Google has gradually been improving the tablet experience on Chrome OS over the last few months, adding Android 10 inspired gesture navigation back in January. In Chrome OS 81, which has now entered into the Beta channel, Google continues that trend with a redesigned UI for Chrome tabs.
As you can see in the screenshots above, this new UI is similar to that of Chrome for Android. All of the buttons are bigger, making them easier to select via touch, and the tab switcher has been hidden behind a button that displays the number of tabs open. If you want to dismiss a tab, open a new one, or switch between those already active, you’ll need to press that button first.
Sure, this adds an extra step to the process of managing your tabs, but the benefits to touch interaction far exceed that small sacrifice. Even on a screen as large as my Pixelbook, using the old design in tablet mode wasn’t easy — this bigger, easier to read design is a win in my book.
