Google has reportedly introduced a significant update to Chrome’s ‘Listen to this page’ feature for all Android users. According to a report by 9To5Google, the new update, Chrome 130, now includes background playback support that allows users to listen to articles while using other applications on their devices.
According to the report, a media player will appear in the notification bar, offering basic controls to the user and displaying the article headline and website.
The feature also allows users to choose from 10 different voices and adjust the playback speed from 0.5x to 4x in increments. Additionally, users can enable ‘Highlight text & auto scroll.’
The background playback capability first appeared in June following a low-key rollout, but it was kept under wraps as an experimental flag, according to Android Central. Prior to this upgrade, Chrome for Android would only read web pages aloud when the app remained open. Users could switch tabs, but if they exited the browser or closed their screen, the audio would stop unless Chrome was in the foreground.
However, the new update resolves this issue, allowing users to have the app read web content while using other apps. The media player, appearing in the notification tab, will also feature a 10-second skip/rewind button.
– Open a web page on Google Chrome with a lengthy text.
– Click on the three-dot menu in the top right corner of the app.
– Locate the ‘Listen to This Page’ option and click on it.
– The web page will start reading in your selected language and voice.
– To close the feature, users can simply click to close it.
According to the tech giant, the languages available in this ‘Listen to this Page’ feature are Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Users can also select from different voice types, including Ruby (mid-pitch, warm), River (mid-pitch, bright), Field (low-pitch, bright) and Moss (low-pitch, peaceful).
