How to find the browser’s built-in reading mode

I have a bunch of web articles that I’ve bookmarked, favorited, and saved for later that I’ll get around to reading someday…but I haven’t yet. I think part of what holds me back from reading this list is that reading, especially longer articles, can be difficult online. On most websites, in addition to the important text and images, you also have to deal with a lot of ads, pop-ups, panels, and media.

You can avoid this problem by using a bookmarking app like Pocket, which provides an easier way to save and read longer content, or you can purchase a separate reading device (such as a Kindle). However, if you don’t want to deal with other apps or devices, there’s another way. Most popular browsers now have some kind of reading mode built in.

Here’s how to access desktop reading mode in Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox. I also provide a reading mode for iPhone and Android phones.

Chrome may be the most popular browser on the desktop, but it still lags behind the competition in some areas. Case in point: It doesn’t have a reading mode that’s as user-friendly or as well-designed as the other browsers we’ve included on this list. Reading mode is only available in the side panel that squeezes the edges of the browsing window, although you can widen it to a reasonable size.

To enable Chrome’s reading mode:

• Click on the three dots (top right corner of any browser tab).
• Open More tools menu.
• choose reading mode.
• Use the toolbar to change the appearance of text.
• Click and drag the left edge of the side panel to make it larger.

Reading mode itself works well, with a variety of fonts and colors to choose from, but it does feel a bit tacked on.

Android also supports reading mode. The nice thing is that it works on all Android systems, not just Chrome, so you can use it anywhere you like. The bad part is that you have to install a separate app to enable it (Reading Mode from Google), so the process is more complicated than it should be.

• Launch the app and follow the instructions to set it up.
• During setup, you can choose how to activate reading mode: from a tile in quick settings, a floating button, or by pressing both volume keys simultaneously.
• After opening the page in Chrome, launch reading mode using the shortcut of your choice. At the bottom of the screen, you can adjust the color or text size or enable speech reading.
• After installation, you can turn reading mode on or off via the following methods: Settings > Accessibility > Reading Mode.

One more thing: only certain types of screens can be simplified, mostly simple articles with text and images. But it does make it easier to read content on your phone.

Safari puts an icon of its reading mode (also called reading view) on the toolbar. Safari reading mode is particularly sparse in appearance, and while there are some fonts and colors to choose from, there aren’t many.

To enable reading view in Apple Safari:

• Click the Reading view page icon to the left of the address bar.
• choose amino acids The icon to the right of the address bar allows you to change the font and color.

It’s not quite the same level of functionality you get with Edge, Firefox or even Chrome – Safari can read web pages on its own (Edit>Speech) and save them for later use (Bookmark > Add to reading list), but that functionality is not built into this reader mode.

If you want the same uncluttered experience on your iPhone, Safari for iOS has the same features as Safari for macOS, although not in exactly the same places.

• Click AA The button (or file icon) to the left of the address bar.
• choose show readers.
• Click AA Click the button (or file icon) again to change fonts and colors or read the page aloud.

You can also choose to automatically use reading mode on pages that support it. In iOS Settings, click Apps > Safari > Reader and enable All sites.

Edge is built on the same Chromium code as Chrome, but it has a better reading mode, actually called Immersive Reader. It takes up the entire screen, is easy to turn on and off, and the button to enable it is always available in the browser interface (rather than hidden in a menu). There are also several ways to personalize it.

To enable reading mode in Edge:

• Click the book icon to the right of the URL bar.
• choose Read aloud Read the page.
• Open Text preferences Change the appearance of text. The Text Preferences pop-up menu gives you complete control over the appearance of Reading Mode: you can change the line spacing, the color scheme of the page, the default fonts used, and the width of the page columns.
• Click Reading preferences Access translation options and highlight lines of text as you read.

On Firefox, Reading Mode is very similar to the one in Microsoft Edge and can be enabled by simply clicking the icon in the URL bar (which looks like a page of text). It takes up the entire screen again, replacing the article you’re reading.

To enable reading mode in Mozilla Firefox:

• Click the reading mode page icon on the address bar.
• choose amino acids icon to change the text design.
• Click the headphones icon to read the page aloud.
• Select the Pocket (bookmark) icon to save the page to Firefox’s built-in Pocket reading later service.

There aren’t as many font style and color choices here as there are in Edge, but the options available look good.

If you’re not satisfied with any of these, there are many third-party add-ons that can do the same job. Both Firefox and Chrome have Tranquility Reader, which lets you save pages for offline reading and adds flexibility with fonts and colors. An impressive third-party option for Chrome is Reader View, which has an e-reader feel and lets you adjust colors, fonts, and spacing.