By Stephen Schenck | April 17, 2012 3:06 PM
Google gave Android users a powerful new browser option earlier this year when it ported Chrome over to run on Ice Cream Sandwich. The app made a strong first impression, and we’ve heard from Google about some of the company’s plans for future releases of the software. A newly-available update starts delivering on the company’s promises, adding a desktop mode in addition to a bunch of other usability improvements.
We first heard Google talk about adding a desktop mode to Chrome just about two months ago. With the release of this new Chrome 0.18.4409.2396 beta, the app can now masquerade as a desktop browser in order to access the full versions of sites.
Beyond that addition, Chrome now includes the ability to save shortcut bookmarks to your phone’s home screen, and has better link-handling for invoking external apps. Other, more technical changes deal with support for new text rendering modes, the introduction of additional viewing options for embedded YouTube clips, and smarter proxy configuration.
Finally, this release also marks the availability of Chrome in 31 additional languages, and in any country with Google Play access.
