Subject: Read Aloud Feature Broken in New Update
Message:
Hi, I’m a long-term user of ChatGPT on iOS, and the new update has broken one of the most important features for how I use the app.
Previously, I could tap and hold any message and get a menu with a “Read Aloud” option. I used this for hours at a time—it was critical to my flow, accessibility, and how I process and interact with content. Now, that function is gone and replaced with a little soundwave icon that only appears on certain messages, and even when it does appear, it doesn’t work reliably. On many messages, tapping the icon does nothing.
This change has made the app nearly unusable for me. The iOS native text-to-speech is a poor substitute—it’s not even close. The old voice playback was one of the main reasons I stayed in the app, and it’s also what I’ve shown to many others as proof that ChatGPT is miles ahead of the other AIs.
I’m a paid user, and I’ve directly gotten a double-digit number of people to sign up for paid versions themselves. I’ve been actively helping people discover and invest in this tool. I’m developing a custom GPT and constantly demonstrating what’s possible—especially highlighting the memory function and how natural the voice interaction can be. These are the very features that keep people using ChatGPT instead of switching to competitors.
So please, please don’t undercut the wave of momentum we’re all helping you build. I know changes are inevitable, but this update is not better. It strips away a core layer of interaction. Several people in my network also rely on the listen/talk functions, and this new version breaks the very things that made ChatGPT feel human, helpful, and integrated.
Thanks for reading—and I hope you’ll consider restoring the full read-aloud functionality as soon!!!