I tried Google Chrome’s new bottom URL bar on Android, and it’s a mess

Google Chrome on Android has finally caught up with the rest of civilization by bashing two rocks together to introduce a bottom URL bar. Users who have sought out the feature and found it on Firefox, Samsung Internet, and Microsoft Edge can now choose which address bar position they prefer on Google’s browser: the traditional top of the screen or the more convenient bottom-edge placement.

Don’t get me wrong — while I am annoyed that Google took this long to implement the feature, I am thrilled that Chrome finally has it. It’s a case of better late than never for those who use the browser, even if it comes so much later than its contemporaries. Delayed software that’s good and works well is always superior to rushed wares that splutter and falter.

However, despite taking nearly two years for this feature to debut on the stable channel, it still feels unfinished. After enabling the bottom bar and trawling the internet for a few hours, I’ve encountered several silly issues that should have been identified and corrected before the feature’s official debut on Android.

First things first. To enable the bottom bar in Chrome, tap the three-dot menu icon, open Settings, then select Address bar. From here, tap Bottom. The address bar should now be positioned at the bottom of the screen. While that sounds great for fans of this feature, Chrome makes it more challenging to use than it really should be.

The biggest benefit of a browser’s bottom bar is its closer proximity to your thumb. With a top address bar, I often have to use my second hand, stretch my phone-holding hand, and risk dropping my phone — or reposition the device to tap it. However, with a bottom bar, this problem is largely solved. This whole scenario was less pronounced when handsets were smaller, but modern monster smartphones, whose screens regularly clear 6 inches in size, have changed the definition of useful UI.

If anything, app controls at the bottom of the screen have become the necessary norm rather than the exception. But, oddly enough, Chrome’s bottom bar is only useful in theory. In practice, I’m not sure why Google even bothered.

What went wrong with Chrome’s bottom URL bar? Let’s start with the new tab page.

I enabled Chrome’s bottom bar and opened the app. I didn’t find an address bar as I expected at the bottom of the screen. Instead, the browser’s stylized search bar is still positioned three-quarters up the top of the page. That defeats the point of this toggle, doesn’t it? To add to the list of odd decisions, the profile icon, tabs icon, and three-dot menu buttons are also still located at the top of the screen.

I used my second hand to tap the search bar, but this still doesn’t move any controls to the bottom of the screen. In fact, the address bar now appears at the very top of the browser window. More annoyingly, Google’s search suggestions are positioned beneath the URL bar and not above the keyboard. Only when I enter a URL and navigate to it does the address bar move to the bottom of the screen.

So, everything is solved, right? Not quite. Tapping on the bar once again pushes it all the way up to the top of the screen, along with the suggestions and other useful search options that I’d like quick access to, such as voice search and Lens.

How do other Android browsers handle bottom bar quirks? Well, as luck would have it, far better.

• Firefox keeps the bar above the keyboard when you tap on it, but suggestions are still pinned to the top of the screen. Tabs are also biased towards the top of the screen, although the home page layout is much better suited to one-handed use.
• Microsoft Edge, in contrast, positions almost everything at the bottom of the screen once that option is enabled. This includes user and sponsored shortcuts, suggestions, and image/voice search options. It’s by far my favorite implementation of this feature.
• Samsung Internet goes a step further and places several useful browser shortcuts below the address bar, including favorites, the home button, and its AI-fueled Browsing Assist icon.

Chrome completely misunderstands the benefits of moving the address bar to the bottom of the screen. It’s almost as if those who implemented it didn’t consider why users prefer this option or why it’s actually necessary.

I’ve been waiting for Chrome’s bottom bar for ages. I even enabled it at some point last year when the flag became available (only for Google to disable it). I thought that was to refine the feature and related experiences that are affected by the change in the browser, but I was seemingly expecting too much.

Even though Google has spent over 40 months polishing the bottom URL bar for its own operating system since its launch on iOS, it feels rushed and unfinished on the platform Google should prioritize. You know, Android?

Perhaps the good news is that all the problems I’ve highlighted are fixable. We could have a version of Google Chrome that’s as good as Microsoft Edge in a few patches. And, to be fair, some elements have been rethought. For instance, the Settings menu now appears at the bottom of the page, even if it remains far too long to be accessible with one hand.

Even if Google proves me wrong, some other Chrome idiosyncrasies are plain difficult to ignore. The browser’s stubborn approach to extensions, overall UI rigidity, and constant need to be logged in. For me, the bottom bar annoyances are the last nail in the coffin for Google’s browser on my phone, at least as anything beyond an occasional portal into the company’s products.