1 week Ago By Ryan Whitwam
The Internet might look a bit different on Android soon. Last month, Google announced its intent to make Chrome for Android a more immersive experience by hiding the navigation bar background. The promised edge-to-edge update is now rolling out to devices on Chrome version 135, giving you a touch more screen real estate.
However, some websites may also be a bit harder to use. Moving from button to gesture navigation reduced the amount of screen real estate devoted to the system UI, which leaves more room for apps. Google's move to a "dynamic bottom bar" in Chrome creates even more space for web content.
When this feature shows up, the pages you visit will be able to draw all the way to the bottom of the screen instead of stopping at the navigation area, which Google calls the "chin." Credit: Google As you scroll down a page, Chrome hides the address bar. With the addition of the dynamic bottom bar, the chin also vanishes.
The gesture handle itself remains visible, shifting between white and black based on what is immediately behind it to maintain visibility. Unfortunately, this feature will not work if you have chosen to stick with the classic three-button navigation option . You may notice some problems with certain websites after the change rolls out.
Since sites can draw to the bottom of the screen, important footers could end up behind the gesture bar. This could make elements like newsletter signups and cookie preferences more annoying to use or dismiss. Google's edge-to-edge migration guide advises web developers to utilize safe area insets, which will ensure that UI elements will not render directly behind the navigation bar.
Simply being on Chrome 135 is not necessarily enough to get the dynamic bottom bar. A separate server-side update is rolling out to enable edge-to-edge viewing—there's no way to force this update, but in our testing, it appears to be rolling out widely. So the wait shouldn't be long.
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