Gmail for iOS adds home screen widget as Chrome makes multi-window support on iPad official

Abner Li | Nov 18 2020 - 3:34 pm PT

With the launch of iOS 14 in September, Google’s key apps were updated to support the latest platform features. After adding default email app support, Gmail now has an iOS home screen widget. Google is also highlighting how Chrome on iPad supports opening multiple windows.

Now, you can easily stay on top of your emails by adding the Gmail widget to your home screen.

Rolling out on version 6.0.201101 today, there is a single 4×2 Gmail widget that starts with a “Search in mail” bar that opens the app to the appropriate field when tapped. The new Workspace icon is in the top-left, while the other side has your profile avatar.

Underneath is a “Compose” shortcut that slides up the keyboard for immediate text entry. The last aspect of the Gmail for iOS widget is a rather useful unread count for those that do not like badges on home screen icons.

Meanwhile, Chrome 87 for iOS is rolling out today. On the Mac, it introduces Apple Silicon support and a new Big Sur dock icon. There are also speed improvements and battery life gains.

For iPad, the release notes highlight how “you can now have multiple windows of Chrome at the same time.” The “Open in a new window” option that appears when holding down on a link is already live in version 86 of the browser, but Google is only now just advertising it. This is par for the course with Google updates on iOS. Two other additions include:

A new feature in Settings, called safety check, allows you to check whether you’re on the latest version of Chrome, whether you have Safe Browsing enabled, whether you have any compromised passwords and, if so, how to fix them.
Auto-fill is now more secure. To auto-fill your passwords, sign in again with Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode.