
Andy Walker / Android Authority
The fashionable web is a horribly distracting place. It’s a carnival plagued by flashing advertisements, autoplay movies, and large leaps between textual content. I’ll be first to confess that it’s changing into more difficult to learn by means of partaking content material on the net merely because of all of the tinsel drawing me away from it. I’ve grow to be inclined to distractions of late, so it’s useful to strip these items from the articles I need to learn. Fortunately, Google affords a straightforward resolution to this downside hiding in plain sight inside Google Chrome itself.
Google Chrome’s Reader Mode, typically showing as Simplify web page inside the browser, is a function many customers seemingly forgot even exists, however one that everybody ought to use extra typically. It strips non-essential content material from net pages, leaving solely the core article textual content and chosen photos. This fully modified the way in which I exploit the net.
Do you utilize Google Chrome’s Reader Mode on Android?
6 votes
Goodbye distractions, howdy content material
So, what precisely does Chrome’s Reader Mode do? In short, it strips advertisements from net pages nearly as fluidly as a devoted adblocking extension, ironic contemplating Google’s latest remedy of uBlock Origin on its desktop browser.
Customers can entry a couple of visible controls by means of the mode, together with font dimension changes, typeface tweaks, and background colour choices. If you happen to’re shopping articles within the night, activating Reader Mode and choosing a darkened background does wonders for one’s eyes.
Reader Mode simplifies an internet web page, elevating the essential content material and hiding all the things else.
I typically use it with investigative websites reminiscent of The Guardian and The Atlantic‘s longer reads. The choice to regulate the typeface to mesh with my necessities is a boon. Reader Mode additionally condenses textual content, making studying longer articles and content material rather more manageable by eradicating giant, jarring areas between textual content. It’s notably nice for recipes, too.
Lastly, visiting international web sites typically introduces a comparatively simple and fast option to translate whole articles. Reader Mode additionally circumvents comfortable content material blocks.

Andy Walker / Android Authority
If you happen to use Google Chrome on desktop, Reader Mode affords many different options that I can’t wait to land on Android. For starters, a Studying Checklist function permits me to bookmark articles to learn for later. Notably, these articles will also be accessed inside the bookmarks tab on Chrome Android, though the function isn’t practically as slick on cell.
Reader Mode could be shy; Right here’s easy methods to activate it
Often, Google Chrome routinely affords a Simplify web page icon within the deal with bar when it detects content material that helps reader mode. Faucet on it, and also you’ll leap right into a a lot calmer place. Nonetheless, this icon’s look is unreliable at finest, given Android’s eccentricities. If that is your first time listening to about Studying Mode, navigate to the Settings > Toolbar and choose Primarily based in your utilization. The Simplify Web page possibility will seem when relevant.
Nonetheless, given my gripes outlined above, I choose to pressure this feature to at all times seem on any tab I go to. To do that, navigate to chrome://flags within the URL bar, navigate to the Reader Mode triggering flag, and guarantee this feature is about to All articles. As soon as activated, the choice to set off Reader Mode ought to seem extra typically and reliably.
Don’t like Chrome? Different browsers have Reader Mode, too

Andy Walker / Android Authority
I’m not a fervent Google Chrome person, and plenty of of our readers might look past it for his or her shopping wants. Fortunately, different Android browsers additionally supply a Reader Mode or an equal.
Mozilla Firefox maybe affords a extra dependable model. Like Chrome, a small icon will seem within the deal with bar when an internet site helps the mode. Faucet it, and the article will re-render into its simplified model. There are alternatives to customise reader view. A serif or sanserif font choice and font level and background colour choices can be found.
Microsoft Edge affords an audio reader mode that Chrome can solely match with its desktop model.
I notably like Microsoft Edge’s Reader Mode, although. Once more, supported articles will supply an icon within the deal with bar. Tapping it triggers the mode. Nonetheless, Edge has a built-in audio reader, not like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. This can, phrase by phrase, learn out the article in its entirety to you. It’s fairly good for these long-form items. Customers may translate your entire article, alter textual content dimension, and swap between darkish and lightweight modes. Edge additionally does a much better job cleansing up irrelevant textual content, too.
No matter browser you utilize, Reader Mode is an underappreciated function that I’ve discovered a lot love for. When paired with Google Uncover and different content material supply companies, Chrome’s implementation affords a distraction-free option to learn articles with out autoplay content material rattling round within the background. Google may and will deliver the Chrome desktop Reader Mode’s options to cell, and I belief it should ultimately.