I love how ChromeOS 119 expands Material You colors for the Chrome browser

With ChromeOS 119 just rolling out in the past few days, I knew there would be small differences here and there that I’d pick up on, and one that is making a big color splash is the way Material You color themes are handled in the Chrome browser.

Sure, we already talked about the Material You overhaul for Chrome in ChromeOS 119, but I was more focused on the new menus, new fonts, and the updated tab strip in that post. Those changes alone modernize your browsing experience for sure, but what I noticed today is the change to the way browser window color customizations are handled.

While you’ve been able to customize your browser using the side panel via the “Customize Chrome” button on the New Tab Page for quite some time, those changes weren’t synced with the ones applied from the wallpaper picker. I appreciate being able to customize Chrome’s look and feel, but I also just want it to fall in line with the color theme that perfectly matches my wallpaper – thanks to Material You.

And that’s exactly what ChromeOS 119 delivers! It’s far more noticeable in dark mode since the New Tab Page background and the color surrounding the bookmarks, URL bar and menus all change to match the theme when you switch it on. In light mode, those parts all stay gray, so only the top bar changes color. But as you can see from the screenshots below, it’s a pretty striking difference when in dark mode.

I also love that this change follows you through your web browsing since the colors of your tabs (active and inactive) are affected by this along with all the other bits and pieces that surround the URL bar and your bookmarks. It’s one of those updates that I really love and it make ChromeOS feel so much more cohesive and personal versus the blacks and grays that used to dominate the UI. I’m sure there’s more to come with Chromebook personalization over time, but I really love where we’re at right now.