Google Chrome for iOS, first impressions

Starting the second day of Google I/O it was announced at last that Google Chrome would come to iOS, hours after finishing the event it became available to the App Store and you are now able to download for both iPhone and iPad. The first thing to note is that Chrome is based on IOS UIWebView and does not take advantage of the benefits that Safari offers with Nitro in javscript , however, after testing it for a couple of hours it really did not bother me at all using it as my primary browser even though it is slower.

The first thing Google wanted to highlight was the almost real-time synchronization of our information tabs and bookmarks between computers simply by entering the our own data. Being on any computer, we can change to a smartphone or tablet and have the same information quickly. In tests that I made from an iPad 2 and iPhone 4S the truth is that there was not much difference with Mobile Safari loads times when obviously my connection is not the best but complied with the requirements at the time. Indeed the speed of Safari is noted, but Chrome relies on cache and opens the pages faster the second time almost instantaneous.

The most interesting thing about Google Chrome for iOS is the interface for the iPhone and the similarity with the Desktop version from the iPad. In the iPhone it does not have the tabs at the top because they are placed one above the other which makes them really practical for access, slide your finger to the side rather quickly said goodbye to the tab page that we no longer want. Of course synchronizing is a determining factor that to me, as a user of Google Chrome, it really benefits me. If you use Safari it’s best to use the iCloud tabs synchronization.

What’s missing? The fact of not having Nitro is a disadvantage, but not a problem in my opinion. However, what I do find lacking is the integration with social networks and other services to share content. Obviously it is something that depends on Apple and as well as the extensions, it is not something we see until Apple allows this, and also needs to be tested first.