Chrome is testing 3 new features for faster search and sharing

Google is looking for new ways to improve the Chrome browsing experience for users. It experiments with useful tab page cards and fun ways to share text from web pages. We discuss the three functions that Google is testing.

1. Maps on the New Tab Page

When you open a new tab in your browser, you will by default see an overview of your most visited websites. At Google they think there is even more to get out of that page, and information modules are being worked on. Google makes that known in a blog post. Think, for example, of an overview of your recently searched recipes or a shopping section of products you have searched for. Finally, a Google Docs module that gives you quick access to recent documents from Drive.

The feature is available for the desktop version of Chrome and anyone can already test it by activating a ‘Chrome flag’. That’s the name Google gives to its experimental features. We explain how to activate it in Chrome.

1. In the address bar of your desktop browser, type: chrome://flags and press Enter
2. In the search bar, type ntp and press again Enter
3. Change to Enabled at next flags: NTP Modiles, NTP Drive Module, NTP Recipe Tasks Module, NTP Shopping Tasks Module and NTP Chrome Cart Module
4. Press on the Relaunch-knob
5. Open a new tab

2. Search without going back

When you search for certain information with Google’s search engine, you tap on a web page, then return whenever you don’t find what you’re looking for. That return makes Google redundant on Android phones. Thanks to this Chrome flag you can already scroll to the next search result even if you are still on another web page, and that is because there is a carousel of search results below the address bar. You can already activate it on the Chome Beta app for Android.

1. In the address bar of Chrome Beta on your phone, type: chrome://flags, and confirm
2. In the search bar of the web page, type continuous and confirm again
3. below Continuous Search Navigation change your Default to Enabled
4. Press Relaunch
5. Visit a webpage from Google search results

3. Share texts in style

On Android phones, Google is testing the ability to share text from web pages with others. And it’s not just a piece of text, but one with a special font and a nice background. You choose what the display of the text looks like before you share it, and in this article we already discussed in detail how it works. You can try this function in Chrome if you activate it.

1. Type in the address bar chrome://flags, and confirm
2. Use the search bar at the top and enter there web notes. Confirm.
3. below WebNotes Stylize change you Default nasty Enabled
4. Choose Relaunch
5. Then go to a page, select a piece of text and choose To share
6. Press Styling Highlight
7. Swipe through the different designs and choose Next one with a design of your choice
8. Then choose the app with which you want to share, as you are used to

What do you think of the experimental feature that Google is testing? Are there things you would like to see in your browser as soon as possible? Maybe you are already going to activate a certain function? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of this article.

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