Google has quietly been testing a Read Later feature for Chrome on Android, and it looks like the search giant is getting close to rolling it out in a future stable build for everyone.
With the release of Chrome 90, which is currently in the Canary channel, Google has added a Read Later feature on Android. This feature is accessible on the Canary channel even without enabling a feature flag.
Essentially, Read Later works by allowing users to save a web page to be read at a later time. If you’ve ever used a service like Pocket, it’s basically a fancy way to save bookmarks. Incidentally, Firefox has deep integration with Pocket, because Mozilla acquired the service back in 2017.
Oddly, Google Chrome has had a functioning Read Later feature on iOS since 2017, but not on Android or PC. However, in the middle of last year, we actually did discover that Google was working on a Read Later feature for Chrome for Android.
The feature is pretty easy to use. When you want to save a link, press and hold on a link, and the usual actions will be listed, including “Open in new tab.” You’ll also see a new “Read later” option. Articles that you’ve saved can be found in your Bookmarks, where you’ll see a “Reading list” folder.
It’s not the most exciting feature Google has ever introduced to Chrome, but it does potentially make users less reliant on similar “read it later” services.
Google recently introduced Chrome 88, which introduced tab search and improved password protections. The latter feature makes it easy to identify and fix weak passwords, as well as update multiple usernames and passwords at once.
With Chrome 88 now available, we still have a few versions to go before a Read Later feature is more widely available. But once it becomes available, we’ll be sure to let you know. If you want to test the feature out now on desktop and mobile, activate this Chrome flag: chrome://flags/#read-later.
Thanks to XDA Member Some_Random_Username for the tip!
This article was updated at 12:40 AM ET on January 27, 2021, to clarify that the feature is accessible for users on the Canary channel.
