How to add reading mode to your Android devices (and why you should)
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How to add reading mode to your Android devices (and why you should)
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There are times when the content isn’t always easy to read on my Android device. It might be because of print that is too small, formatting that isn’t conducive to small devices, ads, or other distractions. Sadly, Android doesn’t yet have the built-in functionality to automatically switch to a reading mode.
What is that? Reading mode reformats content such that all of the distractions and ill-formed formatting are either stripped away or tweaked so that the text is presented on the device in a much more readable format.
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As I mentioned, Android doesn’t have this feature built-in (yet) but there’s an official Google app on the Play Store, named Reading mode, which adds the functionality to Android devices. Once you’ve installed this app, it acts as a plugin for the device, so you can more easily view content in supporting apps (such as Chrome, Firefox, Twitter, Google News, and more).
How to install the Reading mode app
What you’ll need: The only thing you’ll need to make this work is an Android device running Android 9 or newer.
1. Install the app
Open the Google Play Store on your device and search for Reading mode. Locate the official app by Google and tap Install.
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Allow the installation to complete and you can then close the Play Store.
Installing Reading mode from the Google Play Store.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
2. Enable Reading mode
You now have to enable Reading mode. To do that, open the Settings app from either your Notification Shade or App Drawer and go to Accessibility. Locate and tap Reading mode. On the resulting page, tap the ON/OFF slider until it’s in the ON position. When prompted, tap Allow so Reading mode has full access to your device.
Enabling Reading mode on Android 13.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
How to use Reading mode
Once enabled, you should see a small button near the bottom right edge of your display. You can tap and drag that bubble to any point on the screen edge.
You can move the Reading mode Toggle anywhere on the edge of your display.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
To use Reading mode, open Chrome and go to any website or page you want to view. Once on the page, tap the Reading mode bubble to enable reading mode for the page.
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The content will automatically reformat so it’s exponentially more readable on your device.
Reading mode is on the left.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
You can also tap the play button (bottom center) to have your device read the content to you out loud, tap the cog (bottom left) to adjust the display settings, or tap the font (bottom right) to change the font size.
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Although Reading mode doesn’t support every app (oddly it doesn’t support Gmail), the apps it does work with can be a real blessing to those who have trouble reading content on small devices. Give this app a try and see if it doesn’t make your mobile life a bit better.
