Following a Mac, Windows, and Linux release this morning, Chrome 69 is now rolling out to Android. The Google Material Theme is the marquee change with a revamped Omnibar, New Tab page, and more. Besides the usual bug fixes and security patches, there is also support for display cutouts.
Chrome 69 moves away from a light gray background to a stark white one that is in line with the Google Material Theme. This color is also applied to the status bar resulting in a clean, merged look with the app bar. Various icons and menus now feature rounded corners, while the Omnibar is now pill-shaped. Meanwhile, the address bar dropdown with URL and search suggestions now cover the entire screen with a white sheet as a background.
Google is testing a horizontal tab switcher that is reminiscent of Android 9 Pie, but it does not appear to be enabled by default. Rather, users are presented with the same vertical tab switcher that now has a white background instead of a dark one.
The New Tab page also gets a pill-shaped search bar, while favicons are now placed in circles. Lastly, the white theme is also applied to the app bar in Settings.
This version adds support for display cutouts given the trend of phones with notches, and Android 9 Pie’s support for it. Developers can take advantage of the entire screen on these devices through new CSS functions and the viewport-fit meta tag.
Sites will be able to “expand into the cutout area and use the extra space to provide additional content without the cutout overlapping their main UI.” For example, developers could lay out media controls to the left of a notch, like in the example below.
Other updates mentioned in the release notes include:
- Secure and easy mobile payments via 3rd party payment apps
- Password generation now works on more sites
- Stability and performance improvements
Chrome 69 for Android and desktops is rolling out now, with Chrome OS following shortly.
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