What you need to know
- Google is adding a number of new productivity-focused features to Chrome.
- The new features include tab groups, tab previews, and new touch-friendly tabs for tablets and Chromebooks.
- Google also says Chrome tabs will now load up to 10 percent faster thanks to some under-the-hood performance improvements.
Google today announced a slew of new features that make the world's most popular web browser even better. The new features are aimed at helping users organize tabs more easily in Chrome and be more productive.
With Chrome tab groups, you can now easily organize your tabs by grouping them together. You can label different tab groups with a name and color of your choice. Once the tabs are grouped together, you will be able to move or reorder them on the tab strip. The feature was rolled out in Chrome Beta in May this year.
Chrome users on Android will now see a suggestion to switch to a tab that they already have open when typing a page title into the address bar. This feature isn't exactly all-new, however. It is already available in Chrome on Mac and Windows. Android users can now share URLs more easily too. Not only can you copy a link and send it to Chrome on other devices, but you can now also print a page or generate a QR code to scan or download. The QR code feature will be available on desktop as well and can be accessed from the new QR icon in the address bar.
Finding a tab is now going to be easier as well, thanks to tab previews. The feature, which will be available in the upcoming Chrome beta release, will let you hover over a tab to view a thumbnail preview of the web page. Google is also introducing a new touch-optimized interface for Chromebooks and tablets, with tabs that are larger in size and easier to organize. The new interface will be available on Chromebooks first.
The latest Chrome release also brings improvements to the browser's PDF functionality. You can now fill out PDF forms and save them directly from Chrome. Along with the new features, Google has managed to further improve performance in Chrome and claims tabs will now open up to 10 percent faster.
