Chrome Is What You Make Of It
Chrome For Android – The Ultimate Guide
Google Chrome for Android – The Thing that we all have been waiting for!. It took me a while for me to get my hands on this baby. I was waiting for ICS on my Galaxy Note.
Waiting for ICS? Yes, Chrome for Android works only on Ice Cream Sandwich and above, in numbers, it means, 4.0 and above. So, if you are looking for Google Chrome on Android 2.2 , 2.3 or 3.0 Honeycomb, there is not going to be an official version of Chrome for Android for any of these earlier versions of Android.
This article is going help you Download, Install and Set Up Google Chrome for Android. It will also help you learn some of the basic and advanced tips and tricks for using Chrome on Android.
First thing to do, get your Wifi on, if possible. It is more than a 20MB of download, and then if you need to sync Chrome on your computer, that’s a little more of bandwidth. I think its a good idea to do this using a Wifi network. Don’t you?
Download Google Chrome for Android
Okay, lets get to the first step. Go here and click the “Install” link to start the download of Chrome for Android. This process is exactly like you install any other app on your Android phone. One single mouse click, and that’s it!
Installing Chrome for Android
Like I said, installing Chrome for Android is just one click. If you have started the download of Chrome, it will start installing as soon as downloading is completed. Relax, and wait for it to finish!
Initial Set Up
Once Chrome for Android is downloaded to your phone, it will install itself and add a nice little shortcut on your home screen. Touch the app icon and fire it up!
Whoo!! there you go, you have Google Chrome installed on your lovely Android phone. Congratulations.
Now, lets get started, setting up the Phone.
Why Sync Chrome for Android?
First thing we need to do is syncing Chrome with your Google Chrome profile on your computer. But I know that many of you will have a question, Why should I use Chrome Sync on Android? What do I get out of it? Let me give you some things to consider.
View Open Tabs
Tabs you have open on Chrome for pc/macbook or your Chromebook will sync between all these devices and your Android phone running Chrome. Imagine you are browsing a page on your computer and you want to step away from your computer, this tab can be opened right on your phone or tablet with Chrome for Android installed and you can pick up the page where you left it.
Now, note that I said “Sync Tabs” not Sync Webpages. What’s the difference?
Well, imagine you opened this website, Chromestory.com on your desktop, and then click on a category archive and then visited a article inside that archive. Now, when this tab syncs to your phone, it will be show the latest page you are on, that is, the article you opened from the archive. Now, press back button of your Chrome on Android, you get the category page on Chromestory.com, yes, just like the tab on your computer.
Sync Bookmarks
Syncing bookmarks between your computer and mobile is a really good idea, and quite useful too. I use this all the time, and trust me, its really good!
Sync Chrome Omnibox Sugestions
Take your omnibox everywhere. Visit a site often on your computer and you’ll get an autocomplete suggestion for it on your phone, so you can spend less time typing.
Send to Phone Feature – A Winner
Send pages from your computer to your phone or tablet with a single click. You can read them on the go, even when you’re offline.
Quick Tips To Get You Started
Here are some quick tips to get you started with your new installation of Chrome on Android. I have collected them on a different page, Chrome For Android – A Mini User Guide. Check it out and come right back here for more in-depth info!
Easter Eggs on Chrome for Android
Okay, if you learned the basics already, lets take a look at the Easter Eggs on Chrome for Android, to add a little splash of fun to our journey.
Here is the first Easter Egg discovered on Chrome for Android. Follow these steps and see what happens!
1. Open the Chrome app (Android)
2. Press the open tabs button.
3. Flick up on the tab(s) five times
4. See what happens!
Another interesting thing you can do is, (if you got time) open more than 99 tabs on Chrome for Android and you will see this!
cool uh? Did you find any other Easter Eggs?
Chrome For Android Needs Bookmarks Bar? Here Is How To Make One
Looking for that bookmarks bar on Chrome for Android? There is a little hack that you can do to get something similar on Android version of Chrome. I wrote about it here. Now, here is a screenshot of how it will look like.
Note: This page is being updated, regularly. Bookmark and come back for more!
2 Responses to “Chrome For Android – The Ultimate Guide”
Thanks for this mate. One question, do you have any idea on how to make Chrome the default browser instead of the stock browser? Really looking for step by step instructions.
You can also use the cool bookmark widget, where you can scroll up and down by flicking through an open folder. You can also adjust the size of this widget by long pressing the widget and pulling the corners.