It’s not often that a Google Chrome feature is available exclusively for an iPhone. Yet now it is, and for good reason.
Chrome is developed by Google, which is also responsible for Android. This company’s main competitor is Apple, so it seems strange that a new feature of the browser is only available to iPhone users. Still, this is less strange than it seems at first glance.
An exclusive Google Chrome feature for the iPhone
The default browser for many iPhone users is Safari, which was developed by Apple itself and therefore works seamlessly with the device. However, there is also a Chrome app available for iOS, so you can use this browser just fine as well. This is convenient because it allows you to use the same profile as you would on, say, a PC.
Still, there are significant differences between Google Chrome and Safari, such as appearance. In iOS 15, Apple moved the URL bar to the bottom of the iPhone screen instead of the top. Many users did not like this and immediately moved the URL bar back to the top. Still, there is a group of users who did appreciate the change.
To win over this group and make the switch less problematic, Google Chrome has now introduced a special feature available only to iPhone users. They can now choose whether they want the URL bar in Chrome to be traditionally at the top or, like Safari, at the bottom.
Here’s how to activate the feature in iOS
Currently, the new Google Chrome feature for iPhone is in the testing phase. For this, you need access to the beta versions of Chrome. To gain access, you need TestFlight, which can be found here.
Once you’ve done that? Then you need to enter chrome://flags in the browser on your iPhone. There you search for bottom-omnibox-steady-state and activate it. Then you can find the feature in Chrome’s Settings app. It remains to be seen when Google will bring this feature to the final iOS version. For Android users, this feature will not be available.