Google Chrome is now in beta release for devices running on Android. The new browser has been quite popular on the Android Market today, already racking up 2625 reviews. It has earned a 4.3 star (above average) rating.
The Chrome for Android beta requires Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich), so there’s pretty good number of Android devices that it won’t run on right now. But a growing number of companies are coming out with os updates to Android 4, and most are now rolling out their new devices with Android 4 (or promising to have an update very soon). So the fact that it requires Android 4 or higher will matter less and less.
The countries the browser is currently available for download in are: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil.
The download link on Android Market is here.
According to Google, Chrome for Android features many of the benefits that made the regular desktop version so popular. It’s promoted as being speedy and simple. It also features a Link Preview making the clicking of links on a small screen easier.
Chrome for Android will also include the incognito window, and a way to sync bookmarks across devices.
One criticism that appears regularly, both in Android Market reviews of the browser, and on various websites, is the lack of support for Flash. But Flash support is something that Chrome for Android and other new mobile browsers will never have. Adobe, the company behind Flash, discontinued Flash for Mobile Browsers late last year after running into several roadblocks, one of which was Apple not allowing Flash on their iPhones and iPads (but there were other problems as well). So while Chrome won’t support Flash, neither will any other new browsers and devices. Content developers will have to move away from Flash or lose mobile viewers.
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