How to Install and Use Google Chrome for Mobile Devices
Tags: webdev, beginners, learning, frontend
Published: 2023-04-02 03:43:14

## Introduction
A web browser is an application that allows you to access and display web pages on the internet. The web browser was mostly used on computers for carrying out tasks but with the advancement of technology and the introduction of smartphones that are capable of having a web browser installed, these smartphones and mobile devices are portable and convenient for personal use, which is now vastly used by millions of people all over the world today. Having a web browser on their mobile phone has made it possible for people to connect to the internet faster and easier. 
You can also carry out personal and business activities from your mobile devices, and maintain current trends on what is happening around the world to our new era of entertainment and communication by networking with other people using a mobile device through social networks.
There are different types of web browsers available for mobile devices, but Google Chrome has proven to be the most used browser in the world today and has a global market of 67%. In this article, we will be focusing on how to install and use google chrome on our mobile device.
 

## 
**What is Google Chrome?**
Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google, used for accessing the internet. It is compatible with multiple operating systems like Android, Windows, Linux, Mac, and IOS which has made it widely used since Google released it in the year 2008 with several updates a year. Google Chrome is the default browser for Google devices including Android phones.

## 
**Why Google Chrome?**
The reason why Google Chrome is the most preferred choice of browser today is that:

- **Speed:** Google Chrome loads web pages fast, you can load web pages and multiple tabs simultaneously.

- **Type Less:** Right from the search bar, while typing Google Chrome gives you options to choose from personalized search results that will instantly appear as you type, and also help you fill forms with its autofill feature.

- **Simplicity:** it is a simple web browser that makes it easy for you to move around easily, and makes it possible for you to locate the tab you previously visited.
**Security and Privacy:** Google Chrome keeps you safe from websites where you download a file that can potentially harm your mobile phone by infecting it with viruses. It gives warning messages to notify you of the risks involved in accessing that website. And also, google chrome keeps your information private while you browse online.

- **Customization:** you can customize your google chrome browser to your style, but most android phones come with preinstalled themes in either light or dark mode. And also, you can purchase themes from the chrome web store.

- **Sign-in:** You can access and harmonize your personal browsing history across different devices. For instance, your bookmarks can be synchronized (sync) across all your devices, meaning that you can access your bookmarks from your mobile the same as bookmarks on your laptop. 

### Installation
To download and install Google Chrome on your mobile phone, you will go to the Google Play store, where you can download different Android applications. 

###  Requirements
 
To install Google Chrome on your Android devices, they must be from version 4.1+ to the android 7.0 operating system.


![Google Play Store](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/pl6vn1sedrcwqvcpicn7.jpeg)
  
How to Download and Install Google Chrome on your Mobile Device
Go to the Google play store on your android phone and tap to open it, then the app will open showing applications to download on your android phone

![PlayStore Search Bar](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/21gbw41j1nxkl0vfv82h.jpeg)
![Typing Google Chrome](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/tekq0ja1hgxsrvwyvde6.jpeg)
Locate the search bar at the top of your screen, tap on it, and then type “Google Chrome” It will display different types of Google Chrome but choose the first one that says “Google Chrome: Fast & Secure”.

![Install](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/py1j98bauiqdf5934jx4.jpeg)
Tap on the installed button to download and install it on your android phone.

![loading](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/4tezru2a3mcgvv37cks0.jpg)

![Open Chrome](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/vzn9w3grjbfwsiikiz42.jpeg)
After it finishes downloading, it will display the above environment, and you can go further to tap the open button so you can launch the application.

![Welcome to Google Chrome](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/bbjzyyed72pckgh4d4da.jpeg)
![Choose an Account](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/z7wkniniva1ypg9wzpms.jpeg)
![Google Environment](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/b48ymsrvt4fhwdbcw4kl.jpeg)

By opening the app, the app launches by loading its environment, and then you will see an option to continue with your email address if you have already, or you can choose another account to sign in to your Google Chrome. But if you do not have an email address, you can still use it by choosing “use without an account” which will automatically open the Google Chrome environment.

