Google Chrome’s Reading Mode: A Solution to Web Page Distractions
Look, this is slightly awkward, but I’m not gonna sugarcoat it: Reading stuff on the web these days can be a pretty painful experience.
You know what I’m talkin’ about, right? (Insert awkward pause here.) On most modern websites, you’re bombarded with an army of over-the-top pop-ups, promos, and other assorted ads every time you try to open up an enticing article. (Insert awkward eye-darting here.) Media is a business, of course, but still: As a mere mammal trying to ingest interesting info, it can sometimes get to be a bit much. (Insert forced awkward smile here.)
The business part is what makes the whole thing especially tricky — ’cause for better or for worse, online publications and the lowly internet scribes who power ’em rely on revenue from all that advertising in order to exist. That means if you use some sort of aggressive ad-blocker, you’re hurting that company’s odds of survival and potentially also jeopardizing the content creators’ ability to earn a paycheck.
But fret not, my friend, for Google’s got an awesome new answer for us. It’s a smart system that empowers you to view a sane, sensible, and dare I say even enjoyable version of any web page you’re viewing. It’ll be free from ads and other distractions and optimized for easy reading. It’ll even be customizable, if you’re feelin’ fancy and want to take control of exactly which fonts, colors, and spacing settings are present. And despite all of that, it’ll still technically allow ads to be shown and the page’s full original form to load at the same time, whether or not you actively view it.
Best of all? It’s available on any computer running Chrome this second — if you know where to look.
[Get fresh Googley goodies in your inbox every Friday with my Android Intelligence newsletter. Three new things to try every Friday!]
Google’s secret Chrome reading mode switch
In a weird but all-too-Googley twist, Google actually announced the new Chrome Reading Mode feature nearly two months ago, back in March. But the version of Chrome that includes it still hasn’t rolled out broadly, which means most of us are still stuck waiting.
That Chrome version is currently scheduled to start making its way into the world next Tuesday, May 30th, for most desktop operating systems — and the following Tuesday, June 6th, for Chromebooks.
But c’mon: We’ve already been waiting two months for this. Who wants to wait any longer?!
Here’s the secret to enabling Chrome’s Reading Mode this second, no matter what kind of computer you’re using:
- Open up Chrome on your computer.
- Do a spritely jig and/or yodel merrily in anticipation.
- Type chrome:flags into the browser’s address bar.
- Type reading mode into the search box at the top of the screen that comes up.
- See the line labeled “Reading Mode”? Click the box next to it and change its setting from “Default” to “Enabled.”
- Click the blue Relaunch button at the bottom of the screen.
And that’s it — you’ve done it! Told ya it was easy,…