Google updates Chrome Web browser for iOS with OS X Handoff support, 'material design'

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2015
With a Tuesday update to its Chrome browser for iOS, Google expanded its new "material design" aesthetic to yet another iOS title, while baking in Handoff support for quick platform switching between iOS and Mac.




Chrome version 40.0.2214.61 is the latest Google app to feature so-called material design, a user interface aesthetic derived from Android that blends shadows, clean lines and bold colors. Google first introduced the UI to iOS last month with its flagship Google search app.

Looks aside, Chrome is one of the first iOS browsers to build in compatibility with Apple's latest Handoff technology, which lets users seamlessly transition their browsing between devices, including a nearby Mac. Google says the app will handoff from Chrome to a user's default browser, though in our tests the app seems to prefer Chrome for Mac.

In addition to funcitonal enhancements, the latest Chrome for iOS brings optimizations for iOS 8 and visual assets to support larger handsets like the iPhone 6 Plus.

Finally, Google notes generic bug fixes and performance improvements were conducted as part of the usual update process.

Google's Chrome Web browser for iOS comes in at 58MB and is free to download from the iOS App Store.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 57
    pscooter63pscooter63 Posts: 1,080member
    Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...
  • Reply 2 of 57
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member

    Looks nice. Safari seems to be an increasing resource hog recently on my setup, so I've been using Chrome a lot more, and it does the job nicely.  Shame about the Flash. 

  • Reply 3 of 57
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Crowley View Post


    Shame about the Flash. 



    Flash is trash.

     

     

    Material Design is not a good look. When you rip off Microsoft and Apple it just leaves a nasty mess.

  • Reply 4 of 57
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Google Hand Off ... you get a copy, we get a copy .... :D
  • Reply 5 of 57
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    crowley wrote: »
    Looks nice. Safari seems to be an increasing resource hog recently on my setup, so I've been using Chrome a lot more, and it does the job nicely.  Shame about the Flash. 

    Can you give some specifics on that? With ClicktoFlash and Adblock on, monitoring Safari in Activity monitor doesn't show Safari as a resource hog for me, far from it. You say 'on your set up', is there something out of the ordinary? I am on Safari 8.03.
  • Reply 6 of 57
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    I almost always use Safari on my iPhone although on my Mac I mostly use Chrome. I have only used Hand Off in Safari once, just to see if it worked. It worked but I have not found much use for it yet.

  • Reply 7 of 57
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TheWhiteFalcon View Post

     



    Flash is trash.

     

     

    Material Design is not a good look. When you rip off Microsoft and Apple it just leaves a nasty mess.




    I disagree.  Material is a well thought out paradigm, and it looks nice in all the apps that have adopted it.  Moreso than the iOS7+ aesthetic in some cases; it's still pretty clear that buttons are buttons.

     

    I also don't think it's much of a copy of either Microsoft and/or Apple.  From the most superficial angle, yes, it's "flat" and eschews gradients and lighting effects, but it's much more than that, it's a whole design framework.  And it's good.

     

     

    Also, I wouldn't say Flash is trash.  Hell, I wouldn't even have Chrome installed if I thought that, as it existed as my "browser for when I need to use something that uses Flash".  Problem with Flash is that it's a bit outdated now and there are more efficient ways of doings a lot of things that it does, and (more importantly) it's used as the format of choice for so much crappy ad spam.  I liked not having to put up with that with Safari as my main browser, but I don't get that same luxury with Chrome, without installing extensions, which I don't want to do.  Meh, swings and roundabouts, at least Chrome isn't eating my memory like Safari does.

  • Reply 8 of 57
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post





    Can you give some specifics on that? With ClicktoFlash and Adblock on, monitoring Safari in Activity monitor doesn't show Safari as a resource hog for me, far from it. You say 'on your set up', is there something out of the ordinary? I am on Safari 8.03.



    No idea, but Safari with some frequency takes up multiple gigs of memory, and I only have 8GB on my MBA, so it's quite a hit.  I do often have lots of browser windows open, with video and other rich media in them, but even so, Chrome seems to deal with that same situation a lot better than Safari does.  As I say, may well be to do with my set up and use cases, but Chrome's performance seems to suit me better.

     

    I also don't have either ClickToFlash or AdBlock on either, as I don't install any extensions as a rule.

  • Reply 9 of 57
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,415member
    I love the Material Design. It's what Apple should have used. It's clean. It's not too gaudy or not so abstract. It is truly intuitive.
  • Reply 10 of 57
    magman1979magman1979 Posts: 1,292member
    netrox wrote: »
    I love the Material Design. It's what Apple should have used. It's clean. It's not too gaudy or not so abstract. It is truly intuitive.

