Google Chrome on Android is set to get a major accessibility boost with a new “Listen to this page” feature. The feature was first announced by Google as part of Android features last month, and is now reportedly rolling out through the Chrome 130 update.
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When the feature was leaked under the experimental banner in June of this year, the use case for the feature was very limited, with audio being cut off as soon as users closed Chrome or turned off their phone’s display. It turned off and was similar to how YouTube Music works.
However, according to a new report from 9to5Google, the “Listen to this page” feature has received a major upgrade, allowing you to continue playing music even when you close the Chrome app and open other applications. .
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When an article is running in the foreground, a reader menu appears at the bottom of the page. When you switch to another app, media controls become available in Quick Settings, allowing you to play or pause music, navigate to specific parts of the page, and more. Or move up or down in the audio by 10 seconds. Meanwhile, when you tap Reader in Chrome, you also have the option to adjust the playback speed from 0.5x to 4x and choose from 10 different audio types.
Additionally, Google also lets you add a dedicated play button to your web pages by long-pressing the new tab icon, clicking the edit shortcut, and changing it to Listen to this page. Notably, Chrome is already one of the most popular browsers on Android, and the latest update puts it on par with Safari’s Listen to Pages feature, which offers a similar feature.
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Published: October 21, 2024, 9:36 AM IST
