Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

Android L will allow you to search apps and Chrome tabs together

Simon Hill
By
chrome android get closer newspaper 0071
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Sundar Pichai stands in front of a Google logo at Google I/O 2021.
This story is part of our complete Google I/O coverage

Chrome will now be more closely integrated with Android than ever before. At Google I/O, Google revealed that Chrome browser tabs will also appear on the multitasking menu on Android devices, search results in the browser will take you directly into apps, and a consistent “material design” aesthetic will add transitions and touch feedback animations.

Avni Shah, Google’s director of product management for Chrome, just unveiled the changes. She revealed that the number of people using Chrome on mobile devices has risen from 27 million in 2013 to over 300 million today.

Recommended Videos

The biggest change to Chrome is the fact that your recent tabs from Chrome searches will now appear alongside your recent apps in the recently used page or multitasking menu. This will make it easier than before to skip in and out of what you’ve been doing. It also now looks like a 3D rolodex with apps and Chrome tabs as individual cards.

Related

It also works the other way with app indexing. Google revealed the ability to dive straight into an app from the search results a while back, but it was limited to a handful of apps. Now that capability is being opened up to all developers to implement in their apps. If you have an app installed then you’ll be able to dive into the content you are looking for directly in the app by selecting it from the search results in Chrome.

Another new API will allow developers to include their recently used apps in the search results from the Google search bar. That means users can go from the search bar on the home screen straight into a point in an app that they’ve used before. It’s a valuable tool for developers to help users “rediscover” their content.

These new changes will come when Google releases Android L in the coming months.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Simon Hill
Simon Hill
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Simon Hill is an experienced technology journalist and editor who loves all things tech. He is currently the Associate Mobile…
Google Messages vs. Samsung Messages: Which app should you use?
Google messages versus samsung messages app icons side by side on Galaxy Z Fold 5.

Amid the rise of third-party messaging apps, texting remains a popular means of messaging in the U.S. If you own an Android phone, you've likely used or heard of Google Messages, which is positioned as the default text messaging app for Android. It is the culmination of Google's long history with multiple messaging platforms. Google has pursued smartphone companies to use its Dialer and Messages apps as their default since at least 2017 and now mandates them to use Google Messages as the default messaging app on all devices.

Meanwhile, if you have been a Samsung user in the past, you have likely also known and experienced the Samsung Messages app, which comes preinstalled on all Samsung phones and cannot be uninstalled. This is despite losing its spot as the default messaging app on Samsung Galaxy smartphones.

Read more
Is Temu legit? Everything you need to know about the shopping app
An image of the Temu app listing on the iOS app store on an iPhone 12.

Have you been looking for an Amazon shopping alternative? Outside of getting in your car and heading to your local brick-and-mortar establishment (scary, we know), one smartphone and tablet-friendly shopping tool you could take for a spin is Temu. 

Launched in September 2022, Temu prides itself on its cost-friendly approach to buying stuff online. But is it a worthy stand-in for Amazon, or should you stick to the Almighty A for your household must-haves? Let’s find out!
What is Temu?

Read more
The 1Password Android app just got a huge upgrade
The 1Password Android app, side-by-side, showing the light and dark mode.

The 1Password password manager app for Android has just gotten a huge new update, which unlocks the use of passkeys through its app. Held by many as the future of secure authentication, passkeys are the next evolution of the password, and from today, you'll be able to use 1Password to create, manage, and unlock your accounts that use passkey authentication.

1Password is one of the world's most popular password managers, with over 700,000 passwords saved. But it clearly sees that the future is elsewhere, as it has been leading the charge on taking passkeys into the mainstream.

Read more