Reading mode

Google LLC

About this app

Designed for and with people with low vision, blindness and dyslexia, Reading mode helps improve your screen reading experience with a focus on customizable contrast, text size, text-to-speech, page clutter, and font types. Once downloaded, the app integrates into your quick settings and can be easily accessed across apps and web pages.

Instructions:

To get started:

1. Download and install Reading mode via Play Store
2. Find Reading mode on your home screen and tap to open it
3. Read the tutorial and it will redirect you to the settings at the end
4. In the settings, tap “Reading mode” and toggle on “Reading mode shortcut” to allow Reading mode to access your device
5. Please refer to https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/7650693 to set up different Reading mode entry points

Key Features:

• Focused reading view: Reading mode provides a customizable reading environment without clutter to make it easier to access content and focus
• Text-to-speech: Hear written content read out loud to you at the touch of a button. Choose from a selection of high quality long-form voices. Easily accessible audio control options to rewind, fast forward, and change reading speed on the go
• Adjust font type and size: Toggle quickly between font sizes, styles, colors, and line spaces to customize what’s best for your reading needs
• Quick access: Once downloaded, Reading mode is integrated into the phone interface for fast access
• Multi-language support: Reading mode supports English, French, Italian, and Spanish with additional languages to follow
• Compatible with Talkback: Easily use Reading mode when using your screen reader.
• Designed with privacy in mind: Content is never sent off your phone.

Join the group https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/accessible to provide feedback and receive product updates.

Requirement:

• Available for phones on Android 9 and later
• Currently Reading mode supports English, French, Italian, Spanish

Permissions Notice:
• Accessibility Service: Since this app is an accessibility service, it can observe your actions and window content.

Ratings and reviews

It does what it says it does and does it well mostly. It does cut out some of the text, but I don't know why because sometimes it'll show up and sometimes it won't. The main fault is that it interacts with apps when I'm not using it. On YouTube invisible UI appears and won't go away. On Chrome it puts my tabs in a list instead of thumbnail, removing the ability to see groups. This means I must turn it off mostly. I would like more settings, such as shortening period pauses and what text appears.

Generally good, convenient to set a key combination shortcut to summon. Overall I'm impressed with how intelligible the voices have become, despite occasional inaccuracies in prosody. One odd thing: nearly half the time I initiate reading mode I am requested to download voices. This happens so often that one time I brought up the list of supposedly updated voices, then clicked to cancel and went back to the previous screen. The screen reader functioned fine. Bug?

I love this app, it's so useful to scratch the itch of reading something like a fanfic when I can't spare the time to actively stare at my phone. It's great for multitasking purposes. It can get a little annoying trying to start reading in the middle of a page or remembering where I left off, but all in all I do truly think it's one of the best things I downloaded to my phone.

What’s new

Bug fixes and performance improvements.