Omphe reads text aloud on your Mac in natural neural voices, not the robotic ones built into your computer. Highlight words in Claude, ChatGPT, Notes, Pages, Safari, or any other app, press ⌥ Esc, and listen.
Free · 80 MB · macOS 13 or later · Which Mac do I have?
Omphe lives in your menu bar. It reads whatever you select, in any app where you can highlight text.
Answers copied from AI chats are full of markdown. Omphe strips the asterisks, pound signs, and link addresses so you hear the sentence, not the formatting.
When an app hides its selection, Omphe copies it for a moment and puts your clipboard back exactly as it was.
Omphe uses Kokoro, an open neural voice model that runs entirely on your Mac. No account, no internet needed after the first download, and your text never leaves your computer.
Already pay for ElevenLabs or OpenAI? Paste your API key into the Omphe menu to use their voices. Keys are stored in your macOS Keychain.
Speed from 0.8x to 2x · ⌥ ⇧ Esc to pause
Open the Apple menu and choose About This Mac. If it lists a Chip such as Apple M1, M2, M3, or M4, download Apple Silicon. If it lists a Processor made by Intel, download Intel.
Omphe is free and not yet registered with Apple, so the first time you open it macOS shows "Omphe Not Opened." Click Done (not Move to Trash). Then open System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll down to the Security section, click Open Anyway next to the Omphe message, and confirm with your password. You only do this once.
macOS requires this permission for any app that reads the text you select in other apps. Turn on Omphe in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility. Omphe only reads your selection when you press the shortcut.
Omphe downloads its voice model once (about 350 MB). After that, the built-in voices work offline. The menu bar icon shows progress while it downloads.
That second voice is macOS Speak Selection, which also listens for ⌥ Esc. Click the Omphe icon in your menu bar, open Shortcut, and pick ⌃ Esc or ⌃⌥ R. Or turn off Speak Selection in System Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content.
No. Omphe and its on-device voices are free. The only possible cost is your own ElevenLabs or OpenAI account, if you choose to connect one.