Chrome Beta for Android is constantly getting the newest and most cutting edge features of Chrome in order for Google to test them before releasing them in a stable build. The only unfortunate part about this is that it is always a pain to actually discover what these new features are that Google includes in new releases of Chrome Beta. If you take a look at the “What’s New” section of the Chrome Beta app on the Play Store, it will always say “This release contains lots of bug fixes and performance improvements.” But no need to worry, we have found arguably the best new feature in the latest version of the Chrome Beta for Android and are going to show you how to enable and use it.
This feature we are talking about, as the title suggests, is called Reader Mode, and what it does is pretty self-explanatory. Reader Mode eliminates all of the useless crud on a webpage and brings the content front and center, this makes it much easier to do things like read long articles. So how do you enable said feature? It’s actually quite easy and involves just a couple of simple steps. First off, before you do anything else, make sure that you have the latest version of Chrome Beta installed on your device, you can check if you do by clicking here. Once you have the latest version of the latest version installed you will need to launch it and go to the following address, chrome://flags. When you go to that address you will then want to open the menu and click “Find on Page” and type in “Enable Reader Mode Toolbar Icon.” You should see the option popup with an “Enable” button, click said enable button and then restart the Chrome Beta app completely.
Once you relaunch the Chrome Beta app you should notice something new up in your toolbar. There should now be, if you followed the steps correctly, a new little A icon which is clickable, clicking this icon will cause it to light up blue letting you know that it is enabled. This is Reader Mode and like we said above, it brings the content of the webpage front and center and eliminates or moves to the background the unimportant stuff. This new feature in Chrome Beta for Android is definitely a welcome one that has been a long time coming. It is also a feature that we can easily see sticking around and making an appearance in the stable version of Chrome for Android in the near future. What do you guys think of Reader Mode in Chrome Beta, is it something that you can see yourself using often? Let us know in the comments.
