Skip to main content

Chrome for iOS update brings tighter integration with Google apps and more

chrome browser iphoneGoogle’s busy week continues with the rollout Wednesday of the latest version of its Chrome browser for iOS. The release comes a day after the Web giant opened its new Maps web interface to all users and also introduced an updated version of its Maps app for Apple’s iDevices.

The latest version of Chrome features tighter integration with other Google apps that you might have on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch – think Maps, YouTube, Drive, and Google+. So now, if, for example, you click on a Maps link in a search result, your Google Maps app will open instead of chrome iosthe Maps site within the browser, offering an altogether more user-friendly experience.

Recommended Videos

To enable this functionality, open Chrome and tap the tab to the right of the search box, scroll down and tap on settings. Next, select Google Apps from the list and then simply tap on the ones you want to enable. Currently, the four mentioned above are listed, with Google promising more soon.

Also, if you sign in to Chrome with your Google account when using the browser, you’ll now be able to sign in to your other Google apps with a single click.

Access to your full browser history via the menu, fullscreen browsing on the iPad and text-to-speech enhancements also come with the update.

In a post introducing the revamped mobile browser, Google software engineer Peter Lee also said that in the coming days the company would be rolling out an experimental data compression service enabling users to save bandwidth, load pages more quickly, and browse more securely on Apple devices.

If you don’t already have Chrome but are interested in giving it a whirl, you can grab it from the iTunes store here. Those of you already using it should receive an update prompt via the App Store on your device as usual.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Why this 3-year-old iOS feature is one of my favorite things about the iPhone
Focus modes page in the Control Center on an iPhone 16.

Apple's latest software update for the iPhone — iOS 18 — is a big deal. Between more customizable home screens, a huge Control Center update, and all of the new Apple Intelligence features, this year's iOS update has a lot to like.

However, as I've been using my iPhone 16 over the last few weeks, I've realized that one of the iOS features I use the most has nothing to do with the iOS 18 update. Instead, it's an iOS feature that was introduced over three years ago and remains one of my favorite iPhone features year after year. Yes, I'm talking about Focus modes.
How I use Focus on my iPhone

Read more
iOS 18.2 just took another step toward its official release
iOS 18 logo on the iPhone 16 Pro

Yet another iOS update is ready, and this one is important. The iOS 18.2 beta 2 update is live, and it's a big deal for a couple of reasons. It's available to more people than the previous beta, and it indicates another step toward iOS 18.2's public launch.

The first version of this beta was only available to people whose phones supported Apple Intelligence, but this latest version works with any phone that can update to iOS 18. Addditionally, iOS 18.2 beta 2 is only available to developer beta testers. There isn't a public beta at the moment, and we have no word on when one might release. Still, it's good to see that more people are included this time around.

Read more
iOS 18’s best AI tools arrive in December, but Siri has a longer wait
Apple Intelligence on iPhone 15 Pro.

The Apple Intelligence toolkit has witnessed a staggered mix of delayed features and underwhelming perks. But it seems that the most promising set of those AI tools that Apple revealed at WWDC earlier this year is right around the corner.

In the latest edition of his PowerOn newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman writes that the iOS 18.2 update will start rolling out via the stable channel in the first week of December.

Read more