Google Chrome’s Reading Mode may get a reading function

Google is reportedly testing a feature for Google Chrome’s reading mode that will automatically read out the text. The feature should initially be available in the Canary version of the browser.

This function adds a play button to the reading mode, after which the text on the web page is read aloud using text-to-speech. discovered X user Leopeva64 in Google Chrome Canary. Google itself has not yet announced anything about the feature, and it is not yet available to every Canary user.

On the basis of a video that the user shared on Reddit, the reading voice sounds very robotic, possibly indicating that a stable release of the feature is still some time away. There are also some logical functions missing, such as the ability to skip parts of the text and adjust the reading speed.

Reading mode, which strips images and videos to allow users to read only the text, was added to Chrome earlier this year and appears in the browser’s sidebar. Other browsers have had such a mode for years, and the Edge browser, among others, has also had a reading function for some time.