After starting to roll out to “select devices” in June, Google’s AI Chrome assistant is now available to all Android users in the US. It adds a Gemini icon to the top-right of your toolbar that opens the familiar chatbot window, allowing Gemini to summarize web pages, answer questions, generate images, and more.
Anthropic updated its Chrome extension so using the side panel bot now saves chats to your history, where you can continue them outside in the browser in Claude’s desktop, web, or mobile apps.
The Cowork version is available today for Max and Team users, and coming to Pro users “over the coming weeks.”
Gemini Spark in Chrome can do things like “scheduling viewings for apartments you’ve saved or researching flight options and starting the booking process,” according to Google. However, a human will have to push the button on tasks like making payments.
Spark is also now available on Google’s AI Pro tier in 160 more countries. It initially was available only on the more expensive AI Ultra tier, and just recently came to AI Pro in the US.
As spotted by 9to5Google, you can change the background to different colors and images, including uploading your own, and set the background to refresh everyday, like on the desktop version of Chrome. The new backgrounds are under “Customize new tab page” in Chrome’s three dots menu.
For times when you don’t need a website to know exactly where you are (like when checking the weather versus finding the closest ATM) Google is introducing the option to only share your approximate location. It will launch for Chrome on Android first, but expand to the desktop browser in the coming months.
A new security feature in Chrome Enterprise can help businesses detect and combat “anomalous” activity by AI-powered agents within compromised extensions or online services. Google is rolling out its AI auto browse feature to enterprise customers as well, which can perform multi-step tasks in Chrome on your behalf.
With split view, you’ll be able to put two Chrome tabs right next to each other in one window. It’s already been available for some, but now it’s rolling out for everyone. Seems handy.
Chrome 151, which Google tentatively plans to launch on July 28th, will be the first to require support for macOS 13 Ventura or later.
“Older versions of Chrome will continue to work, but there will be no further updates released for users on this operating system,” Google says.
[Google Chrome Help]
The list is heavy on extensions that use AI like Monica and Sider that can summarize web pages and videos, Quillbot for proofing or generating text, and eJOY that can expand your vocabulary while surfing the web. But Google also gives a shoutout to the simple but powerful image editing tools in Adobe’s Photoshop extension.
After being added to the desktop version of the browser almost a decade ago, the mobile version of Chrome will soon let you pin tabs as part of Android 16’s new updates. Pinned tabs will be easily accessible at the front of your browser so they’re easier to find and can’t be accidentally closed.
Enabling the browser’s “enhanced autofill” option will offer to save more information when you submit forms, according to Google’s support page, such as your driver’s license, passport, or vehicle details. This update is available globally today in all languages. Google says it plans to support more autofill data types “over the coming months.”
If you also use 1Password and have an Android device, you may have also been dealing with autofill problems lately. However, updating to version 8.11.4 or higher and following the instructions to make sure Chrome is set to use third-party autofill seems to have worked on my phone to make the app more reliable again.
According to 1Password, the need to update its app and an uneven update rollout from Google caused a gap as Chrome switched from the old compatibility mode approach to the new native autofill experience.
[1password.community]
Click the icon to the left of a URL and you can see a star rating and an AI-generated summary of details about the store.
“The description will cover topics like customer service, product quality, shipping, pricing and returns, helping you understand what to expect from your shopping experience at a glance,” Google says in a blog post.
In an update on Monday, Google says Chrome 138 is the last version of the browser that will support Android 8 and Android 9, both of which were released over five years ago. The browser will continue to work on these versions, but it won’t receive additional updates.
Chrome 139 and up will require at least Android 10 when it launches in August.
The head of Google discusses the next AI platform shift and how it could change how we use the internet forever.
