Read CotEditor Aloud — With Word-Level Highlight
Select any paragraph or code block in CotEditor. A floating ▶ button appears next to your selection. One click — natural voice playback starts with a highlight that glides word-by-word across the real CotEditor window.
macOS native · Free · No login · 40+ languages
CotEditor is a lightweight, open-source plain-text editor for macOS — fast at launching, and comfortable for coding or note-taking.
Highlight follows each word in your actual CotEditor document.
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. CotEditor stays exactly as it is.
Install
Download CastReader for Mac (.dmg). Grant Accessibility permission once — that is how it reads selected text from CotEditor.
Select
Open any text file in CotEditor. Drag to select a paragraph, code block, or the full document.
Click ▶
A small play button appears next to your selection. One click — audio starts with a highlight that tracks each word inside CotEditor.
When CotEditor Users Pair the Editor with Read-Aloud
CotEditor is beloved for its clean, fast, ad-free experience. CastReader keeps that ethos — free, local, respectful — and adds a natural voice reader.
Proofread drafts and prose
Many writers use CotEditor for distraction-free drafting. Listening catches awkward phrasing that skimming misses.
Hear code comments and config
Select a function with comments, or a config file, and hear it read. Great for spotting typos in doc comments.
Multilingual text editing
CotEditor handles many encodings. CastReader auto-detects the selection language across 40+ voices.
Dyslexia & low-vision support
CotEditor has no built-in read-aloud. CastReader adds word-level follow-along that's essential for readers with dyslexia.
Why CastReader Beats macOS Built-in Speech
macOS has Edit → Start Speaking in CotEditor, but no highlight, no speed control, no natural voices. CastReader fixes every gap.
Word-level highlight on your actual document
A transparent overlay tracks each spoken word directly inside the CotEditor 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, jump to 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
Free, like CotEditor itself. No account, no credit card, no daily limits.
Common Questions
How do I read a CotEditor document aloud on a Mac?▾
CotEditor inherits macOS 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 document, install CastReader for Mac. Select text, click the floating ▶, and CotEditor starts reading.
Does it work with syntax highlighting?▾
Yes. CastReader reads the character content, not the colors. Your CotEditor syntax highlighting stays unchanged.
Does it handle non-UTF-8 encodings?▾
Yes. Whatever text CotEditor renders is what CastReader reads — CotEditor handles the encoding conversion, CastReader reads the final visible characters.
Does CastReader modify my files?▾
No. CastReader reads your selection through macOS Accessibility APIs and overlays a transparent highlight on top of the real CotEditor window. Your file 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 CotEditor selections and compute pixel-level bounds for the highlight.
Can it read Chinese, Japanese, or Korean text?▾
Yes. CastReader auto-detects CJK text and uses native Mandarin / Japanese / Korean voices. Mixed-language files switch voice at sentence boundaries.
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 — like CotEditor. No account, no credit card, no premium voice gate, no daily word limit. Download the .dmg and use it forever.
Ready to Hear Your CotEditor Documents?
Install once. Select any text in CotEditor. Click ▶. Listen.