Google has launched a mobile version of its Chrome browser, initially available on newer Android smartphones.
The browser currently works on smartphones fitted with Ice Cream Sandwich, and can be downloaded for free on the Android Market.
The new Chrome app is ‘focused on speed and simplicity’ and features many of the same features as the desktop version.
“Today, we’re introducing Chrome for Android Beta, which brings many of the things you’ve come to love about Chrome to your Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich phone or tablet,” Chrome and Apps Senior Vice President Sundar Pichai wrote on the Google blog.
“Like the desktop version, Chrome for Android Beta is focused on speed and simplicity, but it also features seamless sign in and sync so you can take your personalised web browsing experience with you wherever you go, across devices.”
The new mobile Chrome features ‘reimagined tabs’ designed specifically to fit on a mobile browser, and makes use of gesture-based controls to move across tabs.
“You can flip or swipe between an unlimited number of tabs using intuitive gestures, as if you’re holding a deck of cards in the palm of your hands, each one a new window to the web,” Pichai said.
Users can also sync their mobile and desktop bookmarks, making it easy to access sites across different devices. Syncing also extends to autocomplete suggestions – for example, a site visited or searched regularly at home will also appear as an autocomplete suggestion on the mobile browser.
This, according to Pichai, allows users to ‘bring your personalised Chrome experience with you’.
“When searching, your top search results are loaded in the background as you type so pages appear instantly,” he said. “And of course, both search and navigation can all be done quickly from the Chrome omnibox.”
View a video introducing the new browser below:
