Two years ago, Chrome on iOS copied one of Safari’s best (if controversial at the time) recent changes and finally allowed users to move the app’s address bar (or URL bar) to the bottom of the page. This can allow for more comfortable one-handed use, since it’s much easier for some users to reach a bottom-aligned address bar with their thumbs, especially on larger phones .
Weirdly, though, the feature didn’t make it to Android—until now.
About a month ago, Google finally cracked , allowing Android users to move their Chrome address bars as well. It’s a simple enough process—just long-press on the address bar and select “Move the address bar to the bottom.” Alternatively, you can also click the three-dots menu in the top-right corner to open the Settings menu and choose your address bar position from the Address Bar section. To change it back, just repeat the same steps, but choose to move your address bar to the top of the page this time.
As minor as this change may seem, it’s bound to make life easier for a bunch of Android users. Technically, it started rolling out toward the end of June, but needed some time to become available to everyone. Now, with the release of Chrome version 138 , that time has arrived.
You might need to update Chrome before you see it, or even Force Stop it a few times, but once it’s ready for you, you should theoretically see a notification next to the address bar that says “You can touch and hold to move the address bar to the bottom.”
That said, not everyone is seeing the notification—my colleagues over ZDNet didn’t, but that didn’t keep them from moving their address bars. If you feel stuck, it’s worth just trying to move your bar and seeing what you get.
As for whether you’ll prefer a new location for you address bar, it’s probably up to which phone you have and how you prefer to hold it. But it’s great to have more options.
