Reading content online is sometimes not possible when we're occupied with work, as it needs our attention. This is where screen readers, or certain TTS tools and apps, can help. Google recently blessed the Assistant with this functionality of reading webpages for us on the go.
The company has now baked this feature into the Chrome browser for Android. It allows users to listen to the text on a website without depending on Google Assistant or any other app, like Reading Mode. Here's everything you need to know, including how you can use it.
What's Listen To This Page And How Does It Work?
Listen to This Page is a new feature Google has introduced in Chrome for Android. As the name suggests, it lets you read text from a webpage out loud. Besides, you can play, pause, rewind, or fast-forward while reading.
You can also play with a number of settings like change playback speed, change the voice, and toggle the text highlighting & auto scroll option on and off.
How To Use Listen To This Page on Google Chrome
While on a webpage, tap Chrome's three-dot menu button on the top right side to access the overflow menu. Tap the “Listen to this page” option, which should appear in the fourth section of the menu.
A mini player will then pop up from the bottom with the webpage and the site’s name, a progress indicator, and a button to pause or resume playback while reading the text on the webpage for you.
To access the entire “Listen to this page” options, tap anywhere on the mini player. It will then expand with buttons to play/pause, rewind, and fast forward.
Chrome also allows changing the voice, playback speed, and turning “Highlight text & auto scroll” on and off. To change the playback speed, tap 1x on the bottom right, and you will see multiple speed options ranging from 0.5x to 4x. Choose the speed that suits you.
Tapping the horizontal three-dot menu on the bottom right will provide you with options to change the playback voice and to enable or disable highlighting text and auto scrolling. Google has provided several voices including English (United States), English (United Kingdom), English (India), and English (Australia).
You Can Also Put The Listen To This Page Button On The Toolbar
By default, Chrome shows a button based on your usage on the toolbar at the top right. You can change it to some other option, including Listen to this page.
To do so, open the three-dot menu from the top right, and tap Settings. Scroll down, and open the Toolbar shortcut from Advanced options.
From there, choose Listen to this page. The shortcut button will now automatically appear on the Toolbar after you visit a webpage.
Not Seeing the Listen To This Page Option?
If you're unable to locate the Listen to this page option on Chrome on your Android device, make sure to update to the browser’s latest version from the Play Store.
If you're already updated and it still doesn't appear for some reason, there's a way to manually enable it. Visit “chrome://flags/#read-aloud” from Chrome and enable the “Read Aloud” option.
Also, you should know that Google says only certain websites are supported. However, during testing, we found this option on almost all the websites we visited.
