Google boosts multitasking on Android with this Chrome browser feature

Google has updated its native Android apps to enable Picture-in-Picture (PiP) view of a custom tab opened on Chrome browser

Google is officially rolling out a minimised custom tab feature on Chrome browser for Android. The feature makes use of the Picture-in-Picture (PiP) window to offer a more simplified transition between native apps and web content. Google in a post on Chromium Blog page said that this feature enables “multitasking across surfaces, enhancing the in-app web browsing experience.”

The PiP view of a Chrome custom tab is only accessible from native Android applications, essentially Google apps such as Gmail, Chats, and more. The feature will be available soon on other apps that use Chrome browser to open links, but not apps with built-in browser functions such as Meta’s Instagram.

How it works

• Update Chrome browser to the latest version
• Tap on any link to a website that is shared or available on a native Android app, such as Google Chats
• Tap on the new downward arrow button available next to the back button on Chrome’s toolbar. This shrinks the opened chrome tab in a PiP window on the bottom right of the screen
• You can tap on the window and select the full screen button that appears at the centre to maximise the Chrome tab

Just like any other floating windows, the Chrome tab in PiP view can be repositioned anywhere on the screen and can be resized as well. However, it should be noted that in PiP view the Chrome tab only shows the name of the page and the domain. This limits the functionality of the feature as you still need to maximise the window in order to interact with it. Additionally, while testing out the feature, links from Google Messages app did not offer the new minimise button despite being a native Android app.