Google has released a new update for Chrome on Android that allows users to open tabs in a grid instead of stacked cards. Along with this, the app now also features the ability to group tabs when you have more than a few of them open. Tab groups are one of the best features available on Chrome desktop. Now available on Android, here is all you need to know about tab grouping on Chrome.
How to get the new grid layout
The new tab layout has been enabled by default on any Android devices that are already using Chrome. As per a report by 9to5Google, If you update to the latest Chrome version and still cannot see the new layout, you can enable it manually by heading over to ‘chrome://flags/#enable-tab-grid-layout’ in a browser tab. After this, you will reportedly have to restart the app twice to get the new layout to stay.
How to group tabs together
Once the new layout is up and running, users are able to drag tabs and place them on top of each other to create groups, similar to how apps on Android home screens can be placed on top of each other to create folders.
When you don’t do the dragging and dropping, Chrome will still open up new tabs in groups when you open a link in a new tab. Hence, any secondary tabs that open up when you are on a page, will open within the same group. This is especially handy in instances like comparing and shopping for products on Amazon.
While the implementation works well, it still misses out on a number of features from Chrome’s desktop counterpart, which allows you to rename Tab Groups and assign specific colours to them. Google will perhaps eventually bring these to the mobile version of Chrome as well.
