The most underused browser feature: reader mode • Hacker News Board

Re: The most underused browser feature: reader mode

#111

Post by punnerud » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 2:36 PM UTC

dijit wrote: post #11

I think I have to share my incredulation; I always use Reader Mode on Safari iOS: lots of sites are quite literally unreadable otherwise.

Hardpress on the AA in the URL-bar and you activate it directly (if it’s available).

Possible new safari feature: Make the text bold if reader mode is available

Re: The most underused browser feature: reader mode

#112

Post by mywittyname » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 2:37 PM UTC

illegalmemory wrote: post #30

aerojoe23 wrote: post #14

I love reader mode in Firefox. It will also do text to speech for you. The voices seem to dependent on something built into the OS. They sound okay on windows and I haven't figured out how to get them to sound good on linux. On windows the voices sound good, but I Wish I could get it to go a little faster. The voices don't sound human so it takes some getting used to. On linux the voices just sound more harsh. To the…

One of the little feature of reader mode I love is, if you time it correctly (before loading all javascript of the page) you can skip a lot of prompts ( subscribe to read / monthly limit reached and so on )

It's only a matter of time before sites start rolling out anti-reader mode "features."

Re: The most underused browser feature: reader mode

#113

Post by egypturnash » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 2:37 PM UTC

Honestly now that I think about it it's kind of surprising that Chrome has a reader mode button at all; why would a company whose business is mostly "serving ads" want to make it easier for you to get rid of them?

Re: The most underused browser feature: reader mode

#114

Post by isaac21259 » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 2:39 PM UTC

aerojoe23 wrote: post #14

I love reader mode in Firefox. It will also do text to speech for you. The voices seem to dependent on something built into the OS. They sound okay on windows and I haven't figured out how to get them to sound good on linux. On windows the voices sound good, but I Wish I could get it to go a little faster. The voices don't sound human so it takes some getting used to. On linux the voices just sound more harsh. To the…

The text to speech goes through speech dispatcher which by default probably uses espeak. I believe there are better text to speech engines like festival which you should be able to have speech dispatcher use quite easily but I've never tried this.

Re: The most underused browser feature: reader mode

#115

Post by egypturnash » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 2:41 PM UTC

mywittyname wrote: post #112

illegalmemory wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the little feature of reader mode I love is, if you time it correctly (before loading all javascript of the page) you can skip a lot of prompts ( subscribe to read / monthly limit reached and so on )

It's only a matter of time before sites start rolling out anti-reader mode "features."

It's already been done. Wired, for instance, only shows you the first paragraph of a story until you've made an account and logged in, even in reader mode.

Re: The most underused browser feature: reader mode

#116

Post by sysadm1n » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 2:46 PM UTC

How does a browser's reader mode carve out the bit you want to read and ignore menus and other cruft? Does it scan for semantic elements like ` / ` or something and then serve up the 'meat' of the article?

Re: The most underused browser feature: reader mode

#117

Post by mastrsushi » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

I use reader mode anytime I come across an informative webpage. That being said, I always use it as the precious feature it is, presuming it will be removed either over lack of use and support or effect on ad market.

Re: The most underused browser feature: reader mode

#118

Post by nsxwolf » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 2:50 PM UTC

mywittyname wrote: post #112

illegalmemory wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the little feature of reader mode I love is, if you time it correctly (before loading all javascript of the page) you can skip a lot of prompts ( subscribe to read / monthly limit reached and so on )

It's only a matter of time before sites start rolling out anti-reader mode "features."

I stopped using these modes years ago because of inconsistent results that I assume must be from reader-blocking tech.

Re: The most underused browser feature: reader mode

#119

Post by _h0aw » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 2:50 PM UTC

busymom0 wrote: post #33

aerojoe23 wrote: post #14

I love reader mode in Firefox. It will also do text to speech for you. The voices seem to dependent on something built into the OS. They sound okay on windows and I haven't figured out how to get them to sound good on linux. On windows the voices sound good, but I Wish I could get it to go a little faster. The voices don't sound human so it takes some getting used to. On linux the voices just sound more harsh. To the…

For anyone interested, my hacker news app HACK does both reader node as well as read text to speech. It's brand new so any feedback is welcome: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pranapps.h... It's available on iOS too which uses the built in reader mode of safari.

Just tried it out. I usually use Harmonic, and in general I much prefer the UI - it's more minimalistic, lower contrast, and I prefer the font (Product Sans). It also has a built in ad blocker. However, I appreciate the various filtering options / different feeds and the archive access seems like a really useful feature.

On the whole I think I'll stick with Harmonic, but it looks like it has some potential.

Re: The most underused browser feature: reader mode

#120

Post by mywittyname » Wed, Aug 25, 2021, 2:51 PM UTC

LegitShady wrote: post #110

fckthisguy wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I exclusively use reader mode on Firefox when reading news articles. So many site are borderline unusable otherwise due to all the ads, popups, cookie policies, and subscription promps.

…I just use adblockers.

This isn't as effective as it was in the past now that anti-adblocking is practically universal.