EarCast - Article to Podcast

Turn any web article into audio with one click. Listen in-browser, download as MP3, or add to your personal podcast feed.

🎧 **EarCast — Turn Any Article Into Audio With One Click** EarCast is the fastest, simplest text-to-speech Chrome extension for converting web articles to natural-sounding audio. Click the EarCast icon on any article, choose your voice, and start listening in seconds. No copying and pasting. No account required. Works on every website. --- **⚡ HOW IT WORKS** 1. Open any article in Chrome — news, blogs, newsletters, documentation, anything 2. Click the EarCast icon in your toolbar 3. See the article title, word count, and estimated listen time 4. Hit "Convert to Audio" 5. A floating player appears — play, pause, skip, change speed, download That's it. The entire web becomes your personal podcast. --- **🎙️ NATURAL AI VOICES — NOT ROBOTIC TTS** EarCast uses OpenAI's advanced text-to-speech technology. The result is natural, expressive audio that sounds like a real person, not a computer reading words off a screen. Choose from 6 distinct voices: • **Nova** — Warm and clear. Great for news and general articles. • **Alloy** — Balanced and neutral. Works well for technical content. • **Echo** — Smooth and conversational. Perfect for blog posts. • **Fable** — Expressive and engaging. Ideal for long-form essays. • **Onyx** — Deep and authoritative. Great for business content. • **Shimmer** — Soft and calm. Excellent for relaxing reads. --- **🎛️ FULL PLAYBACK CONTROL** The EarCast floating player gives you complete control without getting in your way: • **Play / Pause** — Instantly start or stop at any moment • **Skip forward / back** — Jump 15 seconds in either direction • **Variable speed** — Listen at 0.75x, 1x, 1.25x, 1.5x, or 2x • **Progress bar** — See how far through the article you are • **Time estimate** — Know exactly how long the article will take to listen to • **Draggable player** — Move it anywhere on screen so it never blocks content • **Collapse / expand** — Minimize the player when you don't need it • **Download MP3** — Save any article as an audio file for offline listening The player persists even when you refresh the page — your audio is cached locally so you can always pick up where you left off. --- **📚 MY LIBRARY — YOUR PERSONAL AUDIO ARCHIVE** Every article you convert is automatically saved to your EarCast library. Click the 📚 icon in the popup to open your full library: • See all your converted articles in one place • Search by title, website, or author • See word count and estimated listen time for each article • Re-open any article to convert it again • Delete individual articles or clear your full history Your library is stored locally — no account required, completely private. --- **🧠 SMART ARTICLE EXTRACTION** EarCast uses Mozilla's Readability.js to intelligently extract just the article content from any webpage — the same technology that powers Firefox's Reader Mode. What gets extracted: ✓ Article title and author ✓ Main article body text ✓ Proper paragraph structure What gets filtered out: ✗ Advertisements and sponsored content ✗ Navigation menus and headers/footers ✗ Comment sections ✗ Newsletter signup popups ✗ "Subscribe" and paywall prompts ✗ Author bio boxes ✗ Related article links The result: clean, focused audio that reads only what matters. Works on virtually any webpage with article content — major news publications, independent blogs, newsletters, wikis, academic sites, and documentation pages. If the page has readable text, EarCast can convert it. --- **💰 FREE TIER — NO CREDIT CARD, NO ACCOUNT** Get started completely free: • **10 articles per month** — no strings attached • No account required • No credit card required • Usage counter shows exactly how many articles you have left • Resets automatically on the 1st of each month Need more? Upgrade to **EarCast Pro** for $7/month or $59/year: • Unlimited article conversions • Up to ~10,000 words per article (vs ~3,000 on free) • Priority support • All 6 voices • Personal podcast RSS feed (coming soon) --- **🔒 PRIVACY FIRST — YOUR DATA STAYS YOURS** EarCast is built with privacy as a core value, not an afterthought: • **No tracking** — We don't monitor what articles you read • **No behavioral analytics** — Your reading habits are your business • **No browsing history** — We never see what pages you visit • **Local storage** — Your settings, library, and audio cache live only on your device • **Transparent API usage** — Article text is sent to OpenAI's TTS API solely to generate audio. OpenAI's privacy policy governs their use. • **No advertising** — We will never sell your data or show you ads Full privacy policy: earcast.io/privacy --- **♿ ACCESSIBILITY** EarCast makes the web more accessible for everyone: **For people with dyslexia:** Audio is often easier to process than text. EarCast removes the barrier of reading-heavy content and lets you absorb articles at your own pace. **For people with visual impairments:** Convert any webpage to audio without needing a screen reader trained on specific sites. **For people with reading fatigue:** Eye strain is real. Give your eyes a break and let your ears do the work. **For people with attention difficulties:** Some people focus better when listening. EarCast lets you absorb content while doing other things that keep your hands and eyes busy. **For language learners:** Hear how words are pronounced in context. Great for building reading comprehension in a second language. --- **🎓 WHO USES EARCAST** EarCast fits naturally into daily routines for anyone who wants to consume written content without staring at a screen: • **Students** — Convert research papers and articles to audio for review while commuting or exercising • **Professionals** — Stay current on industry news without adding screen time to your day • **Researchers** — Process large volumes of content more efficiently • **Writers** — Consume reference material while doing other tasks • **Entrepreneurs** — Stay on top of business and technology news during workouts • **Investors** — Absorb financial news and analysis during commutes --- **🚗 PERFECT FOR COMMUTERS AND MULTITASKERS** EarCast turns dead time into learning time: • **Commuting by car** — Download MP3s and listen without data • **Public transit** — Listen with headphones on the go • **Working out** — Stay informed while at the gym • **Cooking and cleaning** — Listen to long-form articles while doing chores • **Walking** — Turn your daily walk into a learning session The download-to-MP3 feature means you can take your articles anywhere — no internet required. --- **⚙️ TECHNICAL DETAILS** • **Manifest Version:** 3 (latest Chrome Extension standard) • **TTS Engine:** OpenAI text-to-speech (natural intonation) • **Article Extraction:** Mozilla Readability.js • **Audio Format:** MP3, 128kbps • **Backend:** Cloudflare Workers (global edge network) • **Privacy:** No third-party analytics or tracking libraries • **Performance:** Most articles convert in 15–60 seconds depending on length • **Offline:** Audio cached locally for replay without re-converting --- **🔜 COMING SOON** We're actively building the next generation of EarCast. Pro subscribers get early access to: • **Personal Podcast RSS Feed** — Convert articles and have them automatically appear in your podcast app as a private feed • **Reading Queue** — Save articles to a queue and auto-play one after another • **PDF Support** — Convert PDF documents to audio directly from Chrome • **AI Article Summaries** — Get a quick overview before committing to the full article • **Keyboard Shortcuts** — Control playback without touching the mouse • **Translation** — Listen to articles in your language of choice --- **🛠️ WORKS EVERYWHERE** EarCast's smart extraction engine adapts to site structure automatically — news publications, independent blogs, newsletters, knowledge bases, academic papers, and developer documentation all work without any manual configuration. If the page has a readable article, EarCast can convert it. --- **📧 SUPPORT & FEEDBACK** • **Website:** earcast.io • **Support:** support@earcast.io • **Privacy Policy:** earcast.io/privacy • **Terms of Service:** earcast.io/terms If you find a site that doesn't extract correctly, email us the URL and we'll investigate. --- **⭐ IF YOU ENJOY EARCAST** Please leave a review — it helps other people discover the extension. EarCast is built by a small team that uses it every day. Every review and piece of feedback directly funds continued development. Thank you for your support. --- *EarCast — The web, in your ears.*