Google Chrome for Android is getting a new feature call as Listen to this Page, which will let the browser read any text-heavy webpage aloud. The text-to-speech (TTS) feature is being integrate into the Android app, and users will be able to access it from the three-dotted menu icon.
The feature opens a miniplayer that comes with play/pause, a progress bar, playback speed options, and many more.
You can also listen to a webpage in multiple voices and different languages as well.
According to a support page for the feature, it can be use to read the text on a website while using an Android device.
This feature can play the audio while the user switches to a different tab.
The audio can also play while the screen is locked.
As the feature has begun rolling out to users, a wider release may take a few weeks.
The feature is being roll out with the Google Chrome version 125.
How to Use Google Chrome’s Listen to This Page Feature?
Follow These Steps
- Open the Google Chrome app on your Android device.
- Open a webpage with text.
- The page should be text-heavy.
- When the page fully loads, tap the icon on the top right with three vertical dots.
- Look for Listen to this page.
- Tap on it.
- To change the playback speed: Tap on the miniplayer.
- In the player window, tab the three horizontal dots on the bottom right.
- Tap on Playback Speed.
- To change the voice, tap on Voice.
- Tap Preview to try out the voice.
- Tap Highlight text and auto-scroll to enable the feature.
Google Chrome’s Listen to this page feature supports many languages including Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
Also, many voice types are also available for users to choose from.
The TTS feature has Ruby (mid-pitch, warm), River (mid-pitch, calm), Field (low-pitch, bright), and Moss (low-pitch, peaceful) voice options in English (US).
This features offers Cloud (mid-pitch, soothing) and Dale (low-pitch, calm) in English (UK), and Lake (mid-pitch, calm) in English (India) languages.
When the feature is turn on, you will find a miniplayer at the bottom of the screen which comes with play/pause, a progress bar, a 10-second fast forward/rewind, and playback speed options.
The overflow menu also auto-scrolls as the voice reads the text.
When the app is close, the voice is pause.
Google Chrome remembers where it was pause and upon reopening the app, it can start playing from where it left off.