Onboarding guide

Cloudy Reader reads National Science Bowl questions aloud on your Mac. This guide is the short version of Get started.

Cloudy Reader needs a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 26.2 or later. Apple silicon means an M1 chip or later; Apple menu > About This Mac shows yours.

If macOS asks for an administrator’s name and password, ask the person who manages the Mac.

1. Download the zip (459 MB).

2. Double-click the zip unless your browser unzipped it. Drag Cloudy Reader onto Applications before you open it.

3. Approve the app. The app is signed ad hoc and is not notarized, so macOS asks you to approve the first launch once. Approve only a copy that matches the SHA-256 on Download Cloudy Reader.

   • Open Cloudy Reader. macOS warns that it cannot verify the app. Close the warning dialog, and do not move the app to the Trash.
   • Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click Privacy & Security, and scroll to Security.
   • Click Open Anyway. Confirm with your password or Touch ID.
   • Open the app again and click Open.

4. Keep the window open and the Mac online. The app downloads its voices, which read questions aloud, about 0.66 GB. The first voice usually arrives in under a minute. The Voice menu then shows it, and Speak is no longer dimmed while the rest downloads. If no voice arrives, see No voice is installed.

5. Copy this toss-up:

   TOSS-UP
   1) CHEMISTRY Multiple Choice Which gas forms when sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3, reacts with acetic acid?
   W) Oxygen
   X) Hydrogen
   Y) Carbon dioxide
   Z) Nitrogen
   ANSWER: Y) CARBON DIOXIDE

   Click the question box, press Command-V, then press Command-Return or click Speak. The status bar shows “Preparing…”, then “Playing n s.”, and you hear the question.

Next steps

• Your first week
• Troubleshooting