SpeakCoveCBZ (Comic Book ZIP) is a renamed ZIP archive full of page images, usually JPEG or PNG files numbered in reading order. Some CBZ files also include a ComicInfo.xml file with the title, series, issue number and writer. There is no text layer at all: every word in the speech balloons and caption boxes is part of a picture. To hear a comic, an app has to recognize that lettering first (OCR). What you hear is the lettered text. The artwork itself is not described, so listening works best alongside the pages, for dialogue-heavy books, or for language practice.
The Challenge
- No text layer: text-to-speech tools without OCR have nothing to read in a CBZ, and Speak Screen finds no text on a page image.
- Reading order: balloons are spread across panels, and manga reads right to left. Automatic recognition doesn't always follow the path your eye takes through a page.
- Lettering: hand-drawn fonts, sound effects and text over busy art are hard for any OCR engine. Expect some sound effects to be skipped or misread.
How to Listen with SpeakCove
1Install SpeakCove
SpeakCove is free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad with iOS 26 or later. CBZ support and text recognition are included in the free version.
2Import the .cbz file
Share the CBZ to SpeakCove from Files or a cloud storage app, or tap + > Import File. CBR (RAR) archives are not supported, so repack those as CBZ first.
3Let SpeakCove build the pages
SpeakCove sorts the images by file name, splits wide two-page spreads into separate pages, and takes the title and writer from ComicInfo.xml when the file has one.
4Text recognition runs on the device
Apple Vision reads the lettering page by page as you listen. Nothing is uploaded, and it works offline.
5Listen while you look at the page
Press play to hear the balloons and captions. The words being spoken are highlighted on the page image, and tapping a balloon starts reading from there. A speed of 0.75x or 1x suits short lines of dialogue.
Other Methods
Live Text and Speak Selection, page by page
- Built into iOS: Live Text can select text in an image
- With Speak Selection on, selected text can be spoken
- You open each page as an image and select each balloon by hand
- Impractical for more than a few pages
- No continuous listening or saved place
A comic reader app with Speak Screen
- Comic readers are good at displaying and organizing CBZ files
- Speak Screen is free and built in
- Comic pages are images, so Speak Screen usually has nothing to read except the app's own labels
- Most comic readers have no text recognition of their own
Transcribe the comic yourself
- Full control over reading order and spelling
- Works with any text-to-speech app afterwards
- One issue can take hours to type out
- Only realistic for a few pages
Listening with SpeakCove
- Recognizes the text on every comic page automatically, on the device, with Apple Vision.
- Works offline: reading, OCR and voices run on your iPhone, even in airplane mode.
- Splits two-page spreads and reads ComicInfo.xml titles, so the comic lands in your library ready to play.
- Highlights the words being spoken on the page image, so you can follow along balloon by balloon.
- Free with two voices and all 31 languages, useful for reading comics in a language you are learning. Premium ($14.99 once) adds 8 voices, background playback and CarPlay.
Free Text to Speech, Right in Your Browser
Paste text or open any file (PDF, EPUB, Word, scans and more) and press Play. SpeakCove reads it aloud with natural voices in 31 languages. It's free, with no sign-up and no length limit, and your text never leaves your browser.
Open the reader →Try SpeakCove Free. No sign-up required. Start listening in seconds.
One-time purchase, no subscription
Free to start with 2 voices and every format. $14.99 once unlocks all 10 voices, background playback and CarPlay. No subscription, ever.
Listen in the car with CarPlay
Your documents on your car's screen and speakers, with CarPlay in Premium.
Works offline, fully on-device
Your documents never leave your device. The app has no analytics and no ads, and reading and voices work in airplane mode.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How well does text recognition work on comics?
- Clean, digitally lettered comics work best. Hand-lettered fonts, stylized sound effects and text over detailed art are less reliable, and some words may be skipped or misread.
- Does SpeakCove read balloons in the right order?
- Text is grouped into blocks and read roughly top to bottom, left to right. Unusual layouts and right-to-left manga can come out in a different order than you would read them. Tap a balloon to jump to it.
- Can SpeakCove read CBR files?
- No, only CBZ. Extract the CBR archive on a computer and zip the images again as .cbz, or use a converter.
- Does SpeakCove describe the artwork?
- No. It reads the text that is lettered on the page: dialogue, captions and signs. Actions shown only in the pictures are not described.
- Is there a page limit for CBZ files?
- No. Long collections take longer because each page is recognized as you reach it, but there is no hard limit.