Google is now moving the search bar on its Chrome browser to the bottom of the screen. This appears to be optional for now.
The change is no doubt linked to Apple’s change in its own Safari browser. It moved the search bar lower in a previous update, which caused initial surprise. The Verge says:
Google’s Chrome browser on iOS is officially getting the option to move the address bar from the top of the screen to the bottom, the search giant has announced. Early signs of the feature were spotted in a beta version of the browser this year, but as of this week, it’s getting a wide release. Without having to update my browser, I already have access to the feature on my phone.
It’s an optional change, and judging by my own Chrome app, the default is still the top-oriented address bar. But if you want to move it down to the bottom, you can do so using the “address bar” option in the Settings menu or by long-pressing on the bar itself and tapping “move address bar to bottom.”
The development of Google Chrome on the iPhone is starting to diverge from that on Google’s own Android. 9 to 5 Google continues:
Chrome already has a split bar design on the iPhone. The URL appears at the top, while a toolbar at the bottom is home to back/forward, New Tab (which you can long-press for various search options (Lens, Incognito, and voice), the Tab Switcher, and a three-dot menu. (That overflow menu opens as a full bottom sheet, while the Tab Grid is also rather different compared to Android.)
In moving the address bar to the bottom, it gets combined with the toolbar, just like post-iOS 15 Safari. While there’s no UI at the top of the screen, you can still pull to refresh.
Google adapting its services to the iPhone is what makes both companies so popular. Google’s cross platform support is what gives it an edge against Apple in this sector, which locks its users into its hardware.
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