight that tracks each word inside the Notes window.
When Apple Notes Readers Use CastReader
Apple Notes is the Mac's capture-everything app. CastReader turns your notes into a listen-while-you-work companion.
Listen to meeting notes
Walk through long project notes hands-free. Useful when prepping for a meeting you can't re-read at the desk.
Run through checklists
Apple Notes checklists read aloud as you complete each item. Great for packing lists, recipe steps, daily routines.
Language learning from clips
Paste foreign articles into a note, select any sentence, hear native pronunciation. 40+ languages auto-detected.
Dyslexia & low-vision support
Apple Notes has no built-in read-aloud on Mac. CastReader adds word-level follow-along that's essential for readers with dyslexia.
Study from your own notes
Review lecture notes or reading summaries by listening. The highlight stays anchored to your original text.
Hear scanned docs read back
Apple Notes OCRs scanned PDFs and photos. CastReader reads the recognized text out loud.
Why CastReader Beats macOS Built-in Speech
macOS has Edit → Start Speaking, but no highlight, no speed control, no natural voices. CastReader fixes every gap.
Word-level highlight on your actual note
A transparent overlay tracks each spoken word directly inside the Notes window. Your eyes follow the voice — not a separate reader pane.
40+ natural AI voices
Auto-detects the language of your selection. Kokoro-quality voices for English, Mandarin, Japanese, French, German, Spanish and more.
Adjustable rate, re-read any paragraph
Change speed 0.5×–2× on the fly. Click any paragraph to jump playback — not possible with macOS Speech.
Zero cost, zero signup
No account, no credit card, no daily limits. CastReader is completely free — unlike Speechify or NaturalReader.
Common Questions
How do I read Apple Notes aloud on a Mac?▾
macOS has Edit → Speech → Start Speaking, but no highlight, no speed control, and only old system voices. For natural voice and word-level highlight overlaid on your Notes window, install CastReader for Mac. Select text, click the floating ▶, and the note starts reading.
Does this work with rich formatting, images, and attachments?▾
Yes for text. CastReader reads the character range exposed by the Accessibility API — bold, color, tables, bullet lists all work. Images and PDF attachments are skipped (text only). OCR'd text from scanned docs is read as regular content.
Does CastReader modify my notes?▾
No. CastReader reads your selection through macOS Accessibility APIs and overlays a transparent highlight on top of the real Notes window. Your note content is never modified, copied, or uploaded anywhere.
Why does CastReader need Accessibility permission?▾
The Accessibility (AX) API is the only way a Mac app can read the currently selected text from another app. CastReader uses it to capture Notes selections and compute pixel-level bounds for the highlight.
Does iCloud sync affect reading?▾
No. CastReader reads what's visible in the Notes window. If iCloud syncs in a new version mid-read it simply re-reads the current state — your audio continues from the new text.
Can it read Chinese, Japanese, or Korean Notes?▾
Yes. CastReader auto-detects the language of your selection. CJK text uses native Mandarin / Japanese / Korean voices. Mixed-language notes switch voice at sentence boundaries.
What about Apple Notes on iPhone / iPad?▾
CastReader for Mac covers the Mac Notes app only. For reading iOS notes, use iOS Accessibility → Spoken Content — CastReader doesn't have an iOS companion yet.
What's different from Speechify?▾
Speechify is a paid subscription that asks you to paste text into its own reader. CastReader is free, runs inside the Notes window you're already using, and overlays the highlight directly on your note — you never leave Notes.
Is there a keyboard shortcut?▾
Yes. Open CastReader's menu-bar icon → Preferences to bind a global hotkey to 'Read Selection'. The floating ▶ button is optional for pure keyboard users.
Is it really free?▾
Yes. 100% free. No account, no credit card, no premium voice gate, no daily word limit. Download the .dmg and use it forever.
Ready to Hear Your Apple Notes?
Install once. Select any text in Notes. Click ▶. Listen.