Back when Google announced their new Material Design initiative that would be hitting not just the new version of Android, but also their core apps, we were all pretty blown away. We knew something was coming, but we didn’t know it was going to be such a change to how our apps and services look on our devices. The Google+ app got updated with Material design cues earlier on this year, and now Google is updating one of their arguably most important Android apps to Material Design. Those of you that have been running the Beta version of Chrome on Android have been able to enjoy this for quite some time, but for a lot of you out there, this is a pretty big update and boy, is it pretty.
The update itself brings Chrome on Android up to version 37, much like its Windows and Chromebook cousins also on the Stable channel. It’s rolling out right now, but there’s a good chance it hasn’t hit you yet – it hadn’t got to my Nexus 5 yet – but we have an apk for you to download and just update your existing Chrome installation here. You’ll notice a number of new changes to how Chrome looks and feels with this new update. It does bring Material design to our handsets and while it’s not the same as running Android L itself, but it certainly has the same sort of animations and transtions. Everything looks a little “fresher”, the Google homepage on mobile is also where you need to tap in a URL and it feels like space is used better when entering search terms or URLs.
The menus have changed a little bit and the tab cards have changed as well. Everything is a little brighter and more colorful, too with a skew to a more dark blue and white color scheme. It’s best to just to download and experience it yourself by clicking the download link yourself. In the meantime though, take a look at the screenshots below to see what it’s like.
