A lightweight, privacy-first audiobook player that runs entirely in your browser. Drop in an epub or PDF, paste any article URL, and start listening immediately; no installs needed, no account required, no files ever leave your device. Built for iPhone but works anywhere.
- Drop any
.epubor.pdfand start listening immediately- EPUB footnotes and endnotes are automatically stripped so they don't interrupt the reading
- Paste any URL: listen to articles, essays, and blog posts from any webpage
- Index pages (e.g.
paulgraham.com/articles.html) load all articles into the sidebar so you can tap any one to play - Strips ads, navigation, and clutter automatically
- Index pages (e.g.
- Chapter / page navigation with a slide-out sidebar
- Estimated listen time shown per chapter alongside word count
- Speed control: 0.75× to 2× (remembered across sessions)
- Resume where you left off: per book, stored locally
- Smart voice selector: organized by region (US, UK, AU). Greys out voices not installed on your device. Remembers your choice.
- iOS Home Screen app: add to Home Screen for an app-like experience
- iOS Shortcut: open Inkcast directly from your home screen or via Siri
- Your books and files never leave your device.
Open in Safari on iPhone → Share → Add to Home Screen for the best experience.
git clone https://github.com/chizkidd/inkcast.git
cd inkcast
# Open docs/index.html in any browser, or serve locally:
npx serve docsNo build step. No dependencies. The entire app is one HTML file in docs/.
Say "Hey Siri, Inkcast" or tap a home screen icon to open it instantly.
- Open the Shortcuts app → tap +
- Add action: Open URLs →
https://chizkidd.github.io/inkcast/ - Rename to Inkcast → pick an icon → tap Done
- Long-press the shortcut → Add to Home Screen
See docs/shortcut-setup.md for Lock Screen and Siri setup.
The default system voices can sound robotic. On iPhone:
Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → Voices → English
Recommended downloads:
- Siri Voice 1 or 2: most natural, best for long-form listening
- Daniel (UK Male): excellent for fiction
- Karen (AU Female): clear and warm
Downloaded voices appear automatically in Inkcast's voice selector.
When you want podcast-quality voices, the upgrade path is already stubbed in the code. Search for TODO: UPGRADE TO OPENAI TTS in docs/index.html for a full drop-in replacement including chunking and all voice options.
Available voices: onyx (deep male), nova (warm female), shimmer (expressive female), alloy, echo, fable.
- EPUB parsing: JSZip unpacks the file in-browser. Chapter titles come from the NCX (EPUB2) or
nav.xhtml(EPUB3). - PDF parsing: PDF.js extracts text page by page. Bookmark outlines become chapters; otherwise pages are grouped automatically.
- URL fetching: a Cloudflare Worker fetches pages server-side to bypass CORS. The HTML is cleaned in the browser. Index pages populate the sidebar TOC automatically; articles load on demand when tapped.
- Text-to-speech: Web Speech API, built into Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. No external API needed.
- Voice selection: matches installed voices against a curated list by region. Preference saved in
localStorage. - Resume & speed: stored in
localStorageper book. Speed persists globally.
Scanned PDFs (image-only, no text layer) won't work. Most ebooks and modern PDFs are fine.
inkcast/
├── docs/
│ ├── index.html # The entire app
│ ├── shortcut-setup.md # iOS shortcut instructions
│ ├── robots.txt
│ ├── sitemap.xml
│ └── 404.html
├── .github/
│ └── FUNDING.yml
├── .gitignore
├── LICENSE
└── README.md
| Browser | Works | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Safari (iOS) | ✅ | Best experience, add to Home Screen |
| Safari (macOS) | ✅ | |
| Chrome (Android/Desktop) | ✅ | |
| Firefox | ✅ | |
| Samsung Internet | ✅ |
- OpenAI TTS integration (premium voices)
- Bookmarks within chapters
- Sleep timer
- Font size / reading view toggle
- PWA manifest for better installability
- Password-protected PDF support
PRs welcome. Open an issue first for big changes.
MIT
