54

Material Design for Chrome on OSX

over 7 years ago from

I saw this on reddit: if you have the latest version of Chrome (51+), you can go to chrome://flags/#top-chrome-md and set it to Material. If you want transparency like Safari, set it to Material Hybrid.

30 comments

  • Joshua TurnerJoshua Turner, over 7 years ago

    Now if we could only get rid of this damn thing.

    Stupid Avatar Menu

    10 points
  • Daniel AdamsDaniel Adams, over 7 years ago

    The black 1px separator line between top and content is very distracting.

    7 points
  • Giel CobbenGiel Cobben, over 7 years ago

    Chrome in incognito mode:

    Chrome Dark

    2 points
  • Hank H, over 7 years ago (edited over 7 years ago )

    Height of the toolbar actually increases 2px with material design. material-vs-nonmaterial

    2 points
  • wojtek w.wojtek w., over 7 years ago

    The tab font gets much bigger and now less text fits in there. Ugh.

    2 points
  • Connor NorvellConnor Norvell, over 7 years ago

    What exactly does this change? I did it, and don't notice a difference, really at all

    1 point
    • Gavin AnthonyGavin Anthony, over 7 years ago (edited over 7 years ago )

      Icons are thinner, tabs have sharper corners/are longer, and the background behind the tabs is now transparent. Here's a screenshot: img

      4 points
    • Eric REric R, over 7 years ago

      Make sure you are using Chrome version 51+. I had the same issue and went to check which version I was running and I was on version 50 with the option to update (normally it prompts me to update in the chrome popout menu).

      3 points
    • Craig LockwoodCraig Lockwood, over 7 years ago

      There's also behind-the-scenes improvements on how all the graphic elements are done. In the Material Design version, everything is rendered programmatically, so no more image assets for icons and stuff. That also means better rendering on all kinds of screens.

      More info on Sebastien Gabriel's portfolio.

      4 points
    • Andy MerskinAndy Merskin, over 7 years ago

      And you can no longer press Backspace to navigate back after years of muscle memory built on its convenience. Now you must press Cmd+Left Arrow (or worse, Alt+Left Arrow on Windows).

      For those using a couch keyboard on a TV that doesn't have a proper "Back" button or trackpad gestures, this change was a huge mistake. :(

      3 points
      • Brooks HassigBrooks Hassig, over 7 years ago

        Delete works for me to move back.

        1 point
      • John PJohn P, over 7 years ago

        Easily the best part of the update, hats off to the Chrome team for ignoring the whiners and finally correcting this UX disaster that Internet Explorer thrust upon the world and people were too Stockholm Syndrome'd to see how godawful it was.

        3 points
        • Andy MerskinAndy Merskin, over 7 years ago (edited over 7 years ago )

          I agree in part—pressing backspace only to have your form data lost is immensely frustrating. But many users have relied on this shortcut to navigate for a long while now. The least they could have done is offered a preference, or release an extension that enables this functionality.

          A more frustrating experience (for all of us "whiners") is to have functionality we use 100's of times per day suddenly stripped away without explanation or a comparable alternative. Pressing two keys to go back is cumbersome, and the shortcut they've offered requires me to look at my keyboard and carefully press the combo. :/

          0 points
    • Barron RothBarron Roth, over 7 years ago (edited over 7 years ago )

      Yep, I'm thinking it won't work for some. Mine had no change whatsoever after enabling the flag.

      Edit: Just update Chrome and the flag will work!

      0 points
  • Aron RotteveelAron Rotteveel, over 7 years ago

    FYI: this is not OSX specific and works just fine on Windows as well.

    0 points
  • Xavier HaniquautXavier Haniquaut, over 7 years ago

    And worst of the worst, backspace doesnt work anymore for "previous page" but chrome enforce the use of cmd+leftarrow

    0 points
  • Xavier HaniquautXavier Haniquaut, over 7 years ago

    Tabs no longer have rounded corners

    0 points
  • Nate vNate v, over 7 years ago

    You don't actually need 51 for this (currently have 50 and it's available)

    0 points