Google Chrome for iPhone is stealing one of Safari’s smartest features

Google Chrome users will soon be able to benefit from a usability feature that Safari users have had access to for a long time, it seems.

Apple gave iPhone owners the option of putting Safari’s address bar at the bottom of the screen back when iOS 15 arrived and while it did prove controversial at the time, it’s gone on to become a popular option. There’s also a toggle to move it back to the top of the screen should people prefer. Now, it appears that Google is about to take a leaf out of Apple’s book.

The latest Google Chrome beta, available via TestFlight, also has an option to move the address bar to the bottom of the screen for the first time. It’s likely that option will make its way to the version of Chrome available via the App Store soon enough.

Coming soon

The new option was spotted by developer Steve Moser and posted to X, the social network formerly known as Twitter. An accompanying screenshot shows that Chrome users will be able to choose a top or bottom position for the address bar, while on-screen text says that they “can also touch and hold the address bar to change the position.”

Putting the address bar at the bottom of the screen makes it much easier to reach on larger devices like the iPhone 14 Pro Max, especially for those of us with smaller hands and shorter thumbs.

As with all changes like this, there are sure to be people who prefer the original location which is why the option to choose where the address bar lives is a welcome one. Apple tried making the decision for people during the iOS 15 betas but subsequently added an option following feedback from testers.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to ‘explain’ those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn’t looked back. Since then he’s seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He’s been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.