    Bite your tongue!!! I'd dump Apple if they EVER went to this abomination!
  • Reply 11 of 57
    magman1979magman1979 Posts: 1,292member
    The further I can stay away from ANYTHING Google the happier I am... I've had THREE Mac's this week on my bench who've gotten adware onto the system by users using this steaming pile of shit, and have been stripping Chrome off of EVERY machine I find it on, PC or Mac. They want alternate browsers, I give them Firefox, and default them to Safari, period.
  • Reply 12 of 57
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    crowley wrote: »

    No idea, but Safari with some frequency takes up multiple gigs of memory, and I only have 8GB on my MBA, so it's quite a hit.  I do often have lots of browser windows open, with video and other rich media in them, but even so, Chrome seems to deal with that same situation a lot better than Safari does.  As I say, may well be to do with my set up and use cases, but Chrome's performance seems to suit me better.

    I also don't have either ClickToFlash or AdBlock on either, as I don't install any extensions as a rule.

    I can recommend them both highly.
  • Reply 13 of 57
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,415member

    An introduction to Material Design

     

    http://www.google.com/design/spec/material-design/introduction.html

     

    Material Design wins in my view. The Apple Design is getting worse and less usable. I had to turn on several Accessibility features to use it. The colors are terribly gaudy and painful to see. 

     

    Jony Ive definitely failed as a software designer. He should have just stayed with hardware design and we should have had a qualified software UX designer.  

     

    Google did exceptionally well with its Material Design and I don't give a damn WHAT you think or what you think is "best." I know many of you protested about Apple's iOS horrible UX and now you're all defending it. You know Apple got it wrong. And it still is wrong. 

  • Reply 14 of 57
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    netrox wrote: »
    I love the Material Design. It's what Apple should have used. It's clean. It's not too gaudy or not so abstract. It is truly intuitive.

    I wouldn't say it is a 'Quantum' leap though ... had it not been for Jony's iOS7 I suspect MD wouldn't exist.
  • Reply 15 of 57
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by MagMan1979 View Post





    Bite your tongue!!! I'd dump Apple if they EVER went to this abomination!

    This. Google has no concept of design purity or principles, plus they love that horrid hamburger button.

     

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by netrox View Post

     

    An introduction to Material Design

     

    http://www.google.com/design/spec/material-design/introduction.html

     

    Material Design wins in my view. The Apple Design is getting worse and less usable. I had to turn on several Accessibility features to use it. The colors are terribly gaudy and painful to see. 

     

    Jony Ive definitely failed as a software designer. He should have just stayed with hardware design and we should have had a qualified software UX designer.  

     

    Google did exceptionally well with its Material Design and I don't give a damn WHAT you think or what you think is "best." I know many of you protested about Apple's iOS horrible UX and now you're all defending it. You know Apple got it wrong. And it still is wrong. 




     The stuff prior to iOS 7 makes me vomit now with how tacky it is. Material Design is a joke, and it's just Google doing their usual "Hey, us too!" crap they've always done. So no, I think Ive has done a great job on the fresh look (I do want the iPad Music app to be revamped, but that's another matter).

     

    The colors are fine as well. The system overall is less bright than older versions of OS X.

  • Reply 16 of 57
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post





    I wouldn't say it is a 'Quantum' leap though ... had it not been for Jony's iOS7 I suspect MD wouldn't exist.



    Yeah, the word "intuitive" can not apply to anything with a hamburger button.

  • Reply 17 of 57
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Maybe it's just me, but shouldn't Google apps for iOS follow iOS UI/UX guidelines? If I want 'material design' I'll go buy an Android phone.
  • Reply 18 of 57
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    netrox wrote: »
    An introduction to Material Design

    http://www.google.com/design/spec/material-design/introduction.html

    Material Design wins in my view. The Apple Design is getting worse and less usable. I had to turn on several Accessibility features to use it. The colors are terribly gaudy and painful to see. 

    Jony Ive definitely failed as a software designer. He should have just stayed with hardware design and we should have had a qualified software UX designer.  

    Google did exceptionally well with its Material Design and I don't give a damn WHAT you think or what you think is "best." I know many of you protested about Apple's iOS horrible UX and now you're all defending it. You know Apple got it wrong. And it still is wrong. 

    I don't give a damn what you think either. What's so great about material design? It's 'flat' design with shadows everywhere. Big deal.
  • Reply 19 of 57
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    rogifan wrote: »
    Maybe it's just me, but shouldn't Google apps for iOS follow iOS UI/UX guidelines? If I want 'material design' I'll go buy an Android phone.

    Absolutely agree. Well said.
  • Reply 20 of 57
    netrox wrote: »
    I love the Material Design. It's what Apple should have used. It's clean. It's not too gaudy or not so abstract. It is truly intuitive.

    Why don't you get a android phone and get off this site android material design is nothing special it just adds more confusion when you see apps made for touch wiz. Google should be using the iOS 7 design not there hideous own one
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