Google Chrome for Android rolls out bottom address bar – 9to5Google
Following the announcement last month, Google Chrome is now widely rolling out the bottom address bar option on Android.
Once available, Chrome will show a “You can touch and hold to move the address bar to the bottom.” This opens a new menu to let you “Move address bar to the bottom,” while there’s now a convenient “Copy link” option. There’s also a new “Address bar” page at the top of the Chrome > Settings menu.
This moves the Omnibox above the gesture navigation bar for improved one-handed usage. The three-dot overflow menu is moved slightly down, but there’s no change to the order. It maintains muscle memory, but rearranging might have helped centralize common controls at the bottom. One upside, however, is how Share is pretty reachable.
A bottom address bar for Chrome on Android has been a long-time coming. It was considered around 2016 and almost launched before Google canceled the effort. Afterwards, the company tried various other designs like keeping the address bar at the top but having a toolbar at the bottom (like Safari on iOS). Ultimately, Google maintained the original look that has been around for ages with some visual modernizations over the years.
Today’s bottom address bar dates to Chrome for iOS getting the option in 2023.
Make sure you’re on version 138 of Chrome for Android. If you’re not seeing it yet, Force stop the browser from App info (you might have to do it twice).
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:
Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Google C…
Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com
