Google Assistant Now Lets You Listen To Web Pages In Different Languages And Voices

Google has come up with a handy feature for its users who get most of their information from web articles. The tech major has enabled its Google Assistant with a ¡®read aloud¡¯ function that will read entire web articles for the users, highlighting the words as it scrolls across the page.

The new feature for Android users was announced by Google in a recent blog post. Those looking to use it can simply say "Hey Google, read it," or "Hey Google, read this page¡± to the Google Assistant. The artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant will then start reading the web page from the top all the way to the bottom.

Interestingly, the new Google Assistant feature also supports different languages, enabling users to listen to the information on a web page in the language of their choice. Google says that the Assistant can read the web pages in 42 different languages in case the original content is in a language other than the user¡¯s preferred one.

Users can even choose between different reading speeds and voices for the web pages. As per Google, the Assistant tries to use the same expressive voices as humans to convey a natural feeling to the user. We tried it out and we can say that the Google Assistant does the job fairly well, reading the web pages in a consistent pitch but with appropriate pauses and an impressive flow. Its much like a news anchor reading out the news to you.

We tried out the Google Assistant Read Aloud feature.

What to use it for?

The way we look at it, this is a very handy tool for people who are constantly on the move. A considerable part of the day of the working class around the globe, is spent on travelling. If one wants to stay updated with the latest information on the web, this feature might just be the key to start your day with a healthy dose of news.

Needless to say, the feature will also be of immense help to those with visual impairments and reading difficulties. Rather than relying on any third party apps or equipment, they can use the Google Assistant easily by voice commands and know what their favourite website has to say.

The fact that the Assistant can read out a web page in different languages is also of importance, as many accustomed to a particular language will now be able to access the web pages of any language in a listen-to format in their own choice of diction.

It is not hard to see that the feature competes closely with podcasts, provided the content on a particular web page is a viable replacement for the content on a podcast. So those accustomed to listening to podcasts will also find the new Google Assistant feature quite handy.

As per Google, websites do not have to do anything extra for this feature to work on them. The feature can read any web page by default. However, if a web page does not want the feature to be enabled on it, a ¡°nopagereadaloud¡± tag can be used by the website. The feature can also be added by developers using Actions on Google.