What is read-please-app?

Read Please is a small Mac application that reads selected text out loud. You highlight text in any app on your Mac, whether it is a webpage, an email, a PDF, or a document, press a keyboard shortcut, and the Mac speaks it back to you. The app sits quietly in the menu bar instead of the Dock, staying out of your way until you actually need it. The project is currently a public beta. It works and its creator uses it daily, but there may be some rough edges, and the developer welcomes bug reports and feature suggestions through GitHub issues. Getting started involves downloading a release, dragging it into the Applications folder, and going through a short first time setup. Because it is a beta and not yet notarized in the usual way, macOS blocks it on first launch, so there are a few extra steps to allow it through System Settings before it opens normally. Once open, a setup flow asks for Accessibility permission so the app can see whatever text you have selected in other apps, lets you choose keyboard shortcuts for actions like play, pause, and stop, and points you toward Apple's built in voices, including higher quality Enhanced and Premium options you can download separately. For people who want more control, the app supports adding extra keyboard shortcuts through a JSON configuration file, useful for mapping to spare keys or mouse buttons. There is also a way to fix mispronounced words, such as a voice that reads github incorrectly, by editing a separate pronunciations file. Everything happens entirely on the Mac itself. The app only reads text you have selected, speech is generated on the device, and nothing is sent over the internet. It requires macOS 15 or later. The app is built with Swift and SwiftUI using Swift Package Manager, and can be built from source with a few simple command line scripts. The README does not mention a license.