Enable Reader Mode in Chrome for Android with a Simple Flags Toggle

Google is working on a reader mode for Chrome but we can gain access to it right now.

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Video Description
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Today, I'll be showing you how to force a Reader Mode button within Chrome for Android.

#chrome #googlechrome #android

Google announced Reading Mode for the desktop version of Chrome back in early 2023
However, the company has yet to officially release this for the Android version of their popular web browser.

Thankfully they have been working on it. . .but as of today. . .it has not been enabled by default.
Instead, we need to go in and manually enable a chrome flag in order to access it.

enabling reader mode
So we can do this by first opening up a new tab
and then typing chrome://flags into the address bar

Press enter when you finish and you should see a page like this load.
Now, you'll want to type the word Reader into this filter field up here.

As that will help you to find this Reader Mode Triggering feature that you see right here.
This will be set to default, which in its current state means it is not accessible.

But we can change this to "always" or "all articles" or even the "with article structured markup", depending on how often you want to see the button appear.

For example, setting this to all articles. . .or pages with an article structured markup, will limit the times when you have access.
So for me, I've set this to always in an attempt to always have it available for me
and so far, it's worked out really well.

after that option has been changed, tap the blue relaunch button so that chrome will close and then reload with the new settings in effect.

now load up an article within chrome on your Android smartphone or tablet
and you should see the new reader mode button appear within the toolbar.
sometimes you'll see a banner drop down from the top
which also allows you to enable reader mode for the current website

why use reader mode
I have found this feature to be incredibly useful for a number of reasons.

some websites are just not designed well for the mobile web browser.
so having reader mode take all of that text and format it in a way that is easy to read through, has been really nice.

for the last few years, I've seen a number of websites automatically start playing a video as you get about half way through the page.
this always prompts me to stop reading the article just so that I can tap on the tiny little X to stop the video from auto playing

when using reader mode, that video is stripped out of the article so that becomes less of an issue.

I've also seen that enabling reader mode can sometimes help to avoid those ad-blocking prompts that you see popping up on more and more websites these days.

conclusion
so, if you read a lot of articles on your Android smartphone or tablet
and you're default web browser is set to Chrome

then I highly recommend you manually enable this feature within the Chrome://flags page

I still don't know why it's taken Google over a year to release it for the Android app, but at least it's available for those who know where to look.
so be sure to share this video with your friends, and don't forget to like it while also subscribing to the channel for more android content like this

Step by Step Tutorial
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1. Intro [00:00]
2.

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The Gear I Use
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[ExplainingAndroid]

Question of the Day: are you a fan of Reader/Reading Mode on Chrome? why or why not?

[Remarkable-gu]

Your YouTube video is a lifesaver. I had no clue about this stuff before, and now I'm able use this feature. Thanks for taking the time to make it.

[DhamodharanVelu]

Thank you sir for your good tips. For many days, i struggled for reading mode in chrome. With a simple tips, you made me happy. Thank you sir 🎉🎉

[RomboutVersluijs]

Thanks, forgot to check flags. I ised this on my opd a32 but was missing it on my s24 plus bow. Still dont understand why this isnt a native festure yet. Its super nice