Developers are given more options for the Android browser

Aug 4, 2015 13:35 GMT  ·  By

You might remember that Google first announced custom tabs for Chrome in May during its I/O 2015 conference. And two months after the launch, the search giant provided better documentation on the matter.

Well, this week, Google has announced that Chrome Beta 45 for Android is the first version of its mobile web browser to come equipped with custom tabs. This means that app developers who want to incorporate web content into their applications will have more control on how Chrome browser tabs look with loaded content.

For users having this option available, it means that sometimes they might not even notice when an app loads up a webpage, because it might look like the browser tab is part of the app itself.

These custom tabs also let developers change the toolbar of the Chrome web browser, add entry and exit animations, and add custom actions to the toolbar and overflow menu.

Google says developers can use WebView if they feel like it, and this might be a better choice for developers who are hosting their own content. But for those who want to add an external link, custom tabs make things easier.

Chrome Beta 45 also brings updated media playback controls, an updated bookmark interface, some bug fixes, and some performance improvements.