Google Chrome Finally Gets Long Awaited Feature

Google once experimented with a bottom search/address bar feature for Chrome several years ago, but now it is finally making it to the public version of the browser, but only for iOS devices for now.

Google has revealed that starting today, users have the option to relocate the address bar from the top to the bottom of the screen, making it easier to reach. Although this option surfaced a few months ago, it was initially accessible only through an experimental feature flag.

If you want to move the address bar to the bottom, you can do so by selecting the “Move address bar to the bottom” option, which now appears alongside the existing “Copy URL” button. You can also put it back up the same way. Additionally, Chrome’s settings now include a new section dedicated to managing this feature as you please.

You get access to the same suite of features once you move the bar down, such as back, forward, new tab, tab switcher, and the overflow menu. You can also switch between different tabs by swiping on the bar.

If you don’t have the feature available on your iOS device yet, you will have to wait for the update to reach your phone. Keep in mind that the flag “chrome://flags/#bottom-omnibox-steady-state” used to force the address bar down does not appear to work anymore.

Here is what Google says about the new Chrome feature:

We know people prefer different address bar positions depending on the size of their hands and devices, and we took those preferences into account when building this highly requested feature.

Considering the wide variety of shapes and sizes in which Android phones are available, it would make sense to get this feature on Android as well.