
Redesigning Chrome Android. Part 1 of 2 - Zweihander
https://medium.com/google-design/redesigning-chrome-android-11eab15dc7ee
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thechriswalker
I'm just going to comment on the first aspect of this, the "Merge Tabs and
Apps" option.

The first thing I do with the "Merge Tabs and Apps" is to disable it and use
the in browser tab switcher.

I usually have many tabs open and I usually have many apps open. Merging the
two lists just creates more noise in the app switcher. Imagine if they did
this on desktop and suddenly alt-tab gave me (right now) an extra 26 things to
switch through! I don't even think I am a heavy open-tabber.

My non-techie spouse wanted me to change it back immediately after the update
with no prompting from me. I'm sure some people must prefer it but I find it
way too busy in the switcher.

~~~
ArekDymalski
> The first thing I do with the "Merge Tabs and Apps" is to disable it and use
> the in browser tab switcher.

That was also my reaction. However I started to wonder "Maybe it's just a
experience-reinforced habit to mentally separate the content of the web and
content of the other apps?" After all it's not the only possible paradigm.
Computers used to be simple terminals and current web apps trend resembles
that. Just think about Chrome OS. For me (a a person who has spent most of his
life in local files, directories and applications realm) both Chrome OS and
browser tabs mixed with other apps seem to be weird, unnatural and cumbersome.
But for someone without the baggage of such experiences, this solution could
actually appear more useful and logical.

~~~
renke1
Tabs are way more transitory. Their lifetime is pretty limited in that I will
usually close them after I read its content. Apps are slightly more permanent.
Also, on a more practical side, it is currently way faster to switch tabs
because of those useful touch gestures in Chrome.

~~~
bryanlarsen
For me it's the opposite. Apps are transitory, tabs are long-lived.

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paulojreis
It's really depressing, how skim these posts on UI are. The keyword is _user_
, not _interface_. And yet - as almost all posts on UI/UX - zero references on
how they got to know what the users want, or how they use the product.

Really, it's getting ridiculous: we get thousands of words on how to design an
icon family, and zero on user research. What does this mean? Do we really
think we "know" our users? Are we stupid enough to keep fiddling with icons
while the foundations of our work - deciding what we build and design, and why
- are hunch-based?

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elliotpage
Its nice of them to dive into their decision to redesign the tab switcher, and
I utterly disagree with their reasoning. "Merge tabs and apps" is something I
turned off right away and something my non-tech-savvy android using friends
constantly ask me for help in disabling.

~~~
paulojreis
The thing about UX is that you don't need all that _reasoning_ (so to speak).
I would even say that if you're reasoning too much, then you're doing it
wrong! You would be indulging in giving your opinion too much credit, instead
of taking a truly user-centric approach.

Really, there's no need to invoke usability in vain or talk about
philosophical standpoints [1]. you just need to know what the users wants and
needs, and then design fundamented on said wants and needs. Focusing on your
philosophy or principles [2] is a sign that you don't care about your users,
you just care about your ego.

[1] "This situation is not optimized both from an usability standpoint as well
as from a more philosophical standpoint.

[2] Information, whatever its source is, should be as easily accessible."

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DonHopkins
>"The omnibox: Now that the switcher is fully integrated to Android’s, the
Chrome omnibox relationship with the Google search box will become more
obvious and friction-less. Before this change, entering a search in the system
Google search box opened a tab inside Chrome. Now, triggering a search will
open an activity in the Android recent stack, at the same level of any other
app, not buried inside one."

I can appreciate how much Google wanted to fix that "search buried inside an
app" problem, seeing as how they are a search company.

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DonHopkins
>"Another step toward making our Chrome invisible."

Dammit, I think they have gone too far in making Chrome invisible!

I was scrolling up and down, comparing the picture of the old version of
Chrome with the picture of the new version of Chrome.

But I didn't actually have to scroll up and down to compare the old with the
new, because there was the new version of the Chrome interface running in the
window frame around the web page about Chrome that I was scrolling up and
down!

But Chrome is so invisible, it took me a while to actually break the frame and
see it there...

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yellowbkpk
It's funny how much they subtitle their post here "Content, not Chrome", yet
in the most recent version of Chrome they removed the ability to disable the
"People" menu. The bug for this [0] has been marked wontfix, saying it's
"working as intended". Depending on how long your profile name is, that's an
awful lot of chrome taking up space from your content...

[0]
[https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=496829](https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=496829)

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V-2
I don't know what it is with Google. Some of their products have great UX
(yeah, like Chrome - don't forget what desktop browsers looked like when it
first came out) while at the same time some are just horrible (Wave,
Hangouts...)

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halosghost
I wish they would still take the “content, not Chrome” priority on the
Desktop. I know that removing the URL bar is something that breaks the web for
less savvy users, so I get the choice to make that option hard to find. But, a
minimalist experience (e.g., cVim, a vimperator/penta alternative for
chrom{e,ium}) almost requires this feature.

Since its complete removal, there is essentially no way to have a truly
minimal browsing experience on chromium…

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andreamazz
For me the Chrome tabs merged with the app is one of the most confusing UI
choices I have ever witnessed. Glad to hear that it can be switched off
though.

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anentropic
can they make it not so sluggish too... more like Firefox Android?

