How to Fix the Chrome Browser (Screenshots)

Posted by Zecharixs on November 4, 2012 11:31 pm 15

Well besides the obvious of improving speed and performance and getting the version number to the same as the desktop, there's UI improvements needed.

IMO, the tabs in the browser waste space, unnecessarily mimic the desktop version, and make it inconvenient to close a tab by having to hit small Xs. Tapping Xs is for iOS. Android should be about swiping to dismiss.

So my suggestion would be to hide the top bar altogether when just reading or not interacting. Scroll the screen a little and the URL bar pops up like this:

via dl.dropbox.com

When the multitasking-like icon in the upper right (next to overflow) is tapped, these pop up:

via dl.dropbox.com

Very similar to multitasking thumbnails. The benefits are many. It creates a familiar and consistent metaphor for switching any kind of task for users. The large thumbnails make it easy to see what the user was doing last in that tab and also to switch the tab as the tabs aren't so tiny anymore. Swiping makes it easier to close a tab than hitting Xs.

And like the Chrome browser now, long pressing a tab should enable order switching.

And best of all, most of the time the address bar and the tabs aren't taking up vertical space so like 80 pixels of resolution are saved! That's like 10% of the screen on the Nexus 7.

Update:

Also a swiping quick settings menu triggered by swiping from a small translucent semicircle tab in the lower right. It has the most used functions. Switch to previous tab, switch to the next tab, new tab, refresh, and back.