Work offline
Read questions with no network, at home or at a venue. The voices must be on the Mac first, because the app downloads them when it starts.
Download the voices first
Section titled “Download the voices first”The app downloads its voices at the first launch and keeps them on the Mac, so the first launch needs a network.
- Connect the Mac to the network.
- Open Cloudy Reader and keep the window open until the percentage and the progress bar leave the status bar.
- Open the Voice menu and check the list.
When the download succeeds, the Voice menu lists every supported voice, and no row says “not installed”. If the menu stays empty or a row says “not installed”, the download failed: quit the app and open it again with the network on. Manage voices and storage shows how to follow the download and how to retry it.
Turn off name lookups
Section titled “Turn off name lookups”Name lookups send a detected chemical, protein, or gene name to PubChem or UniProt. The answers never change what you hear. A lookup that cannot reach the service can hold a reading for up to 2.5 seconds. Turn lookups off to skip that wait and to keep every detected name on your Mac.
The window has two options, and Online lookups controls name lookups.
- Read answer line: not selected.
- Online lookups: selected, the default.
Deselect Online lookups. The app stops name lookups and remembers your choice for the next launch.
Start in offline mode
Section titled “Start in offline mode”Offline mode stops name lookups and the voice download until you quit the app.
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Quit Cloudy Reader with Command-Q. The app reads the option only when it starts.
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Open Terminal from Applications > Utilities.
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Run this command. Keep Terminal open while the app runs:
Terminal window "/Applications/Cloudy Reader.app/Contents/MacOS/Cloudy Reader" --offline
The Cloudy Reader window opens.
Check what offline mode changes
Section titled “Check what offline mode changes”Offline mode stops two features:
- Name lookups. PubChem and UniProt receive no request.
- The voice download. The app sends no request, creates no folder, and shows no message.
The diagram in Privacy shows both features. Everything else works as usual:
- Reading works with every installed voice. The local OPSIN check, which parses chemical names on your Mac, keeps running.
- If no voice is installed, Speak stays dimmed. See No voice is installed.
- Offline mode is not saved. The next normal launch is online again.
Return to online use
Section titled “Return to online use”- Quit Cloudy Reader with Command-Q.
- Open Cloudy Reader from Applications.
- Select Online lookups if you deselected it.
The app is online again, and it downloads any voice that is missing.