Google Chrome for Android Gets a ‘Listen to This Page’ Text-to-Speech Feature: How to Use

Google Chrome’s Listen to this page feature comes with a miniplayer and playback options.

Written by Akash Dutta, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 17 June 2024 17:18 IST

Google Chrome for Android Gets a ‘Listen to This Page’ Text-to-Speech Feature: How to Use

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Google Chrome’s Listen to this page feature reportedly pauses the audio when the app is closed

Highlights

Google Chrome users will be able to pick from multiple voices
Google Chrome’s text-to-speech feature supports multiple languages
The feature is being rolled out to users in a phased manner

Google Chrome for Android is getting a new feature dubbed Listen to this Page, which will let the browser read any text-heavy webpage aloud. The text-to-speech (TTS) feature is being integrated into the Android app, and users will be able to access it from the three-dotted menu icon. The feature opens a miniplayer that comes with play/pause, a progress bar, playback speed options, and more. Users can also listen to a webpage in multiple voices and different languages as well.

Google Chrome's Listen to This Page feature

According to a dedicated support page for the feature, it can be used to read the text on a website while using an Android device. The feature can play the audio while the user switches to a different tab. The audio can also play while the screen is locked. While the feature has begun rolling out to users, a wider release may take a few weeks. The feature is being rolled out with the Google Chrome version 125. Gadgets 360 staff were able to find this new feature on the latest version of Chrome for Android.

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Google Chrome's Listen to this page feature supports several languages including Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Further, several voice types are also available for users to choose from. The TTS feature has Ruby (mid-pitch, warm), River (mid-pitch, calm), Field (low-pitch, bright), and Moss (low-pitch, peaceful) voice options in English (US). It offers Cloud (mid-pitch, soothing) and Dale (low-pitch, calm) in English (UK), and Lake (mid-pitch, calm) in English (India) languages.

Once the feature is turned on, users will find a miniplayer at the bottom of the screen which comes with play/pause, a progress bar, a 10-second fast forward/rewind, and playback speed options. The overflow menu also auto-scrolls as the voice reads the text. Once the app is closed, the voice is paused. Google Chrome remembers where it was paused and upon reopening the app, it can start playing from where it left off.

How to Use Google Chrome's Listen to This Page Feature

Open the Google Chrome app on your Android device.
Open a webpage with text. The page should be text-heavy.
Once the page fully loads, tap the icon on the top right with three vertical dots.
Look for Listen to this page. Tap on it.
To change the playback speed: Tap on the miniplayer.
In the player window, tab the three horizontal dots on the bottom right.
Tap on Playback Speed.
To change the voice, tap on Voice. Tap Preview to try out the voice.
Tap Highlight text and auto-scroll to enable the feature.

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Further reading: Google Chrome, Google Chrome features, Google, browser, Android

Akash Dutta Email Akash Dutta

Akash Dutta is a Senior Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. He is particularly interested in the social impact of technological developments and loves reading about emerging fields such as AI, metaverse, and fediverse. In his free time, he can be seen supporting his favourite football club - Chelsea, watching movies and anime, and sharing passionate opinions on food. More