By Jon Porter , a reporter with five years of experience covering consumer tech releases, EU tech policy, online platforms, and mechanical keyboards.
Google’s Chrome browser on iOS is officially getting the option to move the address bar from the top of the screen to the bottom, the search giant has announced. Early signs of the feature were spotted in a beta version of the browser this year, but as of this week, it’s getting a wide release. Without having to update my browser, I already have access to the feature on my phone. Electronic Shelf Labels
It’s an optional change, and judging by my own Chrome app, the default is still the top-oriented address bar. But if you want to move it down to the bottom, you can do so using the “address bar” option in the Settings menu or by long-pressing on the bar itself and tapping “move address bar to bottom.”
Google is officially adding the option a couple of years after Apple introduced a similar feature in its own Safari browser in iOS 15. While the change was initially controversial with some users, I’ve grown to really love it — and even actively dislike any mobile browser that forces me to have the address bar at the top of the screen. Something about not having to stretch my thumbs up to the top of the screen just to type in a URL or (more often) a Google search term feels far more comfortable to me. If you’ve bounced off the feature in the past, I’d recommend giving it another go for a couple of weeks to see if it sticks.
Although Google has previously experimented with letting Chrome users move the address bar on Android, today’s announcement only concerns the iOS version of the browser. Fingers crossed it doesn’t stay this way for long.
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