Slowly but surely, Google has been working towards bringing Chrome version 51 to the stable channel on Android, and as of today Google has just announced that the update to the Android app for Chrome has just been pushed out to the Play Store. This means that users should start to see the app update available on their devices, although this could still take some time to show up as app updates often do not show up immediately for everyone. Having said that, if you’ve been looking towards this most recent update to Chrome for Android, heading to the Play Store my apps section will let you know whether or not it’s available to you just yet.
With Chrome version 51 one of the more notable changes is the removal of something rather than the addition. As per the beta version of Chrome for Android 51 which saw the removal of merged tabs from the browser, Google has now removed merged tabs from Chrome 51 stable for Android as well post update. This of course, is not the only new change to the app to look forward to. Google notes that they have added “two barges full” of fixes to the app that should increase the overall performance and stability. This means that users should end up noticing a much smoother experience when browsing inside of the Chrome for Android app.
Specifically in relation to performance improvements, users should see a substantial improvement to battery life on their devices when they browse more often, and there have been improvements issued that make scrolling a better experience as well, meaning that scrolling should feel a lot more smooth and fluid than it did before. In addition to the changes already listed, Chrome 51 for Android also introduces the Credentials Management API which is really only aimed at developers and not end users. Nevertheless, it’s nice to see Google add this in as developers will surely take advantage of it. having said that, the API will enable developers to improve the login process for users, so in a roundabout way end users benefit from it too, just not directly. The update should be live in the Play Store, if not, it shouldn’t be too long before it surfaces.