Google Chrome has introduced a new feature on Android, enabling users to listen to web pages in multiple languages and voices, thereby enhancing accessibility and convenience.

Google introduces new feature

Have you ever needed to search for something online but didn’t want to read through the text on your screen? Google has a solution for you. The tech giant is rolling out a new feature for its Chrome users on Android called “Listen to this page.” This feature allows users to listen to any web page in the language and voice of their choice, making reading more versatile and hands-free. According to reports from 9to5Google, this update will soon be available for all stable users.

Google announced this feature through a help page, noting that users can now listen to text on a website on their Android device with various playback controls such as play, pause, rewind, and fast-forward. Additionally, users can adjust the playback speed, select their preferred voice, and enable or disable text highlighting and auto-scroll for a more personalized listening experience.

Users can choose from four different voice types: Ruby (mid-pitch, warm), River (mid-pitch, bright), Field (low-pitch, bright), and Moss (low-pitch, peaceful). The feature supports multiple languages including English, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

It’s 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 a web page by giving a voice command to Google Assistant, but this new feature offers more extensive customization options for languages and voices, enhancing the user experience.

This feature is similar to one 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, providing a seamless browsing experience. Google has also tested this feature for Chrome on desktop, expanding its utility beyond mobile devices.

How to Use the Feature

1. Open Google Chrome on your Android device.
2. Navigate to the web page you want to listen to.
3. Tap the three-dot menu in the top right corner.
4. Select “Listen to this page” from the options.
5. 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.