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Hi, language learners and fellow ebookworms! Hope you’re all having a good weekend, or at least finding a little time to read between everything else. I’m excited to announce that PNL Reader 2.0 is here! This release brings the first Pro feature—voice mode—and a host of enhancements to the reading experience.
Listen Up! (Or Don’t—It’s Your Choice)
Ever find yourself reading a long article or web novel on RoyalRoad or ScribbleHub and wishing someone would just read it to you while you sip your coffee and look thoughtful? Wish granted! With the new audio player, you can now select any text and have PNL Reader read it aloud.
This read aloud feature is part of the Pro plan, but everyone gets a free trial quota of 100 uses—so you can try it out and see if it fits your reading style.
Even better, the audio mode automatically detects the language of the text and supports as many languages as you can think of. Learning Swedish? Give it a try and see if it’s better than 8sidor.se! Whether you want to practice your listening skills, rest your eyes, or just hear what your favorite web novel sounds like in a near-human-yet-still-robotic voice, the choice is yours. And if you prefer the sound of silence, you can still read quietly with a paper-feel background like it’s 2008.Themes for Every Mood
We’ve also given the theme selector a glow-up. Not only can you switch between dark mode, light mode, and a whole palette of other themes, but you’ll also see a handy color preview icon for each one. No more guessing what “Solarized Light” actually looks like—just click and see. Now you can match your reading mood, your wallpaper, or even your cat’s fur color (no judgment).
A Reading Page That Looks Like Paper (But Won’t Give You Papercuts)
The reading page has been prettified with a sharper background, border, and shadow that make it look like a real sheet of paper—minus the risk of paper cuts or coffee stains. It’s easier on the eyes and just feels right, whether you’re reading late at night or pretending to work during a Zoom call.
PDF Support: Now Featuring arXiv and more
For the academics and research enthusiasts among you, PNL Reader now supports loading PDFs from arXiv and a bunch of other sites. For example, you can open a research paper like https://arxiv.org/pdf/2412.10028v4 or https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00134-020-06294-x.pdf in your browser. Then, just click the PNL Reader icon—PNL Reader will automatically open the PDF in its distraction-free reader mode. Even better, it’s fully integrated with Dictionariez, so you can look up any word in the PDF instantly with a click. Reading academic papers (and actually understanding them) could be much easier!
Still the Same Great Dictionary Integration
And don’t forget, PNL Reader still plays nicely with Dictionariez, so you can click any word and instantly see what it means. Because who has time to open a new tab just to look up “defenestration”?
Open-source and download links
Full transparency is still the key. PNL Reader is open source, so it’s available for anyone to review and contribute to.
Chrome: PNL Reader on Chrome Web Store
Firefox: PNL Reader on Mozilla Add-ons
Edge: PNL Reader on Edge Web Store
Thanks for reading, and for being part of the PNL Reader community! If you have feedback, suggestions, or just want to share your favorite new theme, drop by Programming N' Language Community. Now go forth and read (or listen) to your heart’s content. And remember, the only thing better than a good ebook is one that reads itself to you.
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