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Google is launching online shopping improvements in its mobile Chrome browsers for Android and iOS to help users more quickly and easily fill out on-screen forms using upgraded autofill capabilities on a multitude of mobile devices.
The faster autofill features were unveiled by Google software engineers Ruslan Abdikeev and Jim Blackler in a Nov. 14 post on the Google Chrome Blog. “Today, we’re starting to roll out new features on Chrome for mobile to help save you time and hassle while you’re on-the-go,” wrote Abdikeev and Blackler.
Android users already have basic autofill capabilities, but Google is doing work to make the user experience even easier, they wrote. “On Android, we’re testing some improvements to Autofill to further streamline online forms. Using your saved Chrome Autofill info (or Google Wallet account if you’re in the U.S.), checking out becomes as simple as a few clicks.”
The same kinds of capabilities are soon coming for iOS users, the post continued. “For iPhone and iPad users, Chrome for iOS will soon include Autofill to help you quickly fill out forms on-the-go just as you can on desktop and Android. When you sign into Chrome on your iPhone and iPad, you can quickly complete online forms using your synced Autofill info from other devices you’ve signed into.”
The improved autofill features are an evolution, they wrote. “This feature is just in the early stages, but we’re excited about the opportunity to make online shopping and form filling even easier for merchants and users alike. You can test this faster checkout flow on Betabrand with this release of Chrome for Android, and we’re hoping to bring more of your favorite retailers onto the platform in the coming months.”
Coincidentally, the latest Chrome for Android browser app with the improved autofill features, Version 31, was released by Google on Nov. 14 according to a post by Jason Kersey of the Chrome team on the Google Chrome Releases Blog.
The new Stable channel version will be available in Google Play over the next few days and contains a number of new features, including printing from Chrome on Android KitKat devices and stability, performance and security updates, wrote Kersey.
The most recent stable version of Chrome for iOS, Version 30, was released in October.
Launched in 2008, Chrome presently holds 40.4 percent of the global Web browser market, compared with 28.9 percent for its closest competitor, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, according to October 2013 data from StatCounter. Chrome celebrated its fifth birthday in early September. In June 2012, Chrome surpassed Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for the first time as the world’s most used browser.
Google just launched the latest stable Version 31 of its desktop Chrome Web browser on Nov. 12, making it the default version for users who want the latest release edition of its popular browser.
The new Chrome Stable browser is officially known as Version 31.0.1650.48 and is available for free download for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome Frame. Some 25 security fixes are included in the latest version, addressing a wide variety of issues in the browser’s code. Also included is a Flash Player update to Version 11.9.900.152.