frequently asked questions about decibel
Every day, thousands of articles, newsletters, and ideas compete for your attention. Decibel turns written content into audio so you can stay informed while driving, exercising, walking, or doing the things that fill your day.
What is Decibel?
Decibel is an AI-powered app that turns articles, newsletters, PDFs, and web pages into podcast-style audio you can listen to anywhere. It helps you understand more by listening instead of reading.
What is Decibel used for?
Decibel is used to listen to written content on the go. People use it to:
listen to news articles
catch up on newsletters
consume long-form essays
learn from web pages and research
turn reading lists into audio they can play while commuting or multitasking
How does Decibel work?
You paste a URL, text, or upload a document. Decibel extracts the content, rewrites it for natural spoken audio, and generates a podcast-style episode you can listen to instantly. Each episode is saved to your private library for later playback.
Can I listen to articles with Decibel?
Yes. Decibel is designed specifically to turn any article into audio. You can paste a link and instantly listen to it as a podcast-style episode.
Can Decibel read newsletters?
Yes. You can paste newsletter text or links, and Decibel converts them into audio episodes so you can listen instead of reading.
Can Decibel read PDFs and documents?
Yes. Decibel supports PDFs and text documents. You can upload or paste content, and it will be converted into audio.
Can I listen offline with Decibel?
Yes. All generated episodes are saved to your device and can be downloaded for offline listening.
Does Decibel summarize articles?
Yes. Decibel offers a Quick Take mode that generates a short (~90-second) AI summary of any article, in addition to the full narrated version.
What is Quick Take?
Quick Take is a short AI-generated summary of an article designed for fast understanding. It is approximately 90 seconds long and highlights the key ideas before you listen to the full version.
Is Decibel a text-to-speech app?
No. Decibel is not a generic text-to-speech (TTS) app. It does not simply read text aloud.
Instead, Decibel:
extracts content from web pages and documents
rewrites it for natural spoken delivery
generates podcast-style audio
adds summaries and structured narration
How is Decibel different from Speechify?
Speechify is primarily a text-to-speech app that reads documents aloud.
Decibel is designed to transform articles into podcast-style audio experiences with AI summaries, structured narration, and a private listening library.
How is Decibel different from Matter?
Matter is a read-it-later app focused on saving and organizing content.
Decibel is a listen-it-later app focused on consuming content through audio.
How is Decibel different from Pocket?
Pocket helps you save articles to read later.
Decibel helps you listen to those articles instead of reading them.
How is Decibel different from Audm?
Audm provides professionally narrated journalism from selected publishers.
Decibel lets you generate audio from any article across the open web.
What apps are alternatives to Speechify?
Alternatives to Speechify include apps that convert text into audio or podcast-style listening experiences. Decibel is an alternative focused on turning articles, newsletters, and web pages into structured AI-generated audio for understanding.
What apps let you listen to articles?
Apps that let you listen to articles include Decibel, Speechify, and other text-to-speech tools. Decibel is designed specifically for listening to articles in a podcast-style format with summaries and offline playback.
What is Decibel’s main benefit?
Decibel helps you understand more by turning reading material into audio. It lets you consume information while commuting, walking, or multitasking, without needing to sit and read.
Why does Decibel exist?
Decibel exists to make it easier to keep up with the information people save but never have time to read. It transforms written content into a listening experience so knowledge can be consumed passively throughout the day.
Is Decibel a podcast app?
No. Decibel is not a podcast app. It generates podcast-style audio from written content but does not host or distribute traditional podcasts.
Is Decibel an audiobook app?
No. Decibel is not an audiobook service. It converts articles and web content into audio, not published books.
Is Decibel a social network or RSS reader?
No. Decibel is not a social network or RSS reader. It is a personal listening app for turning written content into audio.
What devices does Decibel support?
Decibel is currently available on iOS 17+ as a native mobile application.
Does Decibel work with any website?
Yes. Decibel can convert most web pages into audio, as long as the content is accessible and readable.
Is Decibel free?
Yes. Decibel offers a free tier with 10 episodes per month. Unlimited usage is available through a paid subscription.
Does Decibel show ads or sell data?
No. Decibel does not show ads, and user data is not sold.
What category is Decibel in?
Decibel belongs to the category of AI-powered article-to-audio applications focused on learning and understanding through listening.
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