Google is making Chrome’s incognito mode more private on Android
Incognito tabs in web browsers are useful when you want to browse some questionable sites and don’t want anyone to know about them. While Google Chrome for Android has had incognito browsing for ages, anyone with access to your phone could easily resume your private browsing sessions, making them less than personal. To make incognito tabs more secure, Google has been working onprotecting them via biometric authenticationsince at least August 2021. A few months ago, thefeature made its way to the stable build of Chrome 105 for Androidvia a new flag. Now, Google is finally making this feature official and rolling it out to all Android users.
Ahead of Data Privacy Day (January 28), Google has announced the rollout of biometric authentication for resuming your incognito browsing sessions in Chrome for Android. The feature is disabled by default, though. You must enable it by jumping into Chrome settings, navigating toPrivacy & Security, and turning on the toggle forLock incognito tabs when you close Chrome.
After this, whenever you try to resume your private browsing session after closing Chrome, you must confirm your identity via a fingerprint scan or your phone’s unlock pin. If the feature is not yet live on your phone, it’s possible to activate it by going tochrome://flags/#incognito-reauthentication-for-androidand enabling the flag. Restart the browser for the changes to take effect.
Do note that you can continue to quickly close incognito tabs from your phone’s notification panel without opening them first. This process won’t require your biometrics. The ability to lock incognito tabs has been available on Chrome for iOS for more than a couple of years now, and Google has taken its own time in bringing the feature to Android.
Besides a more private incognito browsing experience, Google alsoannounced expanded capabilities for Safety Checkto reign in unwanted notifications from websites. Safety Check will now more proactively send you personalized recommendations to turn off such notifications.
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