Well, this has been a long time coming. When the Chrome for Android beta channel first came out a few months ago, it promised to bring with it some much-requested updates to the mobile browser. So far, we have seen some pretty significant speed increases but nothing much else in terms of groundbreaking new features.
Just as I was getting curious about trying out the new Opera browser released today on Play, the team over at Google has updated the app to Chrome 26.0.1410.26, bringing with it password and autofill sync.
As you can imagine, what this means is that no more will you have to re-enter passwords that you’ve time and again, entered into websites on your laptop or desktop version of Chrome. As for autofill, Chrome should be able to remember form fields we constantly fill out with information like our names, addresses, birth dates, etc.. This really is a big update for Chrome, and really rewards people invested in the overall Chrome philosophy, bringing together and syncing the browser across all devices.
As such, I really don’t understand why Android users would opt to use the other browsers out there unless they really don’t have a use for this amazing sync technology, including being able to open websites last viewed on your other devices. It is so seamless having a site open on my phone and then going into “other devices” on Chrome on my laptop, allowing me to see the link to the page open on my phone.
With password and autofill now included among all the other things Chrome syncs across my devices, I don’t see any point for me anymore to bother playing around with Opera.
Remember, if you don’t have Chrome for Android beta channel release, it cannot be searched for on Play from your device. You must do a search for the app on the web to find the Play store link. Otherwise, simply click here.
If you use other browsers on your Android device, please let me know why in the comments. I’d like to learn about what else is out there.
