When Chrome launched over 11 years ago, the Omnibox was one of the browser’s signature design features. Still getting new features, Chrome’s unified address bar on Android is picking up favicons in the autocomplete dropdown.
When searching or entering URLs in the Omnibox, Chrome will offer up to five related query or autocomplete suggestions. Google is testing favicons or other matching icons next to each item. Search terms get a magnifying glass, while links can feature a favicon, star (for bookmark), or generic globe. Past queries can use a history marker.
This matches the implementation on Chrome for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS. Favicons in autocomplete help quickly identify the nature of the suggestion. It comes as Google in recent releases has worked to show more results directly in the Omnibox.
This includes answers to queries for sport scores, the weather, and translations. Those have always been matched by an accompanying icon.
Following the latest Chrome for Android update this evening, favicons in autocomplete appeared on one of my devices. It’s not yet widely rolled out, but you can manually enable (or disable) it with the following flag:
Omnibox UI Show Suggestion Favicons
Shows favicons instead of generic vector icons for URL suggestions in the Omnibox dropdown.
chrome://flags/#omnibox-ui-show-suggestion-favicons
More about Google Chrome:
- HP’s latest education Chromebooks are more rugged than ever
- Chromebook App Hub adds search as Google Admin Console introduces app licensing system
- Chromebooks from 2020 onwards will get 8 years of updates
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