Oct 13, 2026, 9:28 PMWhat it does today, on F3 firmware 2.20:
- Speaks the highlighted menu item as you scroll, and the menu name when you enter or leave one
- Says "selected" on the current value (sample rate, file format, language…)
- Reads popups: SD Card Full!, Low Battery!, No SD Card!…
- Reads Execute/Cancel dialogs: format, delete, exit USB audio, factory reset…
- Talks you through Set Date/Time, even after a flat battery
Recording and monitoring are untouched.
Oct 13, 2026, 9:29 PMHow it works: a small add-on patched into the F3's own firmware file, installed with Zoom's normal SD card updater. No opening the recorder, no special hardware.
If anything goes wrong, hold Play/Pause while powering on and reinstall Zoom's stock firmware.
The plan is a simple patcher: you give it Zoom's official 2.20 file and it adds the voice. Not affiliated with Zoom.
Oct 13, 2026, 9:29 PMPlanned next:
- Voice volume following the volume buttons
- More screens: file list, file info, SD card tests, timecode
- All the F3's languages in one firmware (French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese), thanks to a voice bank about 10 times smaller
- The patcher, plus an accessible step-by-step guide
Boosts welcome, especially toward blind F3 owners!
Oct 13, 2026, 9:33 PMAs an aside, it could most likely be very useful to sighted people as well if they want to handle the recorder but don't want to waste time reading the display, as well as make it possible to use the F3 where lighting conditions would otherwise make it tricky to do so.