After nearly two years since Apple’s Safari browser moved the address bar to the bottom of the screen, the iOS version of Google Chrome is making the same move.
The new feature, called Bottom Omnibox Setting, is in testing phase in the Testlfight version of the Chrome app on iOS, first reported by iOS developer Steve Moser. In addition to revealing the feature’s name and status, Moser also posted a screenshot of what the choice looks like in the settings menu, with users able to toggle between the address bar at the bottom or top of the screen.
To switch the address bar, users simply need to go to Settings and then to Address Bar in the trial version of Chrome. However, for those using the TestFlight version of Chrome, you should enable the “chrome://flags/#bottom-omnibox-steady-state” flag. The feature hasn’t rolled out to all users yet, but even this limited release should be useful for those who want a more unified interface across Safari and Chrome, as well as those with larger screens, as the bottom address bars are closer to your thumbs. on large displays.
According to android policeGoogle tried the same feature for Chrome on Android in 2020, but eventually discontinued it.
Chrome has brought down many new features
Google has been hard at work updating and expanding its Chrome browser with new features and tools, many of which are aimed at improving user safety. One such change is the planning to ‘proactively promote’ Chrome extensions that have not been made available in the Chrome Web Store.
There is also Google’s ‘Privacy Sandbox’ project, which will be the end of third-party cookies in the browser. Users will be provided with six new APIs to accept targeted ads without the need for privacy-intrusive ads. Another feature might give an in-line example of the content of a link, giving users a better idea of which website they are about to visit before clicking on a link.
However, not every change is accepted with open arms. Google introduced one Web Environment Integrity (WEI) API., which allows servers to “evaluate the authenticity of the device” to prevent certain types of fraud. But it has drawn a lot of criticism, not only from users concerned about surveillance and discrimination, but also from various browser makers, including Brave, Firefox, and Vivaldi.
Chrome has made a lot of strides and most of them are positive. But as long as it continues to collect and monitor user data in such an ironclad manner, it will still be able to deal with controversy.