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You may recall that not long ago that Google teased a not-so-subtle “super secret” design refresh for its Chrome browser user interface. At the time, we had no visuals on what it would look like, but the developer documentation did allude to it being a redesign for the radius of components like buttons and text fields.
In layman’s terms, that means more rounded corners – a trend that’s very popular right now, especially with the rise of Google’s very own Material You design language, which employs it a lot. After several months of silence, we now have our first look at the self-proclaimed “super secret” refresh for 2023 thanks to Leopeva64 on Twitter!
Chrome Refresh 2023
Refresh of Chrome Desktop UI – Mac, Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, Fuchsia, Lacros
#chrome-refresh-2023
As you can see in the provided screenshots, Leopeva64, who enabled the flag seen here and was met with rounded buttons, text boxes, and more. Quite honestly, it looks as I expected Chrome to look some time ago when the rounded edges trend first kicked off. To be fair, Chrome has had rounded corners for quite some time, but with a smaller radius. By setting the radius at 100% for the edges of buttons, boxes, and so on, we see a completely pill-shaped approach that’s reminiscent of Google’s web services.
Additionally, the info and permissions box found at the top-left of the browser’s Omnibox or “address bar” will also feature a rounded “Reset permissions” button and toggles. These all look fantastic, in my opinion. One thing I hadn’t expected but came as a nice surprise is that pretty soon, highlighted text in fields will also be rounded off, matching the box said text resides in, making things more consistent.
I’m happy to finally see Chrome catch up with the times, and I believe that once the 2023 refresh is complete, it will actually be ahead of its competitors with its modernized design both in the browser and its web apps. Let me know in the comments if you’re excited about this or think anything ought to change before it releases to everyone.
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