A proper “Reading Mode” is finally coming to Google’s Chrome browser, which can remove images and unnecessary background stuff from a webpage, making it easier to read. While Chrome’s had a hidden reader mode for months, this version is surprisingly different and available to everyone.
Nearly every popular web browser already has a reader mode, including Microsoft Edge, Safari, and Firefox. But for whatever reason, Google never officially released one for its users.
A similar feature launched in Chrome’s experimental Canary release as far back as release 75, but today the company is finally making it available to all users. Furthermore, the new Reading Mode in Google Chrome arrived with a twist, offering a resizable and customizable experience.
Reading mode helps reduce distracting elements like images, videos, or ads on a page, allowing users and students to focus on the text and content.
As you can see from the image above, Reading Mode doesn’t convert the entire page into a readable view, as we’ve seen in the past. This is an all-new reading mode on the side panel, simultaneously giving users a view of the original content and a stripped-down view.
Once you enable “Reading Mode” on Google Chrome, users can resize the entire section and change the typeface, font, spacing, text, and more. You can even change the background color to make things easier to read. Grab the latest update to Google Chrome and enjoy it.
Google also announced a slew of new features for Google Classroom, custom blocks for canvas in docs and sheets, AI-powered hand raise gesture detection in Meet, and other tools for adaptive learning.
Source: Google Blog