Latest Chrome Beta for Android Turns Sites into Apps
Oct 3, 2013, 3:26 PM by Eric M. Zeman
![](/img/a/f/13009_460_m_4f9cafae10ea8e4ac78e04d51be0bd6c.jpg)
Google today made available a new beta version of its Chrome browser for the Android platform that pushes the boundary between web sites and native applications. Chrome now lets Android devices save oft-visited web sites as home screen shortcuts. When opened, these new web shortcuts will immediately load a fullscreen Chrome for Android window with no tabs, buttons, menus, or the Omnibox. Such sites will appear as separate apps in the app switcher. In order for this to work, however, sites need to add the "mobile-web-app-capable" meta tag. Instructions on how to add this feature to web sites are available from Google's Chromium developer channel. This feature will be rolling out to beta users in Android, Windows, and Chrome OS in the coming days. A Mac version will be included in a future release. Google is also testing a new way to treat open tabs when users are viewing the Omnibox site. Beta testers will be able to see this new treatment in action.
Comments
(continues)