Select text in any app. Press ⌥⌘R. About a second later, a voice that sounds human starts reading — while you keep working.
press ▶ on the player to hear Shmia — and run your cursor through the wave
⌥⌘R reads whatever you've selected — browser, PDF, email, doc. Or right-click → “Read with Shmia.” No importing, no library, no app-switching.
Powered by ElevenLabs, the most realistic AI voices there are. Pick any voice in your library and preview it before you commit.
Shmia never waits for the whole selection. The first sentences stream immediately; the rest generates while it speaks.
0.75× to 2×, pitch-preserved, applied instantly mid-sentence. Your pick becomes the default — and it never costs extra credits.
A small window appears top-right with a live timeline, play/pause, speed and voice — always on top, never stealing focus.
No API keys, no accounts to wire up. Download it and your screen can talk within a minute — voices stream from the Shmia cloud. Power users can still plug in their own keys in Settings.
Other apps process your entire text, then start. Shmia splits your selection into chunks: the first is tiny so the voice starts immediately, and the pipeline always stays three chunks ahead.
Chunk 1 is kept small on purpose — that's why the first words arrive in about a second.
Reader apps want you to bring your text to them — import it, upload it, paste it. Shmia works the other way: it comes to wherever your text already is.
| Shmia | Speechify | NaturalReader | ElevenReader | macOS built-in | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native Mac app | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ iPhone/Android only | ✓ |
| Reads selection in any app, one keystroke | ✓ | partial | ✗ import first | ✗ | ✓ |
| Human-sounding AI voices | ✓ ElevenLabs | ✓ premium tier | ✓ premium tier | ✓ | ✗ robotic |
| Starts instantly on long text | ✓ streamed chunks | varies | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Floating mini player, live timeline | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Pricing | Free app · your ElevenLabs credits | ≈ $139/yr | ≈ $110/yr | subscription | Free |
Based on each product's published capabilities, July 2026. “Partial” = works in some apps via their own extension or reader window.
Anywhere on your Mac where text can be selected: every browser, Mail, PDFs, Notes, Slack, Word, code editors — everything. If you can highlight it, Shmia can read it.
Shmia (שמיעה) is Hebrew for “hearing.” That's the whole product in one word — and the logo is the letter shin (ש) mid-vibration.
Your first 15 minutes of listening are free, with every feature unlocked and nothing to configure. After that, Shmia Pro is $15/month for unlimited listening — cancel anytime.
A library of two dozen ultra-realistic ElevenLabs voices, previewable in Settings. Bring your own ElevenLabs key (optional) to use custom or cloned voices.
Your selection goes to Shmia’s server, which passes it to ElevenLabs (for voice) or Anthropic (for summaries) and streams the result straight back. We don’t store your text — only seconds of usage are counted.
Yes — instantly, with pitch preservation so it never sounds squeaky. Speed is applied at playback, so it doesn't re-generate audio or spend extra credits.
$0
Every feature included — shortcuts, the bubble, summary mode, all voices — with 15 minutes of listening to fall in love.
$15/month
Unlimited listening. Cancel anytime. Your license key arrives the second you check out.
Upgrade to ProNo API keys, no accounts to set up — download, select text, listen.
Download and your screen starts talking — nothing to configure. Free for your first 15 minutes of listening.
Mac: unzip, drag Shmia to Applications, then right-click → Open the first time (we're a young app). Windows: unzip and run Shmia.exe — click "More info → Run anyway" if SmartScreen asks.