When Google first introduced Chrome on Android, it took some time for it to catch up to the Desktop version of the web browser. Running the same engine however, it didn’t take long for the two versions to end up feeling quite similar in use, and on tablets – such as the Pixel C – you could end up thinking you’re using a Chromebook. The Beta version of Google Chrome arrived not too long after it launched on Android, but the Dev channel took a little longer to make the jump over to Android. In the latest version of Chrome Dev for Android, that’s version 50, there are some changes to how download notifications work.
We previously covered this change as an Android N feature, which appears to apply to more than just Chrome, but for those that aren’t running Android N, however it appears the feature is being baked into future versions of Google Chrome. Right now, that means that the Chrome Dev version – which appears to be running just fine on both Lollipop and Marshmallow – available from the Play Store has a little something new in it. When downloading something in this new version of Chrome, users are now given the option to pause or cancel a download there and then from the notification pulldown. This only applies when using Chrome Dev to download things, which means that users will have to long-press an item and download it from within Chrome itself. Otherwise, simply tapping a download link will invoke Android’s included Download app, which is only getting these changes in Android N.
As with the change in Android N, this is a small and insignificant tweak to a lot of users, but there will be people out there that enjoy these sort of changes. Besides, it can be easier than you think to accidentally click something or have a rogue page download something, so being able to quickly kill a download is a feature well worth having. For those that haven’t tried out Chrome Dev before and are eager to try out the new feature can do so by downloading the app from the Play Store. However, it’s important to remember that the Dev channel of Google Chrome is even more unstable than the Beta channel and there’s a high possibility things might not work as you expect.