Use all your screen Chrome for Android gets edge-to-edge UI update Chrome for Android is getting a neat visual upgrade. Ryan Whitwam – Apr 11, 2025 2:26 pm | 1 Credit: Ryan Whitwam Credit: Ryan Whitwam Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more The Internet might look a bit different on Android soon. Last month, Google announced its intent to make Chrome for Android a more immersive experience by hiding the navigation bar background. The promised edge-to-edge update is now rolling out to devices on Chrome version 135, giving you a touch more screen real estate. However, some websites may also be a bit harder to use. Moving from button to gesture navigation reduced the amount of screen real estate devoted to the system UI, which leaves more room for apps. Google's move to a "dynamic bottom bar" in Chrome creates even more space for web content. When this feature shows up, the pages you visit will be able to draw all the way to the bottom of the screen instead of stopping at the navigation area, which Google calls the "chin." As you scroll down a page, Chrome hides the address bar. With the addition of the dynamic bottom bar, the chin also vanishes. The gesture handle itself remains visible, shifting between white and black based on what is immediately behind it to maintain visibility. Unfortunately, this feature will not work if you have chosen to stick with the classic three-button navigation option. You may notice some problems with certain websites after the change rolls out. Since sites can draw to the bottom of the screen, important footers could end up behind the gesture bar. This could make elements like newsletter signups and cookie preferences more annoying to use or dismiss. Google's edge-to-edge migration guide advises web developers to utilize safe area insets, which will ensure that UI elements will not render directly behind the navigation bar. Simply being on Chrome 135 is not necessarily enough to get the dynamic bottom bar. A separate server-side update is rolling out to enable edge-to-edge viewing—there's no way to force this update, but in our testing, it appears to be rolling out widely. So the wait shouldn't be long. Ryan Whitwam Senior Technology Reporter Ryan Whitwam Senior Technology Reporter Ryan Whitwam is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering the ways Google, AI, and mobile technology continue to change the world. Over his 20-year career, he's written for Android Police, ExtremeTech, Wirecutter, NY Times, and more. He has reviewed more phones than most people will ever own. You can follow him on Bluesky, where you will see photos of his dozens of mechanical keyboards. 1 Comments