It appears that Google is in the process of improving the Read Aloud feature in Chrome for Android. MSPowerUser discovered some developments Google is working on that hint at a background playback option for Read Aloud.
Chrome"s Android app currently lets you listen to the text written on a webpage. To do that, you need to click on the More (three dots) button in the top-right corner > Listen to this page. A mini-player shows up at the bottom of your screen with controls to play, rewind, fast forward, manage the reading speed, select your preferred voice, and more.
While the text is being read aloud, you can browse the current website or switch to other tabs in the browser. The feature also highlights the text and automatically scrolls the website to help you keep a tab on it.
However, the playback will stop if you minimize the Chrome app and start using other apps on your phone. But that might change in the future. The outlet spotted a flag on Chrome for Android called "read-aloud-background-playback" with the description that says "Add support for background playback for Read Aloud."
A Chromium Gerrit update also hints that the said option is under development, although there is no word on the release date. The functionality is already available on the desktop version, where you can listen to a webpage"s content while minimizing the tab or using other apps, such as the outlet notes.
The ability to play audio in the background isn"t a unique offering. It has been available on other Google-made apps such as YouTube Music and YouTube, which lets you listen to the audio after minimizing the app or turning off the screen.
Chrome for Android has recently added some new features, such as Chrome Actions, which displays clickable buttons in search results to perform various actions. The browser also displays shortcut suggestions to make websites easier to find while searching for them.