The Chrome browser on Android is the most generally used browser and which comes with pre-loaded on stock Android phones and also because it’s a great browser. It packs in some awesome features but if you know Google, you’d know that they are always working on new features. Additionally, the company tests the new Chrome features through the Chrome beta app and Chrome Canary app. Chrome also includes a Chrome Flags page that features experimental features that you can attempt.
[ad type=”banner”]Before we discuss about some cool Chrome Flags on Android, it’s important to know that you can access the Chrome Flags page in Android by entering “chrome://flags” in the address bar of Chrome Android. Additionally, you can search for flags by hitting the three-dot menu button and using the option “Find in page“.
Note:
Chrome Flags’ options are experimental features that Google is testing for Chrome. So, they may make it to the stable Chrome build when they’re ready.
1.Content Snippets
With the new Chrome updates, Google removed the “Bookmarks” and “Recent tabs” buttons that you’d before find in the new tab. Instead, you now get cards or snippets of different articles. If you are not an admirer of the snippets feature, you can disable it through Chrome Flags. You can search for the “content snippets” flag and disable it. When you are done, tap on “Relaunch Now”. Then, open a new tab in Chrome and you will discover the Bookmarks and Recent Tabs buttons available at the bottom.
Content Snippets
2.Chrome Home
If you own a large Android smartphone also known as the “phablets” or a tablet, you’d realize that getting the address bar at the top in Chrome can be hard to access. Recently, Google introduced a “Chrome Home” flag, which brings the address bar also known as the omnibox to the bottom. You can just go to the Chrome Flags page and search for the Chrome Home Android flag and enable it. Then, relaunch Chrome and you will find the address bar along with the menu button at the bottom.
Chrome Home
Note:
Now this Chrome flag is only available on the beta and canary versions of Chrome.
3.Scroll Anchoring
When you open long pages in Chrome, you should have noted annoying page jumps, resulting in wrong taps. It also happens when you are shuffling across different tabs. You can fix that with the “Scroll Anchoring” flag. The option adjusts scroll position to ensure there are no text reflows. You can search for the flag in the Chrome Flags page and enable it. While this should fix page jumps, your mileage may vary, according to Chrome developers.
Scroll Anchoring
4.Switch to Existing Tab
If you open a number of tabs in Chrome and you sometimes forget the pages that are previously open. Wouldn’t it be great if you open the same webpage twice, Chrome would automatically move you to the tab where it’s already open? Gratefully, there’s a Chrome flag named “Switch to an existing tab for New Tab Page suggestions”, which does exactly that. Here, you can select from the options “Match by URL” or “Match by Hostname“.
Switch to Existing Tab
5.Reader Mode
Reader Mode has been part of the Chrome Flags page in Android. You can just find the “Reader Mode Triggering” flag and then select from one of its options.
6.Smooth Scrolling
There are times when we load up extensive webpages on our Android smartphones only to experience a lot of lag while scrolling. While this may not be a problem on high-end smartphones, it’s indeed a problem on many Android devices. As you should have guessed, the “Smooth Scrolling” flag should make scrolling in webpages better when enabled. This not only improves scrolling but also incorporates a unified transition to hide any delays.
Smooth Scrolling
7.Offline Bookmarks
If you regularly travel to remote locations where there’s irregular or no internet connection, you may need to access some webpages offline. You can access your bookmarks offline by enabling the “Offline Bookmarks” flag. After you’ve enabled it, Chrome will save the webpages in bookmarks for offline usage.
Offline Bookmarks
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