Chrome for Android’s redesigned widgets are rolling out in beta

They look just like those on iOS

For a long time, Google let widgets for its apps languish, but ever since Apple introduced the concept to iOS, Google suddenly rediscovered the homescreen-decorating elements. It has redesigned the majority of its apps’ widgets for Android 12 already, and now, the latest application to follow suit is Google Chrome.

The new widgets are only available in the current beta release, Chrome 95. They have rolled out for some people already, but if you can’t see them yet in your homescreen’s widget picker, be sure to activate the following two flags:

Once enabled, you’ll notice three new widgets in the widget picker. There’s a new 5×1 search shortcuts widgets with quick access to Google search, incognito browsing, voice search, and Google Lens. You’ll also find a 5×2 widget with the same shortcuts in a different, more spacious arrangement plus an extra option to start Chrome’s beloved dino game. It looks like some of the shortcuts are omitted depending on your screen size, though, with no way to change their order. The last widget in line is a 2×2 shortcut to start the dino game, which redirects you to chrome://dino. None of the new widgets are resizable right now, and the old bookmarks and search widgets remain unchanged.

We’ve previously spotted Google working on these widgets when they were barely functional in Chrome Canary 93. The bigger 5×2 widget consisted of nonfunctional placeholders for shortcuts and a search bar. Interestingly, the new widgets look like they were copied right from their iOS counterparts, where Chrome has offered a similar look and feel for a long time already.

Given that the widgets feel as good as finished at this point, we wouldn’t be surprised if they went live for everyone once Chrome 95 hits the stable channel. (And in fact, the flags are already in place in the current stable release, but nonfunctional for now). In the meantime, you can play with the widgets when you install the current beta, available on the Play Store or over at APK Mirror.

Thanks: Prajjwal

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