Install, update, and uninstall

Use this page to put Cloudy Reader on one or several Macs, to install a new version, and to remove the app with its files. If this is your first install, start with Get started.

Install the app

Cloudy Reader comes as one zip file. It holds the app and no voices. The unzipped app takes 1.06 GB on disk. The app downloads its voices at the first launch.

Cloudy Reader needs a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 26.2 or later. See Check your Mac for the disk space and the network connection that the first launch needs.

Download the zip and check its SHA-256. See Download Cloudy Reader.
Double-click the zip in Finder to unzip it. The file Cloudy Reader.app appears.
Drag Cloudy Reader to Applications in the Finder sidebar. Do this before you open the app. The commands in this manual use /Applications/Cloudy Reader.app.
Open Cloudy Reader from the Applications folder. macOS blocks the first launch, so follow Open the app the first time.

Cloudy Reader is in the Applications folder. Keep the zip if you plan to install the app on another Mac.

Install on several Macs

Every Mac must meet the requirements in Check your Mac, and every Mac runs its own first launch.

The app is one bundle, Cloudy Reader.app, with the bundle identifier com.cloudyreader.CloudyReader. Administrators can read how the app is signed in Security and code signing and what it sends in Privacy.

To save download time, download the zip once and copy it to the other Macs. Copy the zip, not the app. The SHA-256 describes the zip, so each Mac can check its own copy.

Download the zip on one Mac and check its SHA-256.
Copy the zip to each other Mac, for example with a USB drive or AirDrop.
On each Mac, check the SHA-256 again, unzip the file, and move the app to Applications.
On each Mac, approve the app. See Open the app the first time.

Each Mac downloads the voices at its first launch. To skip that download, copy the voices from a Mac where they work. See Manage voices and storage.

On a Mac that a school or an employer manages, ask the administrator to approve the app. See If Open Anyway is missing.

Update to a new version

Cloudy Reader has no update check. Look for a new version on Cloudy Reader releases on GitHub. The Release notes list what each version changed.

Quit Cloudy Reader. Press Command-Q.
Download the zip of the new version and check its SHA-256.
Move the old Cloudy Reader from the Applications folder to the Trash.
Double-click the zip in Finder, then move the new Cloudy Reader to Applications.
Open the app and approve it as before. See Open the app the first time.

An update replaces only the app. Your voices, caches, and saved choices stay in the data folder and the preferences file. At every launch, the voice download fetches the files that are missing, unless offline mode is on.

To confirm the version, see Check the installed version.

Check the installed version

Choose About Cloudy Reader in the Cloudy Reader menu or the Help menu. The box shows the version, such as “Version 0.0.1”. Click OK to close the box.

In Terminal, run this command to print the app name and the version, such as Cloudy Reader 0.0.1:

"/Applications/Cloudy Reader.app/Contents/MacOS/Cloudy Reader" --version

Uninstall the app

Cloudy Reader writes its own files in three places, and it removes its temporary files after use. Remove the three places to take the app off the Mac:

The app: /Applications/Cloudy Reader.app, which takes 1.06 GB on disk.
The data folder: ~/Library/Application Support/cloudyreader, which holds the voices and the caches, including the audio of each reading.
The preferences file: ~/Library/Preferences/com.cloudyreader.Cloudy Reader.plist, which holds your saved choices.

Quit Cloudy Reader.
Move Cloudy Reader.app from the Applications folder to the Trash.
In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder. Type ~/Library/Application Support and press Return.
Move the cloudyreader folder to the Trash.
Run this command in Terminal to remove the saved choices:
Terminal window
```
defaults delete "com.cloudyreader.Cloudy Reader"
```
Empty the Trash.

The app, its voices, and its saved choices are gone. If you chose another location for the data folder, move that folder to the Trash instead. See Data folder.

To keep the app, see Free disk space or Reset the app instead.