Chrome for Android can now read web pages aloud like a podcast

[harlan4096]

Last week, Martin wrote about Chrome gaining AI features powered by Gemini. There's a new AI feature rolling out to Chrome on Android, a read aloud option that narrates webpages like a podcast.

The feature was spotted by Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman. Google has been working on AI-powered features for a while now, Audio Overviews are available in Search, Docs, but most notably in NotebookLM. It uses by Gemini's models to generate podcasts for extensive research topics. It seems like Google wants to take this a step further, and bring it to people's daily lives, right in their browser.

Chrome on Android already has a read aloud feature, which is basically an accessibility option. You can use it by tapping on the three-dot menu button (when on a web page), and select "Listen to this page". But this narration is robotic, and rather boring. The same option, Listen to this page, is gaining a new button in the bottom left corner. Tapping on this button generates AI playback like a podcast featuring two AI hosts, which you can listen to, just like in NotebookLM. You can tap the button again to switch the AI playback off, and use the regular text-to-speech mode.


(Image courtesy: Android Authority)

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