You Can Add Chrome's Address Bar Directly to Your Home Screen

Most Android phones have a Google search bar somewhere on their home screen. But did you know you can replace this with a different widget that actually functions as the address bar in your Chrome browser?

To try it out, just long-press any empty space on your home screen and choose "Widgets" from the menu. Next, scroll down and find the Chrome section (making sure you have Chrome installed, of course). Here, there's a widget labeled "Chrome Search" — long-press it, then drop it anywhere on your home screen.

This widget is Chrome's address bar in all but name. That means you can tap it to start typing right away and search for items just like the default Google search widget. But what's cool about this one is that you can quickly type in a URL and you'll get the advantage of native suggestions from your Chrome bookmarks and history. Not earth-changing, but a nice little bit of extra functionality!

Jon Knight/Gadget Hacks

Jon Knight/Gadget Hacks

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We are talking about one or two seconds saved with this method, but every second matters, right? If you browse the web a lot instead of using apps, this makes visiting your favorite websites a lot easier — unless they are PWAs, which have an even faster method:

Cover image by Jon Knight/Gadget Hacks