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Google announces Chrome for Android beta

By on February 7, 2012 at 12:52pm in Mobile News

Today is a glorious day. Google has announced that Chrome for Android is officially in beta. In total 12 countries made the list, including Canada. We’ll have a full review up shortly, but it’s a standalone app that doesn’t replace the current browser in Android device, gives you an experience just like the desktop version with a simple sign-in, ability to sync bookmarks, view tabs, send pages from your desktop Chrome to your smartphone/tablet with one click and read them on the go (even in offline mode). It seems that this is only available to Android devices with OS 4.0.

The 1% of OS 4.0 users can go ahead and download the beta here from the Android Market

Related posts:

  1. Firefox 4 Beta for Android and Maemo now available
  2. Facebook for BlackBerry v2.0 (Beta 3) available for download in the Beta Zone
  3. Google announces Nexus One: the “next stage in evolution of Android”
  4. Google announces “Android Market Web Store”

Discussion

32 comments for “Google announces Chrome for Android beta”

  1. Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 30 Thumb down 58

    Posted by gjac0m | February 7, 2012, 12:58 pm
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    • Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 29

      Posted by Spikedlemon | February 7, 2012, 1:01 pm

    • It’s because they’re relying on the APIs available from in 4.0. If that’s the case, then it’s next to impossible (without a TON of work) to make it backwards compatible with previous versions of Android.

      If they never use the latest API’s to appease everyone with lower versions, then you’d never see apps become more advanced since they don’t take advantage of the latest tools. In which case, why update the OS at all?

      The line has to be drawn somewhere at some point.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 53 Thumb down 5

      Posted by MXM4K | February 7, 2012, 1:03 pm

    • *CLEARLY* you are not a developer.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 1

      Posted by Casey | February 7, 2012, 1:43 pm

  2. Works great!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 16 Thumb down 4

    Posted by Tim | February 7, 2012, 1:00 pm
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  3. Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 18 Thumb down 36

    Posted by Erik T | February 7, 2012, 1:01 pm
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  4. Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

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    Posted by shaggyskunk | February 7, 2012, 1:02 pm
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  5. Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 14 Thumb down 32

    Posted by TomatoGuy | February 7, 2012, 1:03 pm
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  6. Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 46

    Posted by AWSguy | February 7, 2012, 1:04 pm
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  7. Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

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    Posted by Big Dog | February 7, 2012, 1:04 pm
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  8. I am not sure I get the point. Why don’t they improve the stock Android browser (I thought it was based on chrome?) instead of releasing a new one?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 21 Thumb down 8

    Posted by bob | February 7, 2012, 1:06 pm
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  9. HAHAHHAH!

    Lick ma balls WP7 and iOS!

    Real browsing is what u see hare!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 19 Thumb down 24

    Posted by hobo_life_engadget | February 7, 2012, 1:07 pm
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  10. Chrome is a beautiful thing on 4.0. Running on my Xoom :-)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 14 Thumb down 3

    Posted by Acco | February 7, 2012, 1:08 pm
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  11. Using it now. Its decent but wont play the above videos shown above that the stock browser does. Meh.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 1

    Posted by N. | February 7, 2012, 1:09 pm
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  12. Umm…real question is, why didn’t they make the stock android browser chrome?? Seems like a wasted opportunity to capitalize on a simple idea. That’s like them making the native e-mail client something else besides Gmail.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 18 Thumb down 1

    Posted by ELNY | February 7, 2012, 1:12 pm
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  13. As an Opera Mobile fan, i am pleased there are more browser choices, but hoping that the stock browser will eventually just become Chrome.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 4

    Posted by Alex Perrier | February 7, 2012, 1:13 pm
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  14. Umm… it is.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 6

    Posted by Adam | February 7, 2012, 1:14 pm
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  15. [...] : mobilesyrup.com __spr_config = { pid: '4f14fb3f396cef417600024f', title: 'Google Announces Chrome for Android Beta [...]

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 4

    Posted by Google Announces Chrome for Android Beta now release | Daily Android Blog | February 7, 2012, 1:14 pm
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  16. @MXM…..4.0 is just out…. you’d think that Google would at the very least have chrome compatible with Gingerbread….especially because a number of phones currently running Gingerbread are going to be upgraded to ICS. not to mention that xda & Cyanogen have managed to get ICS running on hardware that Google will not. Just about every other product that Google has works on several different systems.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 6

    Posted by shaggyskunk | February 7, 2012, 1:17 pm
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  17. The stock browser app probably have a lot of Chrome in it anyway.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 0

    Posted by Alex | February 7, 2012, 1:18 pm
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  18. I installed it on my (rooted, 4.0.3) Nexus S. Seems a little bit tricky to figure out but I see the potential. Sweet!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1

    Posted by Nick | February 7, 2012, 1:19 pm
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  19. Feels good to be part of the 1%…for once!!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 14 Thumb down 2

    Posted by LOL | February 7, 2012, 1:21 pm
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  20. The more flagship apps that are released requiring ICS or newer, the better! This puts pressure from users on the OEMs and carriers to update their devices.

    What’s the point of adding new features and APIs to an OS if you aren’t able to use them?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 1

    Posted by daguy | February 7, 2012, 1:22 pm
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  21. now running chrome (beta) on my Nexus S (android 4.0.3).

    Working very nicely. seems to handle html rendering faster and more easily than the stock android browser. At least so far.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0

    Posted by kevinc | February 7, 2012, 1:44 pm
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  22. browser fragmentation.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 10

    Posted by andy c | February 7, 2012, 1:55 pm
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  23. Have it up and going on CM9 on my SGH-I896 Captivate ^^ Runs amazing!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0

    Posted by DarkisFever | February 7, 2012, 2:13 pm
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  24. Awesome. Now Flash will crash on my phone just like it does on my desktop.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 6

    Posted by Lance W | February 7, 2012, 2:18 pm
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  25. Some of you are hilarious with the fragmentation crap. It’s a beta for Google Chrome that will eventually replace the browser. Yes it’s only for ICS at the moment. There is no reason to code it for gingerbread for its beta. There is no reason to even use it at the moment as your stock browser is optimised with its hardware.

    This fragmentation argument is getting moronic. Some of you people probably don’t even know what Android Version does what (let alone which one you are running). No your 1-2 year old Android does not need ICS, if it was designed to run with Eclair or Froyo, let it run those versions. If you want ICS (because you know, you like non optimized versions of android), there are tools online to get it at xda developpers.

    Regular user does not even know what Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich are, nor does it make a difference in his/her life.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 1

    Posted by Dan | February 7, 2012, 2:59 pm
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  26. It makes sense to run it as a separate app from the stock browser so that you can run BOTH on your phone while Chrome is in heavy development. Keep in mind that this isn’t the stock browser with Chrome features bolted on, it’s a totally different architecture.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Posted by Adriel | February 7, 2012, 3:12 pm
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  27. Or, you know, use opera mobile and live the full web now. Like I am on lowly gingerbread. That said, the more choice, the better.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Posted by MattyMattMatt | February 7, 2012, 3:41 pm
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  28. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Posted by MARS | February 7, 2012, 4:00 pm
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