Chrome’s tab strip on Android tablets is ridiculous and it needs to borrow from ChromeOS

Tablets – as a general tech item – are here to stay. While the iPad still rules the day, Android tablets have carved out a niche thanks primarily to their versatility and usually lower prices. With the release of the Pixel Tablet, I really tried to give Android tablets a real try again, but I was not only put off by the app incompatibility issues; I was truly annoyed by the Chrome browser’s persistent, screen-real-estate-stealing tab strip that is unavoidable on large-screen Android devices like the Pixel Tablet and the Pixel Fold.

An issue with a clear solution

If you’ve ever used Chrome on an Android tablet, you may have noticed the large and frankly ridiculous tab strip that takes up a significant portion of the screen. This tab strip displays all open tabs and tries to give users a desktop feel while adding very little to the tablet-based browsing experience. While this tab strip layout is fantastic on larger-screen desktops, it makes no sense on a tablet where screen real estate is far more precious.

Chromebook tablets get this right

On the other hand, Chromebooks, offer a far better and far more elegant solution for managing tabs. Obviously, in clamshell/desktop mode, you get the standard tab strip layout. But when in tablet mode, that permanent tab strip is replaced by a hidden tab view that can be shown with a simple, convenient toggle button. And I’d even argue that the tab preview boxes you see on a Chromebook in tablet mode are even better for multitasking than the standard tabs we see on the desktop.

Seeing the difference in the two and experiencing it first-hand, I cannot understand for even a moment why this hasn’t been addressed on Chrome for Android tablets. And it’s the same on iPad, too, by the way, making Chrome far less engaging and immersive when being used on a tablet at this point.

I can’t imagine a scenario where anyone would opt for the tab strips on tablets the way they currently are, but even if they did, Google could simply make a toggle for mobile/desktop style tab strips for those that aren’t on the same page as me, right? While I don’t imagine that group is very large, I do appreciate that some users really – really – love those tabs. For everyone else, however, I think it’s far past time to ditch the desktop tabs on mobile devices and make the mobile version of Chrome a far better experience for the masses.