Google is beginning to roll out its article-reading feature on Google Assistant that will read webpages aloud. This was previewed back at CES in January and is becoming available globally starting today.
To use the feature, users can simply say, “Hey Google, read it” or “Hey Google, read this page” for Assistant to read the text on your screen. The screen will also highlight the text that the Assistant is currently reading so users can follow along on the page as it’s being read out loud. To skip to a different section, tap the screen to move forward. Or if you’re the kind of person who listens to podcasts at two times the speed, you can also adjust Google Assistant’s reading pace for faster or slower cadences.
The feature will also launch with live translation for 42 languages that will translate the webpage to your preferred language then read that aloud as well. While it’ll certainly be useful for those who may have difficulty seeing or reading on a small screen, this also seems like a much better solution to asking Google Assistant for a cooking recipe, then having to repeatedly say “Next!” to continue each step.
The feature is rolling out now, so if you don’t have it enabled on your Android device just yet, keep checking back.
