Chrome on Android can read web pages aloud from within the app

This feature comes with playback controls similar to those found in music or podcast players, allowing pause, change reading speed, and fast forward or rewind 10 seconds at a time.

You can also change the voice and language it uses. According to Google's help page, this feature supports several languages, including English, French, German, Arabic, Hindi, and Spanish. To see if you already have this feature, go to a page with a lot of text, then tap the three-dot menu and select 'Listen to this page', which will appear just below the Translate option.

Users can also ask Google Assistant to read web pages out loud to them, and can even translate into other languages ​​while doing so. However, selecting that option takes you out of Chrome and into the Google app, while the new option takes you into your browser.

Google has also tested this feature for Chrome on desktop. Safari for iPhone has a similar feature called 'Listen to Page' that reads web pages to you using Siri's voice, with many of the same controls as Google's. I only saw the new option when using the beta version of Chrome, but that's quite normal because Google regularly handles rollouts in phases. 9to5Google reports seeing it in version 125 of the Android Chrome app.

Marvin Fry

Update 18 June 2024