Google Chrome is testing a way to stop you from accidentally bailing on your page

What you need to know

• Google is testing a new back animation on Android that feels straight out of iOS.
• The back gesture shows you the previous page you came from, so you don’t slip out of a page by mistake.
• Some folks might see it already (spotted on Chrome 138), but it's still trickling out.

Google is working on a new swipe animation for Chrome on Android that feels a lot like iOS. It lets you swipe back and get a quick look at the last page, making it easier to avoid going back by accident.

Mishaal Rahman over at Android Authority has spotted Google Chrome's new back animation. It is showing up gradually, so not everyone will see it right away. That said, Rahman caught it running on a clean install of Chrome 138 (the latest stable version).

Swiping from the edge now brings up a preview of where you’re headed, sliding the next page partway in so you can decide if you actually want to go there.

The new back animation in Chrome looks a lot like what Safari does on iOS. Android’s own predictive back system also borrows a bit from the iPhone.

Wanna try it now?

If you’re curious to try the new Chrome animation early, you don’t have to wait. Just drop the flag URL below into the address bar and hit enter. Then, it’ll take you straight to the setting. Open the dropdown, switch it to “Enabled,” and tap “Relaunch” to turn it on.

chrome://flags/#back-forward-transitions

The feature behaves a bit differently if the previous screen wasn’t just another page in your browsing history. In other words, it adjusts based on where you came from.

Chrome’s back swipe doesn’t always show the same thing, as it depends on how you landed on the page. If you opened it from another app, you’ll catch a glimpse of that app as you swipe.

If it leads back to a new tab, you’ll just get a blank gray screen with the Chrome logo. But if the page came from a link in another tab, don’t expect a preview since it’ll just snap back without the animation.

Visual previews that actually help

Chrome’s new animation builds on Android’s predictive back gesture, which started evolving in Android 13. But Chrome pushes it further: holding a back swipe doesn’t just show a vague app switch anymore. You actually get a live preview of the last webpage, smoothly scaled and faded in.

While it’s a subtle touch, it could help cut down on annoying accidental exits from something important.