When Google released the Chrome Beta for Android, it made tab syncing a reality for users of phones and tablets. It’s a great feature, but there has been one irksome missing piece of the puzzle. While mobile devices running Chrome could sync tabs from a desktop, it didn’t work in the opposite direction. A new update to Chrome fixes that, but not all users will be in on the fun.
The update is available to anyone running the beta version of Chrome on Windows, Mac, or Linux. The new build should be pushed down to your computer automatically, but you will have to restart Chrome for it to be installed. Additionally, you have to be signed into Chrome for the synced tabs to show up. You can do so by going into the settings, and entering your Google credentials at the top.
It might be easy to miss the tab syncing functionality if you’re not looking for it. On the new tab screen, there will be an extra menu called “other devices” where all your synced tabs will be. The menu will be separated out by device and will include any device running Chrome including PCs, phones, and tablets.
I’ve been testing the updated version, and it works flawlessly between my various devices. The synced tabs are usually updated across the Google back end every few minutes, and that’s probably often enough.
Remember that only computers running the beta version of Chrome will have this update — expect it to hit the stable channel in a few weeks. Mobile devices need to be running the Android Chrome Beta, which is unfortunately only available on Android 4.0 devices. It would be nice to see Google expand the supported device list seeing as only a small percentage of devices are on Ice Cream Sandwich.
via Chrome Blog
