Google Chrome bringing this hot-wanted addition for read aloud feature—like on Edge
The read aloud will also have background playback support for both desktop & mobile
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Key notes
- Google Chrome’s read aloud feature will soon include “Tap to seek” for starting from any word.
- A recent spot hints at this addition to the hotly-anticipated feature.
- Google has also been testing background playback for Android’s read-aloud feature
Google Chrome has been going through some exciting revamping here and there in recent weeks. The popular browser introduced a read aloud feature a long time ago, and now, it seems like Google wants to enhance the feature’s experience even better.
You will soon be able to click on a word to start reading from that point on Google Chrome, similar to how it is on Microsoft Edge. An interesting recent spot by a trusted browser enthusiast @Leopeva64 on X hints at the addition, and it’s called “Tap to seek.”
There is also a Gerrit Chromium update that describes the addition.
“TapToSeekSelectionManager will handle the hooking and unhooking of TapToSeek’s selection client into tabs to listen for taps. When SmartSelection is done gathering the surrounding text, the TTS manager will send the surrounding text to ReadAloud to handle the playback seeking,” the update reads.
As the name suggests, the read aloud feature lets the browser read the entire web content or parts of it. It comes with various voices and accents that you can choose, so it’s pretty handy for long-form articles that you want to hear being narrated in the background. The feature first landed on the desktop, but has been making its way to the mobiles ever since.
Speaking of which, it’s only Chrome on desktops that supports background playback. But recently, we exclusively reported that Google is testing a background playback capability for Android users, too. This update allows listening to articles even when the browser is not active.
