lucid
Private, on-device AI that reads your documents aloud.
So far lucid is doing 'well'. But I want to keep pushing it.
I genuinely belive in such a tool and as a student myself, I use it daily. I've just updated the app to have better voice control.
lucid intro video
Install lucid
I hate reading. So I built an app that reads for me.
Not in a quirky way, I genuinely struggle to sit down and read long PDFs. My eyes slide off the page, I reread the same paragraph four times, and a 40-page reading can take me an entire evening.
Text-to-speech should have solved this years ago. But everything I tried was either robotic enough to give me a headache or cost £139 a year while uploading my documents to the cloud.
So I built lucid.
lucid is a Chrome extension that reads PDFs and textbooks aloud using a natural neural voice. Document processing and speech generation happen locally on your device.
No account. No cloud document processing. No subscription. Your documents never get sent to a lucid server—there isn’t one.
What it does:
• Generates natural neural speech locally and works offline after the initial voice download
• Reads scanned textbooks using built-in, on-device OCR
• Filters common distractions such as page numbers, running headers and table contents
• Highlights the current text alongside the audio, so you don’t lose your place
• Detects chapters, saves your position and lets you resume where you stopped
• Lets you highlight passages, add comments and take notes while listening
The closed beta is now live, and I’m looking for people who genuinely rely on tools like this—students, dyslexic or ADHD readers, and anyone drowning in long PDFs.
It’s completely free during the beta, and honest feedback will directly shape what gets built next. Comment or send me a message if you’d like to try it. I’m also happy to answer questions about how the local speech and OCR work.
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The distinction between replacing reading and making reading more accessible stood out.
Keeping document processing and speech generation on-device while preserving highlights, notes, and reading position makes the product feel like it's supporting the reading process rather than simply converting text into audio.
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Hey Aryan, thanks for your reply! Glad to hear that lucid's philosophy resonated with you. If you haven't already, please check out the extension!
I just updated it with more voice controls for the user & performance improvements :)-
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Makes sense.
The interesting signal will be whether users start seeing it as a reading replacement or as a tool that helps them stay engaged with content they would otherwise abandon.
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