I’ve been tracking an interesting development from Google – they’re testing a feature that reads your news to you. If you’re in the US, you might want to try this out.
The new Daily Listen feature takes your Google Discover feed and turns it into a short audio summary. Think of it as a personalized mini-podcast that knows what news interests you based on your Google activity.
I checked the details, and here’s what you need to know: It’s available through Google Labs starting January 8, but only for US users right now. To get started, open your Google app (iOS or Android), look for Google Labs in the top-left menu, and sign up for the program.
After joining, you’ll see a new widget at the top of your Discover feed. Each audio summary runs about five minutes – perfect for a quick catch-up while making coffee. The audio comes with a scrolling transcript, and you get standard playback controls to pause or skip around.
What caught my interest is how this fits with Google’s other AI experiments. They’ve done something similar with NotebookLM’s Audio Overview feature, which started as a test but became a permanent feature. This might suggest where Daily Listen is headed.
The timing makes sense – Google seems interested in making our devices talk to us more, especially with their Gemini Live rollout. No word yet on when other countries might get access to Daily Listen, but I’ll keep an eye on any updates.
Want to try it? Just remember it takes about a day after signing up before your first Daily Listen appears. If you’re outside the US, you’ll need to wait until Google expands the program.
