Google Chrome 63 For Android Goes Live With UI Updates And Redesigned Flags Page
Google has a new version of its Chrome web browser for mobile devices, Chrome 63, and it is making it available first for Android users. It is a bit of an unusual move, as typically Google updates its Chrome browser for both Android and iOS at the same time. For this round, however, Chrome 63 for Android is releasing before it ends up on iOS, bringing with it a new site permissions dialog and some other changes.
In the past, permissions would appear on a dialog box that slides up from the bottom, and would often be ignored. But with the update to Chrome 63, permissions appear as a pop-up dialog box in the center of screen. According to Google, users would either ignore or dismiss prompts around nine times out of 10 with the old method, while the new method is five times more effective in getting the user's attention.
Google also made changes to the new Chrome Home UI that has been under development. Like in Chrome 62, the Chrome Home UI is not enabled by default in Chrome 63, though it could see an official release with Chrome 64. Part of the change that Chrome Home UI brings to the table is the use of rounded elements, such as for the address bar and other parts of the browser.
Another change with Chrome 63 is a redesign of the chrome://flags page. This allows users to enable experimental features, and now comes with a search feature, tabs to separate available and unavailable experiments, and bigger touch targets. Some of the options have been merged as well, seemingly in preparation for the launch of the Chrome Home UI, which could be out as soon as Chrome 64.
In the past, permissions would appear on a dialog box that slides up from the bottom, and would often be ignored. But with the update to Chrome 63, permissions appear as a pop-up dialog box in the center of screen. According to Google, users would either ignore or dismiss prompts around nine times out of 10 with the old method, while the new method is five times more effective in getting the user's attention.
Google also made changes to the new Chrome Home UI that has been under development. Like in Chrome 62, the Chrome Home UI is not enabled by default in Chrome 63, though it could see an official release with Chrome 64. Part of the change that Chrome Home UI brings to the table is the use of rounded elements, such as for the address bar and other parts of the browser.
Another change with Chrome 63 is a redesign of the chrome://flags page. This allows users to enable experimental features, and now comes with a search feature, tabs to separate available and unavailable experiments, and bigger touch targets. Some of the options have been merged as well, seemingly in preparation for the launch of the Chrome Home UI, which could be out as soon as Chrome 64.
