Merlin
Activate Reader View

Activate Reader View

This add-on adds a button to the toolbar. Clicking on it activates the Reader View even if the icon in the address bar is not present.

What is Activate Reader View?
"Activate Reader View" is a Firefox add-on that adds a button to the toolbar, enabling activation of the Reader View feature. It enables a cleaner, more readable webpage view, by removing unnecessary elements like ads, buttons and background images. Although it does not guarantee the Reader View's compatibility with all sites, it provides an improved browsing experience when it does work. The add-on does not affect the Reader View's exit functionality, which is still controlled by the address bar icon.
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Merlin
Stats
By: fkohrt
Users: 9,154 ▲ 95
Rating: 4.19 (73)
Version: 0.1.2 (Last updated: 2020-04-27)
Creation date: 2016-05-14
Weekly download count: 101
Firefox on Android: Yes
Risk impact: Moderate risk impact
Risk likelihood: Low risk likelihood
Manifest version: 2
Permissions:
  • tabs
Size: 24.03K
Stats date:

Chrome-Stats Rank

# 862 ▼ 2
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Other platforms

Not available on Chrome
Not available on Edge
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Merlin
Summary
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Remark (2019-11-11) As a user pointed out, setting “reader.parse-on-load.force-enabled” to “true” using the configuration editor will force the icon to be visible as well, without the need to install this add-on.

Remark (2019-06-08) I employed a different way to toggle the Reader View, version 0.1.1 of this add-on now works as intended.

Remark (2018-06-09) As the WebExtension API change is still not implemented, this add-on cannot force the Reader View to open. As an alternative, I created a bookmark version of this add-on. One can also manually activate the Reader View by prepending “about:reader?url=” to the current tab’s address.

Remark (2017-11-21) Starting with Firefox 58 and version 0.1.0 of this add-on, the new WebExtension APIs are being used, making the add-on work in Firefox “Quantum”. However, right now the new API forbids “forcing” the Reader View to open. See https://bugzil.la/1419520 Users of Firefox 57 Nightly and Developer Edition may set “extensions.legacy.enabled” to true using the configuration editor. Users of Firefox 56 and below may use version 0.0.7 of this add-on.

Remark (2017-09-07)

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User reviews
User reviews summary
These summaries are automatically generated weekly using AI based on recent user reviews. Firefox Browser Add-ons does not verify user reviews, so some user reviews may be inaccurate, spammy, or outdated.
Pros
  • Allows access to Reader View on sites where native Reader Mode does not work
  • Can save pages as epub or pdf files
  • One-click way to bypass publication paywalls
Cons
  • Alternative method using about:config setting 'reader.parse-on-load.force-enabled' no longer works
  • Does not work on Android
  • No shortcut/hotkey to activate the feature
Most mentioned
  • Does not work everywhere
  • Setting 'reader.parse-on-load.force-enabled' to 'true' no longer has any effect
  • Limited functionality
  • Appreciate the open source
  • Can force Reader Mode on sites like CNN
  • Lack of hotkey and exit behavior
Recent reviews
I have found this functionality invaluable. I currently try to save content to .pdf files rather than bookmarking because of the ephemeral nature of web content. I normally change the view to the "reader" view to enable printing the content of the page while eliminating most of the extraneous content (like links to unrelated articles) that would otherwise appear.
by Firefox user 17827523, 2024-04-22
by Rob, 2023-12-02
View all user reviews
Safety
Risk impact

Activate Reader View may not be safe to use and it requires some risky permissions. Exercise caution when installing this add-on. Review carefully before installing.

Risk likelihood

Activate Reader View has earned a fairly good reputation and likely can be trusted.

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Screenshots
Activate Reader View