How to change the robotic voice in Foliate ebook reader and other apps using speech dispatcher?

Question

I am looking for a text to speech app for Ubuntu where I can read epubs and pdfs. I tried Foliate 3.1.1 and I cannot even access to the settings to change it. Calibre sounds pretty robotic.

Answer 1

First, install Pied from the snap store

sudo snap install pied

Alternatively, if you prefer flatpak, then download it from their homepage https://pied.mikeasoft.com/, and install manually.

Now, open Pied. It will show an option to install the piper speech dispatcher. Install it (the app will automatically download and configure it). It will take a while.

Now, the app will show you available voices. You can play them one by one, and download your favorite one. After downloading, Pied will ask you to confirm setting it as the default voice.

Afterward, close the app.

Close Foliate if already running, close and reopen it. Start narrating. The new voice should work.