Question 1

What is Silo Read?

Accepted Answer

Silo Read is an on-device document reader for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. The current download reads documents aloud, repairs scans with OCR, and searches the local archive. Version 2.0's audiobook player and studio, annotations and collections, local transforms, and cited library answers are in preparation and are not in the current download.

Question 2

Does Silo Read send my documents anywhere?

Accepted Answer

Document reading, OCR, search, narration, transforms, and cited answers run on your device; Silo Systems receives none of that content. On Mac, optional pinned Kokoro and Gemma models download from Hugging Face only after separate consent, and the host receives ordinary request metadata such as your IP address. App Store traffic and external links are handled by Apple or your browser.

Question 3

What can I import?

Accepted Answer

The current download accepts PDF, EPUB, HTML, plain text, images, and saved articles. Version 2.0 adds RTF, DOCX, PPTX, text-bearing DAISY, clipboard and Files-provider intake, plus MP3, M4A, M4B, and other system-supported audio with a listening position saved across launches.

Question 4

What does the audiobook studio export?

Accepted Answer

Version 2.0, now in preparation and not in the current download, preserves the imported original while you rename, split, merge, reorder, include, suspend, or override editable chapter copies. It renders AAC chapter M4A files and assembles a single M4B with cover art, audiobook metadata, and native timed chapters; failed chapters can be retried selectively.

Question 5

Can Silo Read summarize or answer questions about my documents?

Accepted Answer

Version 2.0, now in preparation and not in the current download, can make original-preserving cleanup, summary, shortening, ELI5, enrichment, and custom-prompt variants. Its answers are grounded in local FTS5 passages and include validated document, chapter, page, and sentence citations. When evidence is insufficient, Silo Read says so instead of inventing an answer.

Question 6

What does Silo Read cost and require?

Accepted Answer

One $49.99 paid-up-front purchase covers Mac, iPhone, and iPad, with no subscription or in-app purchases. It requires macOS 14+ on Apple Silicon or iOS/iPadOS 17+. Apple voices, search, reading, and the bundled iOS Kokoro narrator require no optional model download; Mac neural narration and local Gemma text tasks are separate consented downloads.

Private PDF tools for Mac.

The handoff.

Open the file. Hear it. Search it.

Burn in what must not leave.

Ask the archive. Cite the page.

In this workflow.

Formats

How to verify privacy