Chrome trials new feature to make your web browsing smoother

Google Chrome is working on several new changes to Tab Groups in Chrome Beta for Android. The changes derive from continuing user feedback over its ongoing tweaks to the Chrome OS browser feature. 

Chrome has long been tinkering with tabs, windows, and groups in its browser. From recent changes that enabled you to save Tab Groups, to multi-window support and the ability to relaunch closed tabs, Google is always pushing out fresh new updates to make the in-app browsing experience smoother.

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First spotted by XDA Developers, the first of the new changes see that links that are preset to launch automatically will no longer create a group. Now, they will instead open in a separate tab.

Next in line is the addition of an “Open in new tab” option, which now appears in the context menu that pops up when you hold down on a link. This allows users to open the link in a new tab, whereas Chrome currently only lets new links be opened in a group. 

Trial and error

In an official post on Chrome's webpage, an employee notes that you'll "still be able to create a tab group by dragging-and-dropping in the tab switcher, or by selecting “Open in new tab in group” from the link long-press menu, but you’ll only see one if you create it yourself."

Chrome continually makes adjustments to its Tab Groups based on user feedback, and this recent round of mods is yet another experiment to gauge user feedback. If you fancy giving the new Tab Group settings a try, then you can do by downloading the latest Chrome Beta for Android from Google Play. Chrome Beta for Android will install as a new app, and you can use it alongside your current Chrome app.