Google Chrome for iOS hands-on

Google has just launched Chrome for iOS, the long-awaited browser replacement we've all been hoping for, just a day after Chrome for Android came out of beta. While iOS still does not offer the ability to set your own default mail client or web browser, Chrome lets you take your tabs, bookmarks, saved passwords, and settings with you. The only bummer is that while Google claims that "you can enjoy the same speedy and simple Chrome experience across your devices," Apple's rules about third party browsers ultimately cripple it. John Herrman summed it up well, for BuzzFeed:

But other apps that want to include a browser function, be they Facebook or an actual alternative browser like Chrome, don't get Nitro. For security reasons, the browser developers get to use in their apps is a variant of an older, pre-Nitro version, called UIWebView. It's fine — it renders pages with the same fidelity as Mobile Safari. But it is slower. Noticeably slower.



In our tests, Chrome wasn't much slower than Mobile Safari — especially on iPhone — but if you're the kind of person that's going to notice a slowdown, you might be a bit peeved while browsing JavaScript-heavy sites. The first thing you'll notice while using the app is that tabs are on top of the URL bar on iPad, unlike in Mobile Safari. If you're on iPhone, tabs arrange themselves into neat rows that include each page's site title, as well as an image from the page. You can swipe these tabs off the screen to exit them. On iPhone, you can also use the innovative "edge swipe" Chrome invented on Android (or did Meego invent it?) to thumb between open tabs. A menu button in the top right corner drops down a quick settings menu where you can find bookmarks, "find in page," and a button to take you to a deeper Settings menu.