### **How to Use Google Chrome**
  
![First Head Icon](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/156w3ltr3imuzyf03frc.jpeg) 

- **Home icon:** you can find the home icon at the top left corner of the brow, you can return to the homepage of the Google Chrome browser regardless of the website you are currently on.

- **Sign-in icon:** the sign-in icon is at the top right corner of the web browser, you can find it at the third icon from the right. To access your bookmarks and history, and saved passwords, you can sign in using your email address. This process will make it possible to use another device to access your bookmarks, history, and even saved passwords without the current use of your device.


![Sync on Acct](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/e29e4a5qxbwntic7vowq.jpeg)

- **Turn on sync:** To turn on sync, you need an email address that you are already in use, but if you don't have one, it is not a problem. You can still use it because this time, you can save your bookmarks, history, saved passwords, and secure payment.

- **Google Service:** Google chrome on your android has google services that help you to allow chrome sign-in that will prompt you to sign in to chrome and also auto-complete the searches and URLs by sending some cookies and a search box to your default search engine. Google services also send usage statistics and crash reports to Google, making searches and browsing better by sending Googe the URLs of pages you visit. Lastly, Google’s assistance in chrome will help you complete tasks, such as checkout, throughout the web.

3. **Tabbed Browsing or Tab:**  A tab is a clickable area at the top right of the google chrome window which shows pages. According to Margaret Rouse, tabbed browsing is a web browser feature in which several websites can be opened in one browser window. When you click on a new tab, you can start afresh, and switch between the corresponding tabs of different browsing content. There are common actions you can perform  with the tab when you use Google Chrome to browse:

- **Open a new tab:**  to open a new tab, locate the three-dot icon (more options) and tap on the new tab button to create a new tab.

- **Close a tab:** To locate the X button quickly close the tab or tap on the three-dot(more option) to close the tab if you are working on just one tab.

- **Close all tabs:** To close all tabs locate the three-dot button and tap on close all tabs.

- **Switch to a new tab:** Locate the square box with the digit number in it (representing the number of tabs you have created), tap on it and all the tabs you have opened will display. Then you can choose which you want to switch to.

- **Group tabs:** To group all tabs, tab on the three-dot icon and tap on select tap, tap on the tabs you want to group, and all the selected tabs will be highlighted, then go back to the three-dot icon > tap on it and tap on group tabs. All the tabs highlighted will be grouped.

4. **Three-dot (More Options):** the three-dot (more option) gives more options of Google Chrome you can access, a mini header that contains These options New tabs, New Incognito tab, History, Downloads, Bookmarks, Recent tabs, Desktop site, Settings, and lastly, Help and Feedback.

![Mini Header](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/7cvnhw9qaizvftmjk7bh.jpeg)

The mini header of the three-dot option has five options that are used for quick access:

- **Forward arrow icon:** Google chrome helps you to return to a previous website you visited either by mistake or intentionally.
The star icon: Google Chrome helps you quickly bookmark your favorite website frequently visit.

- **The arrow-facing download:** has two options, firstly to keep track of your downloads, and secondly download a webpage in an offline format to be previewed later.

- **The i-icon:** Google chrome gives you information about the website you are currently on.

- **The reload icon:** Helps you to reload a website if there is a sudden absence of network and the website couldn't load fully.


![More Options](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/2sikyah58wfmskoqco1b.jpeg)
1. **New Tab:** This creates a new tab for you to start a new browser.

2.**New Incognito Tab:** With the new incognito tab google chrome helps keep your browsing private from others who may use your mobile devices to access the internet. They won't see your browsing history and Google Chrome won't save your information entered in forms.

3.**History:**  The history shows information about the sites you have visited recently, it could be the frequent visits of 24hrs, of 1 week, or even for  4 weeks.
 
