Tips For Browsing With Chrome

Chrome, the powerful browser from Google, is full of features and with the right know-how it can speed up your browsing experience. In this article we are going to look at some of Chrome’s features that can be used on a desktop PC, tablet or smartphone.

Google Voice Search

Google Voice Search can be accessed from anywhere in Chrome. From a smartphone, tap the address bar followed by the X and then tap on the microphone icon that appear. Alternatively, on a tablet you can just tap the microphone icon which is located on the address bar.

You can either say keywords, a web address or ask a question and your search results will come back to you.

Preloading and Bandwidth Reductions

If you only have a limited amount of mobile data, reducing bandwith is really important. The preloading feature is a default setting that is only enabled to work on Wi-Fi and means that Chrome will automatically fetch a web page that it discerns you will load next. This will help prevent you from wasting your mobile data.

By enabling the Reduce Data Usage feature, you can also reduce your bandwidth. This setting will cause web pages to be routed through Google’s servers and compress, therefore saving that bandwidth.

If you are using an Android device then tap the menu button, followed by settings and then select Bandwidth management. If you are using an Apple device, then tap menu and settings, then select Bandwidth.

Request Desktop Site

If you want to use the desktop version of Chrome on your smartphone or tablet, then all you need to do is tap the menu button and select Request Desktop Site.

Quick Menu Option

This feature only applies to Android devices and enables you to select a menu option in one simple step.

Touch the menu button, move your finger downwards until it is over the menu option you require and then lift your finger off the screen. Simple!

Tab and Data Sync

If you log in with a Google account, Chrome will sync all your open tabs and browser data between your devices, which is great if you use the browser on your desktop, smartphone and tablet.

To view open tabs, tap the menu button and select “Other devices”. Or you can also go to Chrome’s new tab page and select “Other devices”, which is locaed at the bottom right corner of the page.

Swipe Between Tabs

Chrome allows you to use swipe gestures so that you can switch between open tabs. Unfortunately this feature doesn’t work with Android tablets; only Android phones, the iPhone and iPad.

To use the feature on an Apple device, place your finger at the edge of the screen and swipe inwards to move between the open tabs.

To use it on an Android phone, swipe your finger left or right from anywhere on Chrome’s toolbar.

Hopefully you will find these suggestions useful. As always, if you have any tips, share them with us in the comments below.