Google Chrome for Android is now updating to version 61 on the stable channel and, unlike the new desktop variant bearing the same version number, it is bringing quite a few major user interface changes. Those include changes to the way links and images are interacted with, new translation tools, new Android system API integrations, and overflow menu adjustments. Furthermore, some users will be seeing the input or URL bar and menu migrating to what should be a more comfortable position with this update. The update was announced via Google’s official blog on Tuesday and will be rolling out over “the next few weeks.” It bears mention, as with all updates of this type, that it could take until the end of that period before users see the new software hit all of their devices. Refer to the Google Play Store link below to see if Chrome 61 is already available for your smartphone or tablet.
Looking past the more immediately noticeable visual changes, several things have been optimized behind the scenes with the new version of Chrome. That, of course, includes general optimizations and bug fixes, but also better overall integration with system-level operations. For example, websites will soon be able to call up the native Android sharing dialog with the updates, so that content from the website itself can be shared through installed applications, rather than depending on buttons placed in a given website. Beyond that, videos from sites with native controls enabled will automatically scale up to a full-screen view when the user rotates the device to trigger its landscape mode. Custom tabs will launch with web applications and sites will automatically leave the full-screen view to allow users to interact with JavaScript dialog on new sites. Translate tools will also pop up automatically upon visiting a site that isn’t presented in the user’s native language, making it easier than ever to access more content. Better still, the tool is relatively easy to use, featuring tabs and preference options.
Meanwhile, the visual changes are somewhat more dramatic. For starters, some users have indicated that the navigation menu and associated tools have moved to a more readily accessible bottom orientation following the new update. That puts everything right near where the user’s thumbs already want to go, eliminating the need to uncomfortably stretch to the top of the larger screens Android users have available to them. Finally, a long-press to access the context menu for images or links will bring up a newly designed interface for sharing or interacting with that content. Images and links will now have their own tabs in the menu, showing as a more compact, material-inspired box, instead of a single long list of possible actions. Moreover, the image tab will now show a preview image, as well as the web URL of the thereof.
