If the reader mode on your Safari browser doesn’t work on any or all website, there are some tricks that you can use to solve the issue. The reader mode on the Safari browser makes your browsing experience easier, as you can just listen to the contents without going through it. Whatever is the reason, fixing this reader issue in Safari can solve the problem.
Fix 1 – Check reader mode compatibility
The Reader mode on Safari doesn’t work on less-word based webpages. These also includes e-commerce websites. The Reader mode only works when there is enough text on the webpage. So, do check whether the webpage has enough words (like a Wikipedia page or other information-related pages) for the Reader mode to enact and read out the contents.
Step 1 – Open Wikipedia on the Safari browser.
Step 2 – Check whether you can see the Reader icon on your screen or not. On supported webpages, you will also notice this “Reader Available” text in the address bar.
Step 3 – Tap the “aA” button just beside the address bar and use the “Show Reader” option to start the reader mode.
If you can’t see any such option, then the webpage doesn’t support the reader mode.
Fix 2 – Enable the Use Reader automatically feature
You can set the Reader mode on your Safari browser to activate automatically whenever a text-based or similar webpage opens up, the reader will show up automatically.
Step 1 – Open the Safari web browser and load the particular webpage where you want to use the Reader mode.
Step 2 – Next, tap the “aA” button next to the address bar and tap the “Website Settings” to open it.
Step 3 – In the particular website settings, go to the ‘While viewing <web address>’ section, and enable the “Use Reader Automatically” feature.
This way, whenever you open the webpage in the Safari web browser, it will start in reader mode.
Fix 3 – Disable the Low Power mode
If you are using the iPhone in low power mode, you should disable it first and later, try to use the Reader mode.
Step 1 – When you are using the Low Power Mode, the battery will have a yellow tint.
Step 2 – So, if your iPhone is in low power mode, you have to open the Settings tab.
Step 3 – Go to the “Battery” tab.
Step 4 – Switch off the “Low Power Mode” feature.
After deactivating the low power mode on your iPhone, go back to the Safari tab and try to use the reader mode once again.
See whether you can use the reader mode on that website or not.
Fix 4 – Force quit the Safari browser and re-open
Force stop the Safari browser and re-open the browser and the webpage. If a bug or a glitch is causing this problem, this should fix the issue with the reader.
Step 1 – While you are in the Safari browser, swipe upwards from the bottom and hold to open all the recent apps.
Step 2 – Close the Safari browser.
Step 3 – Now, open the Safari browser and load the webpage.
This time, you will see the Reader option for the webpage (if it supports the reader mode) right in its place.
Fix 5 – Update the iPhone software
The final option that you have is to install any version of the iOS.
Step 1 – Connect your iPhone to the Wi-Fi and begin by opening the Settings.
Step 2 – When the Settings page is open, find and open up the “General” settings tab there.
Step 3 – The second option in the list should be the “Software Update” option. Touch to open that up.
Step 4 – You should get to know the software update information from the following page.
Step 5 – If an update is indeed pending on your iPhone, tap the “Install now” button to commence the update process.
Soon, your iPhone will get restarted, and the iOS will get updated.
After doing all these, you can use the Safari reader again. Test if this works out.