Whoops! Chrome For iOS's Incognito Mode Isn't Really Incognito!

If you’re a regular user of Google Chrome, you know how important its incognito mode can be to save some unnecessary embarrassment when you decide you need to search for something completely strange you would rather not let your family, friends or roommates be aware of. That’s why we thought you should know if you rely on the privacy of incognito mode in Google Chrome on your iOS device running iOS 7, you might want to hold off on using it for the time being.

As TechCrunch reports, a new update for Chrome for iOS adds iOS 7 support, but there’s also a big flaw as discovered by UK development and design firm Parallax. It turns out that when you use the search/address bar in Incognito mode in Chrome, that history will show up when you return to standard browsing in Google’s mobile website search bar.

The above video is rather swift, and has no commentary, but what it shows is erasing history to start with a clean slate, entering Incognito Mode, visiting a website, returning to normal browsing and then viewing search history at Google – where the supposed private web session shows up.

Note that you do need to visit Google to see the history: it doesn’t show up when simply using the combined URL/search bar.

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Chrome For Android Gets Application Shortcuts and Faster Search, 200-400 Milliseconds Faster

The new browser lets users add ios like web shortcuts to the home screen, will now open in a full-screen experience and appear as a separate app in the app switcher. With the Beta release of Chrome for android, it’s now easier to create shortcuts on the homescreen which open the website that you often go to.

When visiting a website you would like to save, user will have to simply select “Add to homescreen” from the toolbar menu. The new version 31 also brings the desktop client’s search focused tab. google has even provided search speed boost through server-side code. The new update, google have also made it work for web payments. On sites with request Autocomplete(), users will be able to either use their existing payment data stored with the browser or enter new details through a browser-provided interface. 

While, Google says that this feature will be rolling out to Beta users in android, Windows, and Chrome OS in the coming days. A Mac version will be included in a future release. Whereas, Google also shared that with all these new updates they promise much faster browsing experience on mobile phones. Google’s Developer Advocate, Ilya Grigorik said in a post:

Google mobile search is getting faster – to be exact, 200-400 milliseconds faster! We are gradually rolling out this improvement to all browsers that support the <a ping> attribute (currently, mobile Chrome and Safari).

What’s the benefit? Whenever the user clicks on a result, typically they are first sent to a Google URL redirector and then to the target site. With <a ping>, the click is tracked using an asynchronous call, meaning that the user sees one less redirect and a faster overall experience!

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