Have you ever been in a situation where you had to search for something online but you didn’t want to read through the screen? Google now has a solution for that. The tech giant is rolling out an exciting new feature for Chrome users on its Android called “Listen to this page.” This feature allows users to listen to any web page in the language and voice of their choice, turning reading into a more versatile, hands-free experience. As per a report by 9to5Google, this update will soon be available to all stable users.

Google introduced a new feature

Google rolled out the new feature via a support page. The company said that users can now listen to text read on a website on their Android device and enjoy various playback controls such as play, pause, rewind, and fast-forward. Additionally, users can change the playback speed as per their preference, choose their preferred voice, and also turn text highlighting and auto-scroll on or off for a more customized listening experience.

Going a little more into the details, users can choose from four different voice types: Ruby (mid-pitched, warm), River (mid-pitched, bright), Field (low-pitched, bright), and Moss (low-pitched, peaceful). Languages ​​available for this feature include English, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

It is important to note that “Listen to this page” may not be available for all web pages. If a website does not support this feature, it will not appear in the three-dot menu. Previously, users could listen to web pages by giving voice commands to Google Assistant, but this new feature offers more extensive customization options for languages ​​and voices, improving the user experience.

The feature mirrors a similar capability found in Safari for iOS, where users can listen to web pages using Siri’s voice. However, while Safari’s feature takes users out of the browser, Google’s new option keeps users within Chrome, giving them a seamless browsing experience. Google has also tested the feature for Chrome on desktop, expanding its utility beyond mobile devices.

How to use the feature

To use the new feature, open Google Chrome on your Android device. Visit the web page you want to listen to. Tap the three-dot menu in the top right corner. Select “Listen to this page” from the options. Once selected, the content of the web page will be read aloud in a podcast-like style, with playback controls for play, pause, rewind, fast-forward, and skip 10 seconds.

To exit listening mode, users can simply tap “Turn Off.”