Chrome for Android is testing a better way to thumb through Google results

Total0

Share via

Google may have shelved one of the most anticipated Chrome features — Duet — but the company is still working on changing up little bits and pieces to make it easier to navigate the mobile browser. One of the latest experiments has been spotted by 9to5Google, which reports that a new flag moves Google Search into a carousel below the address bar, giving you quick access to other results.

The feature is controlled by a Continuous Search Navigation flag (chrome://flags/#continuous-search). Once you’ve activated it and restarted your browser, you can start any Google search via the address bar to check it out. You’ll first be taken to the familiar Google search page, but once you tap a result, you’ll notice Chrome’s top bar growing and adding a carousel of the results below your address bar. You can scroll through it horizontally and tap results to switch to another website on the fly, without having to go back to your results first. To get back to the result overview, you can tap a Google icon on the left of the carousel. The interface can be dismissed by tapping the x button on the right.

The flag is live in the stable release of Chrome, too, but it only really shines in Chrome Canary 93. The implementation is much more rudimentary in the stable version, where you can’t dismiss the carousel and you can’t return to the search results via one click — you’ll have to navigate back until you hit the search results again.

Chrome 91 vs. Chrome 93.

Like with any hidden interface change, it remains to be seen if Google really pulls through with it. The company could decide to scrap this search results layout altogether or bring it to the browser in a refined form at some point.

You can download the latest Canary release on the Play Store or over at APK Mirror, if you want to try the advanced version of the result carousel for yourself.