Google Chrome killer new design is almost here, latest update hints
GOOGLE CHROME is working on a dramatic new design for its Android web browser, and now the US search firm has enabled the controversial new-look by default.
The drastic new redesign to Google Chrome could be coming to your device very soon
Google is planning a drastic redesign of its hugely-popular Chrome browser on Android.
Dubbed Chrome Home, the somewhat controversial new design brings the address bar and other navigation UI to the bottom of the screen.
Google has also introduced a new arrow symbol in the bottom left hand-side that summons suggested sites and stories from around the web Google thinks you'd be interested in.
The Chrome main settings menu, denoted by three dots, is also relocated to the bottom of the screen under the new design.
Weirdly, the progress bar – which denotes when the webpage has finished loading – remains at the top of the screen.
As Google moves forward with the new design, it has now enabled the new look by default in its Chrome Dev app.
Chrome Home brings the main user interface elements to the bottom of the display
Those using the normal, stable version of Google Chrome won’t notice anything out-of-place for now, but this is a sure-fire sign that Google intends to make this the new default at some point or another.
Chrome Home takes some getting used to.
But it does make a certain amount of sense to have the menus at the bottom of the display, where your fingertips naturally rest when using a smartphone.
Google has purportedly been working on this redesign under its roof for some time.
Anyone can test-out the new look before it rolls-out as an update to the Google Chrome app on Android.
Chrome Home can enabled in your Google Chrome app on Android
To get access to all the upcoming features, open the browser and type the following into the URL navigation bar – chrome://flags/#enable-chrome-home
Hit enter, and then toggle the menu option for Chrome Home to Enabled.
The app will prompt you to relaunch – and then you're done.
If you want to send the address to the top of the display again, simply repeat the steps but toggle the above options to Disabled.
The news comes as Google published a research blog that detailed the company's plans to automatically update Maps with information gathered from its Street View system.
Street names, house numbers and businesses clearly visible in the imagery gathered by Street View will now be incorporated into Google Maps, the research blog has revealed.
The new method of information gathering comes courtesy of Google's Ground Truth team.
The team writes: "While Street View cars collect millions of images daily, it is impossible to manually analyse more than 80 billion high resolution images collected to date in order to find new, or updated, information for Google Maps.
"One of the goals of the Google’s Ground Truth team is to enable the automatic extraction of information from our geo-located imagery to improve Google Maps."