You Must Enable the New Google Reading Mode for Android

For all its advantages, Android has never had a decent reading mode. On iOS, Safari has “View for Reading” which removes formatting, ads, and media from an article. However, it is only available in apps that use the built-in Safari browser. Now Google, though late to the party, has implemented its own reading mode available in any app at any time.

How Android Reader Mode Works

Reading mode on Android is part of Google’s accessibility, so it requires a bit of tweaking, but anyone with Android 9 or later can do it.

You will need to install the Google Reading Mode app first. The application is intended for users with low vision, blindness or dyslexia, but anyone can use it. When fired, it opens the current page in a new reading mode on top of the current application. Here you can read the article without distraction, or not read it at all, as the playback function will read the article aloud to you. Everything from font size, color to voice and narration speed is customizable.

After installing the app, open it once and go to the settings screen. You will be taken to accessibility settings. Turn on the Reader Mode shortcut feature and allow accessibility features to control your screen.

By default, this includes a floating virtual accessibility button that stays in the bottom right corner of the screen (if you have a navigation bar, it will appear at the end). Touch it to instantly activate Reading Mode. But if you don’t need the floating button, you can also switch to a two-finger swipe up gesture in the shortcut settings under Advanced Options . If you prefer a physical button press, you can also switch to the “Hold Volume Buttons” option during setup. So the reading mode will be displayed when you press and hold both volume buttons at the same time.

[ Fringe ]