Chrome for Android is one of the most feature-packed browsers in the Play Store, and the update to version 58, currently rolling out, brings even more features. For starters, Progressive Web Apps have a wider array of possible features thanks to an expanded set of possible system calls, have mostly unrestricted media playback source rights, and can now go full screen, hiding Android’s status bar and navigation bar. There have been some tweaks to how viewing history is handled, the most notable of which is that it’s now its own separate view. The autofill view has been revamped as well, and now includes payment information that’s been saved.
Chrome 58’s official rollout on the Play Store builds on the beta in a number of ways. The new permissions for Progressive Web Apps bring them closer to native apps, a goal that Google themselves have expressed in the past. Progressive Web Apps can not only take up the whole screen, but can use most system-level controls, and can fetch media and assets from any verifiably safe address in their manifest. The autofill view is now renamed to autofill and payments. In the view, users can turn autoview on and off, and can view or edit saved information by tapping on either “Autofill” or “Credit Cards”. The new history view is an extensive rework, to say the least. There’s now a dedicated search icon at the top right, history is viewed in full screen mode, the “Clear Browsing Data” button has been moved up top, and the button to clear an individual address from history has gone from an x to a trash can.
Chrome 57 laid the foundations for these changes, mostly in the form of starting to fully integrate Progressive Web Apps into system-level stacks. While Progressive Web Apps still have a long way to go before they can come anywhere near native apps in sheer functionality and expandability, the fact that they’re far easier to create and run makes them very appealing to web companies and developers alike. Chrome 58 is currently rolling out worldwide in the Play Store, so if you don’t have the update quite yet, give it a few weeks. Uninstalling and reinstalling the app could also do the trick.
