It took Google far longer than it ought to have, but the companyhas finally made it possibleto relocateChrome’saddress bar to the bottom of the screen on Android. When enabled, this tweak shifts not only the search bar itself, but also the home page shortcut, the new tab button, the open tabs button, and the ellipsis (three-dot) menu button.
The reason why this bottom-justified interface is such a useful addition comes down to practicality. It’s simply easier to interact with content placed near the bottom of a smartphone display, as it’s within the portion of the screen that can be swiped and tapped at without the need to perform finger gymnastics.
Chrome’s existing top-justified UIis a relic of a long-gone era in mobile computing.
Chrome’s existing top-justified UI is a relic of a long-gone era in mobile computing, back whenthe original iPhone’s3.5-inch display panel was considered comically oversized by consumers and industry analysts alike. In the years since, Apple has relocated Safari’s address bar to the bottom of the iPhone’s screen, and even Microsoft jumped on the bottom bandwagon, going as far back as Internet Explorer Mobile 9 running onWindows Phone7.
Google has actually supported the now-ubiquitous bottom address bar placement on theiOS version of Chrome since 2023, making its fashionably late entrance to the Android party a head-scratching decision to say the least.
Google Chrome
Love it or hate it, Google Chrome is the biggest web browser in the world. The app features personalized news articles, quick links to your favourite sites, downloads, Google Search and more.
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How to move Chrome’s address bar placement
Thankfully, you don’t have to dig through any settings to reposition the address bar
Toswitch Chrome’s address barto the bottom of your screen, follow these steps:
To revert to the default top-of-screen address bar placement, simply long press on the bar and tap onMove address bar to the top.
I wouldn’t be surprised if, at some point, Google altered Chrome’s address bar position to be at the bottom of the interface by default. It’s an objectively superior placement that enhances accessibility on mobile, without introducing any inherent downsides or compromises in the process. It’s surprising that it’s taken the company this long to bring the feature to its own home-grown operating system, but, as they say, better late than never.
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