Listen to the Bible in VoiceDream Reader

I enjoy listening to the easy to understand New World translation of the Bible. It's freely available on jw.org either in any browser or with the jw.org skill for Alexa. The problem for me is that those methods don't provide bookmarking capability, easy fast-forward/rewind or speed control. Yes, I'm a blind person who is used to these features. Are you the owner of an Apple iPhone or iPad who would like the same thing? If you are willing to pay for an awesome app called VoiceDream Reader you can have those features.

VoiceDream Reader

VoiceDream Reader is an iOS app designed to conveniently listen to all kinds of material. It supports reading text, PDF, ePub, and many other file types from many content sources read aloud by text to speech software voices. Fortunately, it will also import zipped folders of mp3 audio files,. which are exactly what the NWT Bible on jw.org is provided in.

to purchase VoiceDream Reader go to https://apps.apple.com/us/app/voice-dream-reader/id496177674 using your Apple device. You can also open the AppStore and search for VoiceDream Reader in the edit box provided on the Search Tab. I realize this is not the cheapest app but if you are an audio reader it is likely to be well worth it. Reading the feature list provided on the Appstore page may help you to decide. Note that VoiceDream Reader is also available in a collection of apps called voiceDream suite. It may or may not be better for you to purchase it with those other apps.

Safari and VoiceDream Setup

If you have purchased and installed VoiceDream there are just a few setup steps you will need to do in order to make downloading files in to it possible.

Open the Settings App and open Safari, which is a little over 30 items down.

Note: I use the words open or activate so that these directions are clear and accurate whether or not you are an assistive technology user. With VoiceOver screenreader on you would double tap a selected item to open or activate it. Without Voiceover running it is normal to just tap on an item to open or activate it.

In Safari settings under the General heading you'll find Downloads. Check to see whether downloaded files are set to be saved to "iCloud" or "On My iPhone." It really doesn't matter which you choose as long as you remember it.

Now go back to the Home Screen and open VoiceDream either by finding it or asking Siri to open VoiceDream.

Find the Settings Button within VoiceDream in the bottom right corner of the screen and activate it.

Find and activate the Content Sources button.

Find File Browser in the list of Content Sources and make sure it is checked.

Now Close the settings with the button in the top right corner. The setup steps are complete. You are now ready to download files.

Downloading audio Bible books

Open Safari and type jw.org in the address bar.

Activate the Show Menu Button.

Find the menu item that says "LIBRARY Show more" and activate it if it is not expanded.

Activate the Online Bible in the list immediately below.

Find and activate the link that says:
Audio download options New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (2013 Revision)

You should now see a heading that says Play & Download. Find and activate the button for the Bible book you want to download for listening. Note that there may be a few books in the middle of the Hebrew scriptures that are missing. They are still working on recording these Bible books so they will be available in the near future.

Immediately after the Bible book you have chosen will appear the words "Download all files" and after that will be a link Zip with the file size in parens which you should activate.

Your iOS device will pop up an alert asking you if you want to download the file. Activate the Download button.

The download will happen but there is no indication that anything happened if you have relatively fast Internet access. You will just be returned to the page where you can download more Bible books if you wish.

Opening downloaded files in VoiceDream

Open VoiceDream Reader.

Activate the Add button found in the top left corner of VoiceDream Reader. If you find a Library button there instead, just activate it to bring you to the Library screen where you'll find the Add Button.

Find the File Browser menu option and activate it.

The next steps may be a little less clear than my previous directions because many things can change how the contents of your device's file manager are shown.

If you recently downloaded the file you wish to open then activate the Recents Tab at the bottom Left corner of the screen.

The Audio Bible book will have a name like
nwt_01_Ge_E.mp3.zip
Meaning Bible version _ book number _ 2 letters of the book name _ character for language

If you are looking for something you downloaded a long time ago or put in iCloud from another device you may want to activate the Browse Tab at the bottom right corner of the screen.

Is there a More Button at the top left of the screen followed by the heading VoiceDream? If so then activate the Locations Button to expand it.

If there is a back button at the top of your screen instead then activate it until the button under your finger becomes the More button, then follow the previous step.

In the expanded locations list choose the location set in the Safari preferences for where to download files. It will either be "On My iPhone" or iCloud Drive.

Find and open the Downloads folder.

Browse through the files listed and activate any you wish to add to VoiceDream Reader. An alert will say "Document Loaded" so activate the okay button. You can add as many files as you want before activating the Done Button in the top right corner of the screen..

Controlling Playback

When you look through your VoiceDream Library you will find that it unfortunately only displays the filename of audio books instead of extracting any info from the MP3 meta tags. To listen activate the file you want to hear from the Library list. VoiceDream will open a page with buttons for various settings across the top of the screen and playback controls close to the bottom. In the middle will be the list of MP3 files that make up the chapters of the book.

Activate any chapter from the list to start playback there or activate the play button to start at the beginning.

If you have listened to part of a book VoiceDream playback will remember where you were and resume from that point.

I find it very helpful to set VoiceDream to use the Previous and Next buttons of my earbuds, and bluetooth speakers to fast-forward and rewind. By default most apps will skip to the next or previous file when these buttons are used during audio playback. That is great for songs but annoying for audio books.

From within a book you are listening to, activate the 3rd button from the top left which is the Controls Button.

Within the Controls dialog, activate the Controls Settings Button.

Near the bottom find "Rewind Action on Remote Control" and select Rewind.

Find Fast-forward Action on Remote Control" and select Fast-forward. VoiceDream will remember these settings for all books you open in future.

Find and activate the dismiss button in the top right.

to choose the precise length of time to fast-forward or rewind find the control that is immediately to the right of the Play Button called Navigation. swipe up/down through the options until you find the one you want.

Note that for VoiceOver users swipeing up or down on the play button will move through the book by the chosen navigation unit.

Notice that there is a Bookmark Button on the top right of the screen. This button will insert a marker in either text or audio files at your current position. To return to a bookmarked position activate the item just to the left of the play button. called Headings Bookmarks and Highlights. Only bookmarks are available in audio files.

To change the speed of playback activate the Audio Button at the top of the screen and increase or decrease the rate percentage. VoiceOver users can swipe up or down on the Audio Button to change the rate by 25%.

Of course, most of these directions apply to any kind of material you want to listen to in VoiceDream Reader. I recently discovered it is just as useful for listening to MP4 video files.