4.**Downloads:** The download gives you information about your current download and also gives you the history of your past downloads regardless of the file format, it could be pdf, music, or video.

5.**Recent Tabs:** The recent tabs give you information on recent tabs you have visited.

6.**Settings:** Google Chrome settings allow you to change certain attributes of the google chrome browser. 

![Search Bar](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/5r3xt232ni31r7viwy8n.jpeg)

5. **Search Bar:** The search bar is the first thing you see which is located on the home screen of your web browser. It allows you to search for any website of your choice without using the tab.

6. **Google Voice Search:** Google voice search use the power of speech recognition to search the internet instead of typing with your hands. Meaning, Google translates what you are saying to text. It is easy and effective.

7. **Google Lens:** Google lens uses the power of image recognition to locate websites of pictures on the internet, relevant to the images that were uploaded.

![Dicovery Settings](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/p8f6w4lbhhcugpxi7w1a.jpeg)
8. **The discovery setting icon**: is the last icon you will see on the homepage of the web browser. It gives you shortcuts to articles on websites you frequently 

### Google Chrome Alternatives
There are other web browsers, like Google Chrome, that you can also seek out and use. The following are a few of them that are very popular when searching for a web browser.

 
![Microsoft Edge](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/iafvvxvqi0vnrkp5b9dn.jpeg)
1. **Microsoft Edge:** The Microsoft Edge browser is a fast and secure browser that protects your data and saves time and money. It's a good alternative to Google chrome because it protects your privacy, offers tracking prevention, Adblock, and InPrivate browsing that helps keep you safe online.
 
![Opera](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/9afn6rtss95nby24id0k.jpeg)

2. **Opera:** Opera enables you to browse the internet without data every day. You can get up to 1.5GB of Free Data every month. It's a good alternative to google chrome due massive amount of functionalities like Free Browsing in Nigeria, Save data, Block Ads, Offline Reading, Offline Sharing, Personalized News, and others.


![Mozilla Firefox](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/0erk2x8n36bps0n2lhnu.jpeg) 

3.**Mozilla Firefox:** Firefox is a non-profit Mozilla foundation, whose mission is to ensure the internet remains a global public resource. It's a good alternative to Google Chrome due to its characteristics like a streamlined home screen, privacy control in all the right places, getting add-ons, and organizing your tabs the way you like. 

 
![Brave](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/66utq8257ydwxg18zk0y.jpeg)

4.**Brave**: Brave is a secure, fast, and private web browser. It is 3X faster than any other browser and a good alternative to Google Chrome due to its features like Brave Wallet, Private Browsing, Browse Faster, and Privacy Protection.

 
![UC Browser](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/5ctk1fwwiw8bq53knl4n.jpeg)

5.**UC Browser:** UC Browser is a fast, smart, and secure web browser, designed for an easy and excellent browser. It's a good alternative to Google Chrome due to its Fast Download, Small Window Mode, Video Playing in Background, Data Saving, Ad Block, and others.


![Safari](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/wvnak4p229ge783udl76.jpeg)

6.**Safari:** The Safari web browser is a free application designed to be a minimal browser taking up to 4MB, saving you space on your mobile phone. It's a good alternative to Google Chrome due to its extremely fast browsing speed and loads of heavy websites.

 
![Phoenix](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/3z0jrv77vfj79bdt9pz0.jpeg)

7.**Phoenix Browser:** The Phoenix is a fast and safe web browser for your android device with its main features of News Browsing, Downloading, and immersive Video Watching which has proven to be a good alternative to Google Chrome.


### Conclusion
Google  Chrome is one of the best browsers we have today and it's used by millions of people all over the whole. Due to its special features of sync across other devices and the special google services it comes with and also Google products like Google Drive, Gmail, Google Docs, and others, it has made mobile phone users to be able to browse faster and easier while carrying out personal or business activities online. This guide covers the basic knowledge of how to install and use Google Chrome on your Mobile Device.