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How to enable Chrome’s new Material Design refresh on desktop and iOS

How to enable Chrome’s new Material Design refresh on desktop and iOS

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Stock imagery of the Chrome logo.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google has been working on a Material Design refresh for Chrome across desktop and mobile in recent months, and elements of the redesign are starting to make their way to the stable version of the browser. Chrome 68, released earlier this week, now includes parts of the Material Design refresh hidden behind settings flags in both the iOS and desktop versions. Chrome 68 for Android does not yet include the Material Design refresh changes.

While the desktop version includes a more rounded and whiter appearance, the mobile version of Chrome has a far more drastic redesign on iOS. Google is moving the navigation controls to the bottom of the screen, and overhauling the new tab page to be more useful. The navigation changes mean forward and backward buttons are now at the bottom, alongside access to tabs, settings, and a new search button. The new search button is a quick way to get to the address bar for now, which is ideal if you’re using a phone with an extra-tall display.

Google has not yet enabled its more rounded tabs in Chrome on the desktop. These first appeared in developer builds of Chrome back in April, but they’re still not hidden behind a flag in the stable channel version of the browser. Here’s how to enable parts of the Material Design refresh on desktop and iOS:

Chrome desktop

  1. Navigate to chrome://flags/#top-chrome-md
  2. In “UI Layout for the browser’s top chrome” change the option from default to refresh
  3. Restart Chrome to see the changes

Chrome iOS

  1. Navigate to chrome://flags/#top-chrome-md
  2. In “UI Refresh Phase 1” select enabled
  3. Restart Chrome to see the changes