Google is quietly testing a Read Later feature for Chrome on Android and it looks like the search giant is close to launching it into a stable build for everyone in the future.
With the launch of Chrome 90, which is currently on the Canary channel, Google added a Read Later feature on Android. This feature can be accessed on the Canary channel even without enabling a feature flag.
Essentially, Read Later works by allowing users to save a web page for later reading. If you’ve used a service like Pocket, it’s basically a sophisticated way to save favorites. Incidentally, Firefox has a deep integration with Pocket, because Mozilla acquired the service in 2017.
Strangely, Google Chrome has a Read Later feature running on iOS since 2017, but not on Android or PC. However, in the middle of last year, we found that Google was working on a Read Later feature for Chrome for Android.
The feature is very easy to use. When you want to save a link, press and hold a link, and the normal actions will be listed, including “Open in new tab”. You will also see a new option “Read later”. The articles you have saved can be found in your Favorites, where you will see a folder “Reading list”.
It is not the most exciting feature that Google has ever introduced in Chrome, but it potentially makes users less dependent on similar “read later” services.
Google recently launched Chrome 88, which introduced tab search and improved password protections. The latter feature makes it easier to identify and correct weak passwords, as well as updating multiple usernames and passwords at once.
With Chrome 88 now available, we still have a few versions before the Read Later feature is more widely available. But as soon as it’s available, we’ll let you know. If you want to test the feature now on desktop and mobile, turn on this Chrome flag: chrome: // flags / # read-later.
Thanks to the XDA Member Some_Random_Username for the tip!
This article was updated at 12:40 pm ET on January 27, 2021, to clarify that the feature is accessible to users on the Canary channel.