Although Safari is one of the most preferred browser choices for a lot of people, some prefer the flexibility that some of its other alternatives, such as Chrome, have to offer. If you happen to fall under this category and use Chrome as your preferred browser, here are some of the best tips and tricks for Chrome on iOS to get the most out of your browsing experience.
1. Open New Tab, Reload, or Close Current Tab
One of the coolest tricks with Chrome is the ability to open a new tab, reload a tab, and close the current tab, all with the help of a single gesture. With a tab open, swipe down from the top and to the ‘+’ icon (on the left) to open a new tab, to the reload icon (in the middle) to reload the tab, and to the ‘x’ icon (on the right) to close the current tab.
2. Go Backwards and Forwards
Even though the navigation keys on the app allow you to navigate between webpages conveniently, using gestures takes it a step further, and makes for a faster and enhanced browsing experience. With this trick, swipe from left-to-right to go back a page and right-to-left to move forward.
3. Access Menu Items Quickly
The Menu option on the app provides easy access to settings and a bunch of different functionalities. And can be accessed by tapping on the three horizontal dots to open a list of options and then tapping again on an option to open/select it. However, similar to the previous trick, a simple gesture can make things easier. For this, instead of tapping twice to select an option, you can long-press on the icon and slide your finger to the option you want to select.
4. Swipe to Switch Tabs
Switching between tabs, by hitting the tab icon and accessing the one you need, can be a wearying experience. To curb this, rather than spending time in the tab window, you can swipe left-to-right or right-to-left on the URL bar, to navigate backwards or forwards between open tabs, respectively.
5. Rearrange Tabs
In case you decide to use the above trick to switch between tabs, you might as well find the need to rearrange some tabs in order, for the ease of use. For this, hit the tabs icon to head over to the tab switcher, and then, tap on a tab and move it around, accordingly.
6. Access different Tabs
Similar to how you access the tab switcher in the previous trick, you can do the same to access three different tab-sections: incognito tabs, open tabs, and synced tabs. Just swipe horizontally withing the tab switcher to access any of the three sections without any hassle.
7. Scan QR Code
Just like how you would use an app to scan QR code on your smartphone, the Chrome browser (for iOS) comes built-in with a QR scanner. To access it, 3D touch (hard press) on the search icon located in the middle of the action menu below. From there, select ‘Scan QR Code’ and allow the app access to your camera.
8. Voice Search
Although most people prefer searching for a query using text, some are more inclined towards using voice search instead. For such people, the voice search option on the app is one of the best things about the app. To access the feature, 3D touch (hard press) on the search icon, similar to how you did in the previous trick, and from there select ‘Voice Search’ and microphone access to the app.
9. Change Search Engine
The default search engine set on Chrome for iOS is unsurprisingly Google’s very own. So, if you are someone who prefers other search engines over Google’s, you change the default engine by going into Settings > Search Engine and selecting one of the available options.
10. Read Later
When browsing the internet, there are times when you come across some interesting articles. At such times, you wish to add them to your reading list, so you can visit them later and continue reading. With Chrome, you can do this by tapping on the reload button (with the website open) and selecting ‘Read Later’. The articles added to read later are saved to your reading list and can be accessed by hitting the three horizontal dots and selecting ‘Reading List’ from the list.
11. Bookmark
Similar to how you added an article to your reading list, you can save the websites you often visit, to your Bookmarks for easy access. For this, tap on the reload icon (with the website open) and select ‘Bookmark’. To see your list of bookmarked items, hit the three horizontal icons at the bottom, and select ‘Bookmarks’.
12. Request Desktop Site
In some instances, you need to access the desktop version of a website to find a certain option or section, otherwise missing on the mobile version. At such times, you can hit open the website (you want the desktop version for), hit the reload button, and tap on the three horizontal dots. From there, scroll horizontally and select ‘Request Desktop Site’.
That’s it for this article.
Those were some of the best tips and tricks for Chrome on iOS. Try them out and let us know your favorite ones.