Google is planning a major redesign for one of Google Chrome's most important features on Android: autofill.
If you've ever shopped online using Chrome, you'll be familiar with the tool that automatically completes forms for you, allowing you to enter your name, address, phone number and other details with a single tap rather than typing them out in full. It can be a real time-saver (particularly at the moment, when so many stores are closed and even more of our regular shopping is happening on our phones).
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However, the way Autofill looks at the moment isn't perfect. Currently, when you tap a field in a form, Chrome will present a list of suggestions in floating menu that obscures part of the webpage. It's usable, but not ideal – for now.
Filling the blanks
Following the update, Autofill suggestions will instead appear just above the keyboard in your browser, allowing you to scroll through them and select the correct one without blocking your view of the form itself.
The new design will also provide three icons, which you can tap to manage passwords, payment methods and addresses respectively. Currently, these options are only accessible if you open the browser's settings menu and scroll down to 'Basics'.
As XDA Developers notes, the new design has been accessible in Chrome Canary and Dev builds for some time now, but only if you enabled certain flags (switches that allow users to toggle experimental features that aren't yet ready for release). Now it's available in those pre-release versions of Chrome without being activated manually, suggesting it will arrive for all users of the browser very soon.
Any change that improves accessibility is a welcome one, and we'll keep you updated if and when it's rolled out fully.
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Via 9to5Google and Chrome Story
