Google is rolling out a new feature for Chrome users on Android with which the users can ‘listen to a webpage’. You won’t have to read through the webpage now as Google is here to take care of that. Chrome will read out the whole webpage to you in the language as well as in the voice of your choice. This will transform reading into a more versatile, hands-free experience. According to a report by 9to5Google, all stable users will get access to this new feature soon.
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What Controls Do Users Have Over Google’s New Feature
Google unveiled this feature through a help page and noted that users will now be able to listen to the text they read on a website on their Android phone. The users will also be able to enjoy several playback controls such as play, pause, rewind, and fast-forward. Furthermore, users will have the control to change the playback speed to suit their preference, select their preferred voice, and even turn on or off text highlighting and auto-scroll. All this aims to give a more customised listening experience.
To be specific, users will have the choice between four different types of voice, namely — Ruby (mid-pitch, warm), River (mid-pitch, bright), Field (low-pitch, bright), and Moss (low-pitch, peaceful). Now, coming to language, users can choose to use this feature in languages like — English, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
It is possible that ‘Listen to this page’ may not be available for all web pages on the internet. In case a website doesn’t support this feature, then it won’t appear in the three-dot menu. Earlier a substitute to this option was present in which users could listen to a web page by giving a voice command go the Google Assistant on their phones, however, this new feature offers much more customisation which enhances the user experience.
This feature is reminiscent of Safari’s capability on iOS, which allows users to listen to web pages using Siri’s voice. However, unlike Safari, which takes users out of the browser, Google’s new feature keeps users within Chrome, ensuring a seamless browsing experience. Additionally, Google has tested this feature for Chrome on desktop, broadening its utility beyond mobile devices.
How To Use Google’s ‘Listen To This Page’ Feature
To utilise this new feature, start by opening Google Chrome on your Android device. Navigate to the web page you wish to listen to. Tap the three-dot menu located in the top right corner. Choose “Listen to this page” from the available options.
The content of the web page will then be read aloud in a podcast-like manner, complete with playback controls for play, pause, rewind, fast-forward, and a 10-second skip.
To exit listening mode, simply tap “Close.”