Three years after getting a ‘read later’ feature on iOS, Google Chrome is finally set to get the functionality on desktop platforms. A new entry in the Chromium Gerrit suggests that it might soon be available on ChromeOS, macOS, Windows and Linux. Believed to have been first spotted by Techdows, the feature is already available behind a flag in Chrome 86 Canary.
The feature is also available on Android, albeit in a different avatar. Android users can access it by tapping on the triple-dot menu on the top-right corner of the page they want to view later. Thereafter, they can choose the ‘Download’ option from the pullout menu to add the webpage to their ‘saved’ list. It may not be the most elegant solution, but gets the job done nonetheless.
As for the new entry on the Chromium Gerrit, it says the feature will “Allow users to save tabs for later”. According to the explainer: “(The feature) Enables a new button and menu for accessing tabs saved for later”. Do note that the feature is likely in its very early stages, as it cannot yet be activated on any platform. Be that as it may, we expect things to change in the days ahead.
Google is rolling out a number of changes to its Chrome web-browser in recent months. The software received native 64-bit support earlier this month, and added a download scheduler on Android last week. It will also soon let you use your smartphone’s ‘screen lock’ passcode, Face ID or fingerprint to authenticate payments.
