Leading artificial intelligence voice platform ElevenLabs has released a new iPhone app that allows users to listen to anything from entire novels to web page content.

The new ElevenLabs Reader app includes access to a vast voice library consisting of cloned and synthesized voices.

If you don't already have a paid Eleven Labs account, you can access almost unlimited generations and top-quality voices for free for three months. I tried it out using my own articles and my own voice, and it was like listening to a podcast I had forgotten I had recorded.

The app is currently only available in English and iPhone versions in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., but Eleven Labs says it will be rolling out to more countries, devices, and languages soon There is an early access waiting list for Android.

Eleven Labs' reader app will continue to play even when the app is closed, so it can be used to listen to study material, a new company report, or even a shopping list.

"Your life, narrated," is a catchphrase Eleven Labs uses to describe its use cases. Many times I have wished I could more easily listen to the reports and research papers needed to decipher the stories.

In the promotional video for the new app, a woman walking around a grocery store listens to recipes being read aloud; ChatGPT and many other apps can do this, but what sets Eleven Labs apart is the natural and diverse voices.

In one scene, a colleague sent him a link as he was getting into his car. He puts it on Eleven Labs and listens to it while driving - that way he can get to his destination without having to read the article first before driving.

When I tried the ElevenLab Reader, my instinct was to give him the link to my article and use my cloned voice (not to read too deeply). It worked brilliantly, but it also became distracting, reading any page furniture like pull quotes, ads, link lists, etc.

In addition to the ability to read text, links, and files, it comes preinstalled with half a dozen public domain short stories, including "Cinderella," "The Tale of Peter Rabbit," and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." You can find many more such stories with Project Gutenberg.

To listen to something using the readings, simply paste a link, copy and paste text, upload a file, or click on one of the preloaded stories. The reading will immediately begin with the default voice or the last voice selected from the library.

Since it is one voice at a time, you cannot create a radio play, but there are thousands of voices to choose from. There are voices with various accents, speaking styles, and tones.

There is a late night radio voice for reading true stories, a confident, professional voice for business reports, and even a professor-like voice if you want to have a textbook or research paper read out loud.

I've only just started using it, but it will be a game changer for my commute.