How Android’s secret Reading Mode can save your sanity | The Intelligence
Kill the clutter and elevate your reading experience with Google’s highly hidden (but incredibly awesome) Android Reading Mode option.
Page last updated: November 12, 2023
Kill the clutter and elevate your reading experience with Google’s highly hidden (but incredibly awesome) Android Reading Mode option.
Page last updated: November 12, 2023
Let’s face it: Most web pages aren’t exactly easy on the eyes. And while Chrome’s got a snazzy new built-in reading mode on the desktop computer side of things, that feature isn’t available in the land o’ Android.
But there is another option, and it’s actually even better. You’ve just really gotta go out of your way and know where to look to find it.
➜ It’s called — wait for it — Reading Mode. It’s available for any Android device running Android 9 or higher, but it’s up to you to download the associated app that’ll add it into your system settings.
Once you do that and go through a quick initial setup, you’ll be able to swipe up from the bottom of your screen with two fingers anytime, anywhere, to summon your snazzy new Android Reading Mode — or, if you’d rather, press and hold both of your physical volume keys together at the same time to make the same thing happen.
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Whichever way you do it, that’ll pop up a purty little panel that transforms whatever text you’re looking at — on the web, in an app, wherever — into a nicely formatted, clutter-free presentation that’s actually pleasant to read.
What’s especially cool is that you can also customize practically every last detail of exactly how the text looks — color, font, size, you name it.
And get this: Android’s Reading Mode also includes an integrated text-to-speech system, in case you ever want to hear something read aloud. And it gives you plenty of customization controls on that side of the experience as well.
As of an update rolling out in May 2023, the Reading Mode audio setup has the ability to continue playing that type of audio in the background, too, even if you move onto other things on your screen — effectively giving you a way to turn any article online into an on-demand podcast. Not bad, right?!
If you don’t see the background playing option yet, hang tight. The update that enables it is actively rolling out as of this writing, and it should show up for you via the Play Store any day now.
📌 Just download the official Google Reading Mode app, then open it up and follow the prompts it gives you to get started. A superior reading and listening experience awaits.
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