Google has been working on new updates for its Reading mode in Chrome, recently adding a Read aloud button, but it may not stop there. Reading mode may soon incorporate more of the Material You look that many of Google’s apps and services have adopted, including Chrome itself, and things appear to be coming together quite nicely.

As uncovered by browser expert Leopeva64, Google might change the look of the Read aloud button to match whatever theme users have on their Chrome browsers. The button was originally blue regardless of theme, but it now changes based on the color theme you have selected. This is a small tweak, but it’s in line with other Material You updates that Google has been sprinkling around lately, giving a more seamless look to Reading mode.

But perhaps the bigger part of this forthcoming update is that functional zoom controls have been added to the new overflow menu for Reading mode. When we first saw this redesigned menu, we were disappointed that Reading mode’s controls were buried behind another click when they had previously been accessible directly at the top of the UI. However, these zoom controls, which weren’t functional when we got our first look at this menu, can be clicked immediately after opening the new submenu, so at least we don’t have to drill down to another nested tier to zoom in and out.

Chrome’s Reading mode has new zoom controls (Source: Leopeva64/Twitter)

Google only just added a native reading mode in Chrome 114, so finishing touches like these are pretty nice to see. Thus far, Chrome’s Reading mode has been met with mixed reviews, with some lambasting it for not being as useful as many reader mode extensions for Chrome. And since Reading mode can only be opened in a side panel and cannot take up the whole screen, some feel it’s less of a mode and more of a tool. However, it is encouraging to see Google increasing accessibility features in Reading mode to make it more useful.