Why I Built My Own Read-Aloud App After Pocket Shut Down

There’s no shortage of great content on the web. News articles, blog posts, essays, reviews… Every day, new things pop up that I want to read — but never quite get around to.

Sometimes I’m too busy, sometimes my eyes are tired, and often I just save the link for later… and forget about it entirely.

I’ve been through this cycle more times than I can count.

From Reading to Listening

Screen time is precious. Sometimes I want to focus on reading, but my eyes are already tired from work, or I’m in the middle of something else. That’s when I started wondering: Is there a way to consume web content during all the other moments in life?

I’ve always been into podcasts, so listening felt natural for me. And when I discovered that the Pocket app could save web pages and read them aloud — it was perfect.

For nearly a decade, Pocket supported how I preferred to consume content. During my commute, while cooking, while walking — I could “read” all those saved articles using nothing but my ears.

It became a routine. A habit. And a lifeline for my info diet.

— -

And Then, Pocket Was Gone

In early 2025, Pocket shut down. Completely. I was honestly a bit crushed.

I searched for alternatives, but couldn’t find any app that focused just on this: Saving web articles to read them aloud, later.

So… I built one.

That’s how Yomiague was born — a simple, personal project to rebuild the tool I had relied on for years.

— -

Designing Around Listening

The core idea behind Yomiague is simple: Save web articles → extract the content → listen hands-free.

But I didn’t want to stop at the basics. There was one particular feature I had always wished Pocket had: The ability to detect the article’s language, and automatically adjust the voice and playback speed.

See, when listening to Japanese articles, the default TTS speed always felt way too slow. I preferred something like 1.25× or 1.5× to make it feel natural.

But with English articles, that speed was too fast — I needed to slow it down to 0.9× or so.

Switching settings manually every time was frustrating.

So in Yomiague, I made sure that:

• The app automatically detects the article’s language
• You can set a custom playback speed fo each language
• It just works — no constant switching

It sounds small, but it makes a huge difference in daily use.

— -

Great for Language Learning, Too

Yomiague isn’t just for casual reading — it’s surprisingly helpful for language learners, too.

You can listen to articles in English (or other languages) using natural, clear TTS voices. And since the text is right there, you can read along or review parts you didn’t understand.

Even difficult topics feel more accessible when you listen rather than force yourself to read.

News articles, blogs, longform opinion pieces — they all become study material.

— -

When Your Eyes Are Tired, Let Your Ears Do the Reading

We all have moments when reading feels like too much. When our eyes are done for the day, or our hands are busy with something else. Yomiague is just one more tool to help you stay informed — without needing to sit down and stare at a screen.

— -

Try “Yomiague”

This app wasn’t built for everyone — it was built for me. But if you’ve ever thought:

“I keep saving articles and never reading them…” or “I wish there was an app that could just read web pages aloud” —

Then maybe it’s for you, too.

Yomiague is now available on Google Play for testing. It’s built for one purpose only: Helping you listen to the web.

[Join testing for Yomiague on Google Play] https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.pigmal.web_clipper

Feedback or bugs? → support@pigmal.com or https://x.com/itog