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 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

A very useful app... it makes reading long articles much more palatable. My only problem is most of the time it takes two or three attempts to actually load the article. This makes it a lot less useful, and really frustrating. Maybe it's my phone? I do use a pixel.. So maybe Google apps don't speak well with Google. Hopefully they can fix the bugs in it, preferably before Google abandons it like every other app and site they've ever made.

this was a 4 to 5 star app on my Pixel 6, on my 9 it's hot garbage. Just won't work on certain webpages despite working on others within the same site, or when it does work, often crashes and loses one's place which really blows when it's a long document. You also can't navigate to anything else briefly or it drops. None of this was an issue on the six when it was a floating button rather than in the pull down menu. Beyond frustrated.

Definitely my most favorite app on my phone. However, there is a problem with the new Samsung s25 devices. Reading mode shuts down automatically daily sometimes more often and has to be restarted because the prompt for reading mode disappears. You have to go into the settings search for reading and select reading mode under accessibility to restart it and it is quite annoying that you have to do it so often when on other devices I have not had to go in and do it so frequently if it all.

What’s new

Initial release of Reading mode.