Chrome for Android prepares for the new Google Pixel Tablet with a new look and features

You’ve likely heard whispers of a new Google-branded tablet device that has nothing to do with the Pixel Slate or ChromeOS. At the 2022 Google Hardware event, the company revealed the Pixel Tablet which will double as the next Nest Hub but with one unique selling point – it’s detachable from the base speaker and charging dock.

Even before its announcement, Google has been hard at work revamping the Android tablet experience and app developers have been walking alongside them to provide better experiences for anyone interested in larger screen use. In light of that, a new Chrome for Android app update was shown off today via The Keyword and details a new look and feel as well as several new features for Chrome on tablets. These updates are specifically being developed in preparation for the Pixel Tablet, but all tablet users will, of course, benefit from them.

First off, this awesome, new tab grid overlay will show you all of your open browser tabs and it takes full advantage of the available space. On top of that, the same tab groups system you’ve used on your phone and on your Chromebook is now coming to your tablet. This means that you can keep everything organized and even color-coded if you’re as crazy as I am with it all.

A side-by-side split view within the same Chrome app will show you the active tab as well as your other tabs to make quickly switching between them easier. Also, to keep you from accidentally closing tabs, the close button will finally be hidden if you have too many tabs crowded together. These tabs get much smaller as you add more, and you’ve probably tried to tap the one to the far right before destroying it, right? Yeah, me too. It’s one of those annoying small quality-of-life things that I’m glad Google is addressing.

Lastly, by snapping Chrome to either the left or right side of the tablet display, you will now be able to drag and drop content into other apps without having to manually save and import it! In this way, Chrome for Android will now act more like the desktop version of the browser, and that’s quite honestly my favorite part of this announcement.

Speaking of desktop, it will also be much easier to request desktop mode on any site and to tell Chrome to default to that mode for that site from then on. In the past, this was only available on the actual desktop version, but now it’s coming to mobile.