Using your phone one-handed these days can be a challenge, what with the ever-increasing size of our handsets’ screens.
Even if you’re using a 5-inch handset, one-handed operation can be a bit troublesome, which is probably why Google is testing out a new version of its Chrome browser for Android.
As spotted by AndroidPolice, a new ‘flag’ in the Dev and Canary version of Chrome, which lets users preview possible upcoming features before they’re released, makes a small but potentially extremely helpful design change.
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Specifically, the tweak, called ‘Chrome Home’ simply moves the address bar and navigation buttons to the bottom of the screen.
It’s a lot like Windows 10 Mobile’s Edge browser, but is obviously an unfinished version of whatever Google’s planning, as the space where the address bar usually sits at the top of the screen is currently blank in the test version.
Users can enable the new design in Chrome Dev and Canary by pasting ‘chrome://flags/#enable-chrome-home’ into the browser, tapping the highlighted select menu, tapping Enabled, and restarting the browser.
It’s unclear whether Google will roll this out for the full version of Chrome any time soon, but it certainly looks like some work is going into making the browser easier to use.
It would make sense for the company to follow through with the redesign, as, while Safari on iOS has an address bar at the top of the screen, Apple’s mobile browser keeps many of the navigation buttons at the bottom of the display – making it easier to use with one hand.
The fact that the feature is currently called ‘Chrome Home’ is also intriguing, as it seems like too grand a name for simply moving the address bar to the bottom of the screen.
It could be that Google has further plans when it comes to the Chrome on Android redesign, then, but for now, we’ll have to make do with this welcome design change in test form.
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Let us know if you’d like to see the design change come to the full version of Chrome on Android in the comments.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
