Simple Reader

Simple Reader Overview

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Simple Reader
Purple Tools Medical

Simple Reader

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PurpleTools Simple Reader presents clinical notes and records in a cleaner, easier-to-read format. Dense EHR note views can make it harder to find the information that matters — Simple Reader strips away the visual noise.

More details coming soon. Reach out through the Support page if you have questions or want early access.

Highlight and GoSelect any text on any page, click the toolbar icon, and reading begins. One action, no menus, no setup each time.
Smart Context HandlingTable rows are read cell-by-cell with column headings. Gmail messages read in full with a single click. Text fields are read without disturbing your cursor position.
A Console That Stays Out of Your WayDrag it anywhere on screen, minimize it to a pill, control speed and style on the fly — Simple Reader keeps reading even when you move to another tab.

How to Use Simple Reader

Before You Start

  1. Pin the icon. Click the puzzle-piece (Extensions) button at the right end of Chrome's toolbar, find Simple Reader, and click its pin so the purple R stays visible.
  2. Accept the data-use disclosure and start a trial or log in using the cards on the extension page. Simple Reader stays disabled until both steps are complete.

Reading Text

  1. Highlight any text on any page, then click the R in the toolbar. That is the whole of the normal case.
  2. Option + / (Mac) or Alt + / (Windows) does the same thing, as does Space when you have text selected and nothing is playing.
  3. Gmail: click anywhere inside an open message, then press the icon with nothing selected — the whole message is read.
  4. Table rows: click anywhere in a row, then press the icon. The row is read cell-by-cell paired with its column heading, including full values hidden by ellipsis.
  5. Text boxes: a selection inside a text field is read and highlighted in place. When reading stops, the selection collapses to a caret so your next keystroke cannot overwrite text.
  6. PDFs: Chrome's built-in PDF viewer blocks extension access. Copy the text instead, then press the paste button that appears in the console.

The Console

  1. Drag the console anywhere on the page — including nearly off the edge. A corner always stays on screen so you can pull it back.
  2. Top row: slower, play/pause, faster, and two circular 5-second jump buttons. Jumps land on a word boundary.
  3. Style switches the text display between one large word, a line of context, and controls only. Your choice is remembered.
  4. Copy puts the text being read on the clipboard — useful for table rows whose assembled text exists nowhere on the page.
  5. Scroll On/Off follows the spoken word down the page. Off by default so reading continues even when the current word scrolls out of sight.
  6. The round – button minimizes the console to a small pill while reading continues. The red × stops reading and closes. Nothing else closes the console.

Keyboard Shortcuts

  1. Space — play or pause. With text selected and nothing playing, it starts reading that selection.
  2. Left / Right arrow — slower or faster.
  3. S — stop and close, even if Simple Reader is reading in a background tab in another window.
  4. Option + / (Mac) or Alt + / (Windows) — start, pause, or resume from any tab.
  5. These shortcuts are captured before the page's own keyboard shortcuts, so they keep working inside applications that bind the same keys.

Settings

  1. Keyboard Shortcuts: turn the toolbar icon and Option + / on or off individually, or record an alternate key combination. Keep at least one enabled.
  2. Voice & Color: choose the reading voice and the console's accent color. Changes apply immediately, including to a console already reading — changing the voice restarts from the current word.
  3. The accent color also tints the highlighter that tracks the spoken word on the page.
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