Updated Chrome For iOS App Gets Material Design, Support For Handoff

Google’s mobile web browser, Chrome for iOS, is the latest Google application to receive the new “Material Design” look with a new release of the app for iPhone and iPad users out today. Google’s new design motif, introduced with the latest version of Android, is meant to give Google’s mobile platform and services a universal look-and-feel, regardless of which device you’re using.

The design involves a lot of solid flat colors, shadows and other things that suggest depth, as well as lots of animation. There’s an emphasis on bold and bright colors, and interactions that are meant to suggest real-world physics.

To date, Google has rolled out “Material Design”-related updates to a number of its mobile properties, including its Maps app, Search app, and YouTube app, to name a few.

The Material Design update for the Chrome browser was already live on Android, but now its arrival on iOS will be a notable change for Apple device owners.

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Says Google, the new look brings “bold graphics, fluid motion, and tactile surfaces,” to the app. In the new version, Chrome’s tabs are laid out overtop a black background, and the top of the screen features a “+” plus button for launching a new tab on the top left, and a tab switcher and menu on the top right. At the bottom, you can tap to view your favorites or your history via buttons below the Google search box and the thumbnails of your most visited websites, similar to what you’d see on Chrome on the desktop.

In addition, the app update includes a couple of other improvements, like iOS 8 optimizations and support for bigger phones.

However, one of the more useful new additions may be support for “handoff,” the feature which allows you to start a session on an iOS 8 device then switch over to OS X Yosemite to continue.

The app update is rolling out now to iOS users on the App Store.