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Google Chrome for Android gets text-to-speech feature ‘Listen to this page’: how to use it

Posted on by darion

Google Chrome for Android is getting a new feature called Listen to This Page, which will allow the browser to read aloud any text-heavy web page. The text-to-speech (TTS) feature is integrated into the Android app and users will be able to access it via the three-dot menu icon. This feature opens the mini player with play/pause features, a progress bar, playback speed options, and more. Users can also listen to the website in multiple voices and languages.

Listen to this page in Google Chrome

According to the dedicated help page for this feature, you can use it to read text on a website while using an Android device. This feature can play a sound when the user switches to another tab. Audio can also be played when the screen is locked. While the feature has already been rolled out to users, it may take several weeks before it becomes available more widely. This feature is rolling out to Google Chrome version 125. Gadgets 360 staff may have found this new feature in the latest version of Chrome for Android.

Listen to this page in Google Chrome supports several languages, including Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Moreover, users can choose from several voice types. The TTS feature includes Ruby (mid tone, warm), River (mid tone, calm), Field (low tone, light), and Moss (low tone, calm) voice options in US English. It offers Cloud (mid tone, soothing) and Dale (low tone, calm) in English (UK) and Lake (medium tone, calm) in English (India).

Once this feature is enabled, users will find a mini player at the bottom of the screen that includes play/pause options, a progress bar, 10-second fast forward/rewind, and playback speed options. The extended menu also scrolls automatically as the voice reads the text. When you close the application, the voice is paused. Google Chrome remembers where you paused and when you reopen the app, it can pick up where you left off.

How to use Listen to this page in Google Chrome

  1. Open the Google Chrome app on your Android device.
  2. Open a website with text. The page should contain a lot of text.
  3. Once the page has fully loaded, tap the icon in the upper right corner with three vertical dots.
  4. To look for Listen to this page. Click this.
  5. To change the playback speed: Tap the mini player.
  6. In the player window, click the three horizontal dots in the lower right corner.
  7. Click Playback speed.
  8. To change the voice, tap Voice. Obtain Announcement to test your voice.
  9. Obtain Select text and auto scroll to enable this feature.