Google tested putting certain Chrome interface components to the bottom of Android smartphones a long time ago. Although Chrome for iOS now has an optional bottom-based interface, the firm has long since abandoned these testing, and Android doesn’t even come close to having something similar. Though it seems that the bottom bar will be limited to a few very specialized tasks, this may finally change in the near future.
Leopeva64 reported seeing a new chrome://flags/#cct-google-bottom-bar flag in Chrome Canary 124, which is expected to display a bottom bar in custom Chrome tabs that are launched via the Google app. As of right now, the function is not operational, therefore there are currently little specifics available about the appearance of this bottom bar. Google calls the bar the “GoogleBottomBar module skeleton” in the public development tool Chromium Gerrit, implying that it will hold certain Google Search-specific settings and buttons.
One option is that while a custom tab is active, the standard Discover, Search, and Saved shortcuts from the Google app’s bottom bar will still be displayed. Additionally, there could be certain Google-only features visible, such as a button for more relevant search results or a fast link to Lens. Still, they are just informed assumptions.
The bottom bar should still be much more constrained than it is on Chrome or even the Google app for iOS, according to Google’s descriptions. Because the greatest phones available have ever-bigger displays, the two Google applications come with navigation buttons and browser functionality like tabs and a homepage shortcut at the bottom, which is handy.
Google also tried an internal browser within the Google app for a short while back in 2020. This browser was entirely different from Chrome and retained none of your data, including browsing history and login credentials. Although the browser provided some interesting animations and allowed for more seamless integration with the search app, Google eventually abandoned the project in favor of standard custom tabs. The new bottom bar may be a means of enabling certain functions that are limited to internal browser use to custom tabs inside the Google app.
In the past, Chrome experimented with a fully functional bottom-based interface.
Over the years, there were a few testing.
Between 2016 and 2019, Google lastly dabbled with a full-fledged bottom-based interface in Chrome for Android, dubbed “Chrome Home” at first and then “Chrome Duplex.” The trials ultimately came to a stop, and Google kept the traditional top-based layout with the address bar, tab switcher, and overflow menu all crammed into an ever-tinier top bar.
In light of this, the new bottom bar experiment may not succeed. Similar to other features that are leaked ahead of time, Google may choose to completely abandon it before we ever see it functional.
