Office for Android will allow listening to documents while the screen is locked

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Key notes

  • Tired of the Read Aloud feature to pause when the phone or tablet screen locks?
  • Microsoft is planning to remedy that and is going to allow playback to continue.
  • This new feature is already added to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap with a deadline.
  • However, not many expect the April 2022 release date to become the official one.
office android

Android Office users you might want to sit down for this one, as some pretty great news is coming your way really fast.

Microsoft’s Office suite for Android will soon support playing documents out loud when the screen is locked.

This new feature will make it easier to catch up on documents or to review content by listening to it, when you can’t spare your eyes for this task.

New Office Android feature coming in April

We know that many of you were probably waiting for such functionality for a long time, so this comes as a breath of fresh air in these times of uncertainty.

April 2022 is the tentative release date for the feature on the Microsoft 365 roadmap, but that can still be subject to change.

It goes without saying that, as is the case with any feature on the roadmap, the date is a loose goal, not a firm release date.

For the time being, the mobile versions of Office pause audio playback when you lock this screen, just as it happens with Youtube.

As you would have imagined, this can be a hassle if you’re trying to listen to a document and your screen locks automatically after you don’t touch it for a while.

The current setup is also an issue if you want to listen to content while driving in a car or keeping your phone in your pocket.

Excited about the new feature coming to Android Office users? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.

More about the topics: Office 365