Google this week announced plans to release major updates to Chrome more frequently – six to four weeks. To keep up with this news, the search giant announced that it is making experimental features easier to test while they are in development.
According Alex Ainslie (via 9to5Google), head of Google Chrome design, Canary users (and soon Dev and Beta) can access a new cup icon on the toolbar, making it easier to access Chrome experiments. Google hopes that by making these experiments easier to find, users will share more comments.
🔬🔬 We hope to get more feedback on @Google Chrome updates as they are in development. If you’re using Canary today (and soon Dev and Beta), you’ll notice a small beaker on the toolbar that makes it easier to try new things and share suggestions on how it should evolve. pic.twitter.com/doPLzJbnRW
– Alex Ainslie (@alexainslie) March 5, 2021
A GIF shared by Ainslie shows features like a reading list, scrolling tabs, and searching for tabs that are part of Chrome’s experiments. All features are self-explanatory: The reading list allows users to quickly save articles to read later; tab scrolling allows users to scroll through their tabs; and tab search allows users to search their open tabs.
Along with each experimental feature is a “Send feedback” button, which users can click to share their ideas about the new features. Some of these features have already been seen at various stages of development, with the reading list feature already part of Chrome 89, which is being released on the desktop and mobile. Google apparently still wants to keep asking for feedback on the feature to make it a more prominent part of Chrome.
Chrome usually hides experimental features behind flags, which are not easy to access if you’re not familiar with how they work. And when they are enabled, it is not easy to see what you have turned on and off. This new experiment panel simplifies the experience and allows Google to focus on boosting the features it thinks users might like.
If you’re brave enough to live on the Canary channel, you can check out Chrome’s new list of experiments. Otherwise, these features will most likely make their way to a stable version, with the reading list already available as we said.