AppleInsider Staff
With a Tuesday update to its Chrome browser for iOS, Google expanded its new "material design" aesthetic to yet another iOS title, while baking in Handoff support for quick platform switching between iOS and Mac.
Chrome version 40.0.2214.61 is the latest Google app to feature so-called material design, a user interface aesthetic derived from Android that blends shadows, clean lines and bold colors. Google first introduced the UI to iOS last month with its flagship Google search app.
Looks aside, Chrome is one of the first iOS browsers to build in compatibility with Apple's latest Handoff technology, which lets users seamlessly transition their browsing between devices, including a nearby Mac. Google says the app will handoff from Chrome to a user's default browser, though in our tests the app seems to prefer Chrome for Mac.
In addition to funcitonal enhancements, the latest Chrome for iOS brings optimizations for iOS 8 and visual assets to support larger handsets like the iPhone 6 Plus.
Finally, Google notes generic bug fixes and performance improvements were conducted as part of the usual update process.
Google's Chrome Web browser for iOS comes in at 58MB and is free to download from the iOS App Store.
Wesley Hilliard
Marko Zivkovic
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
Christine McKee
Andrew O'Hara
57 Comments
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...
Looks nice. Safari seems to be an increasing resource hog recently on my setup, so I've been using Chrome a lot more, and it does the job nicely. Shame about the Flash.
Flash is trash.
Material Design is not a good look. When you rip off Microsoft and Apple it just leaves a nasty mess.
Google Hand Off ... you get a copy, we get a copy .... :D
[quote name="Crowley" url="/t/184394/google-updates-chrome-web-browser-for-ios-with-os-x-handoff-support-material-design#post_2663834"]Looks nice. Safari seems to be an increasing resource hog recently on my setup, so I've been using Chrome a lot more, and it does the job nicely. Shame about the Flash. [/quote] Can you give some specifics on that? With ClicktoFlash and Adblock on, monitoring Safari in Activity monitor doesn't show Safari as a resource hog for me, far from it. You say 'on your set up', is there something out of the ordinary? I am on Safari 8.03.