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Chrome for Android can now read articles - or entire pages - aloud to you

Jun, 17, 2024 Hi-network.com
chrome-android-listen
Screenshot by Alyson Windsor/

Last fall, Google introduced a Read Aloud accessibility feature to its desktop Chrome browser. As its name implies, Read Aloud can read a webpage or article out loud, which is useful for those who can't see the screen or who struggle to read what's being displayed.

Now, that feature is coming to Chrome for Android. "Listen to this page" hasn't arrived on all devices yet, but it's rolling out slowly. If you don't see it now, you should soon.

Google says the feature should be available in the three-dot menu in the top-right corner of your Chrome window. It will appear below "Translate" and above "Add to Home screen."

Also: Google just launched a faster, more efficient Chrome browser for Windows, but there's a catch

When you tap the option to listen, a small player with podcast-style controls should appear. You'll be able to skip forward or rewind 10 seconds, change playback speed from .5x, .8x, 1x, 1.2x, 1.5x, 2x, 3x, and 4x, and select your reading voice from four US choices, two UK choices, one Indian choice (all of those in English), French, German, Arabic, Hindi, and Spanish.

Unfortunately, the feature will not read text if Chrome for Android is closed or pushed to the background. You won't be able to start reading and then move on to something else, but you can lock your Android phone and listen as long as Chrome is still in the foreground.

This isn't an entirely new feature -- Google Assistant offers a Read This To Me feature. As Google slowly replaces Assistant with Gemini, however, useful features are rapidly disappearing.

The Edge browser for Android has also had a similar feature for some time now, as has Safari for iOS, so it's nice to see the default Android browser catching up in this regard. TalkBack for Android has existed for a while too, but it's often not reliable, and when it does work, the voice does not natural.

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