Earlier this week, Google quietly released an updated interface for Chrome on Android, which displays open tabs in a grid instead of stacked maps. In addition to this aesthetic change, however, the update also includes tab groups, one of the most flexible and powerful features for Chrome desktops. Here’s what tab groups can do and how you can enable or disable this new feature. First, the new layout on many devices, especially Pixels, is enabled by default. If you are using the latest version of Chrome, but still see your tabs as overlapping maps, you can go to chrome: // flags / # enable-tab-grid layout and enable it manually. Then, after Chrome is restarted (twice), the change should continue. Conversely, if you really like the old layout, you can do the opposite and deactivate the option manually.
Technically, the feature has been around since mid-last year, but it is only now that the groups have escaped the beta area and officially joined the mainstream feature set.
Links that open in the background are automatically grouped to keep your browser tidy
Once you have tabs in progress, you can test them by dragging any tabs together and dropping them to group them. Each group of tabs shows how many tabs are attached to it, and by tapping on it, the group is expanded to display the tabs, similar to app folders on the home screen.
However, even without dragging and dropping it manually, Chrome will automatically group tabs when you long-press a link and open in a new tab. This way, any pages you open in the background are immediately grouped according to the tab you are currently on. This is especially useful for things like comparing different products when shopping online.
If you see a tab in a group, Chrome also displays a collapsible ribbon at the bottom with an icon for each page in the group, so you can easily switch between different tabs in the same group. Again, ideal for comparing information from different tabs or diverse multitasking.
How tabs appear in the new Chrome layout for Android
In general, it is a fairly faithful implementation of the desktop function, but there are a number of important differences. With the desktop version, you can rename tab groups and assign one of eight colors to easily distinguish it. On the other hand, the mobile version does not have it, but you can immediately see how many tabs are in a group – something that the desktop does not show you.
Are you excited to see this new feature land on Android? Or will you stick to the older layout?