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Google is experimenting with a text-to-speech feature for Chrome\u2019s reading mode on desktop, as reported by Android Police<\/em><\/a>. I sometimes use a similar feature in Instapaper, and in Chrome, I could see it being a useful tool to listen to articles in the browser I\u2019m already using while I work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The feature can apparently be found in Chrome Canary, Google\u2019s bleeding edge version of Chrome, according to X user Leopeva64<\/a>. If you have the feature, you can click a play button at the top of an article you\u2019re looking at in reading mode to have Google read the text. Leopeva64 also shared a link to a video showing off the feature on Reddit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Based on the video, Google still has some work to do here, as the voice is robotic and it spells out a header that reads \u201csummary\u201d instead of just reading the word. I can\u2019t tell you further impressions because I don\u2019t seem to have the feature in the version of Canary I downloaded from Google\u2019s website while writing this article. (I also learned that Chrome\u2019s reading mode is a hidden feature that you have to enable<\/a>.) And Google is late to the game on something like this; Microsoft\u2019s Edge already offers a robust text-to-speech feature in its Immersive View for websites<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Still, if Google does end up rolling out this new text-to-speech feature widely, it could be a great option for Chrome users who prefer to absorb information through audio. Let\u2019s just hope the company makes things sound a little less robotic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n