In an admission that the internet isn’t always great on touch-based devices, Google is adding a ‘Request tablet site’ option to Chrome.
Google’s senior product manager for Chrome OS, Kan Liu, confirmed in an interview with Android Police that Google’s aware not all sites work well on touchscreens.
Further, Liu said an upcoming release of Chrome OS tablets and touch-enabled Chromebooks would allow users to force a ‘tablet mode’ rendering.
While Liu didn’t elaborate on which Chrome OS release would get the new feature, About Chromebooks found a flag to turn it on in the new Chrome OS Dev channel update.
In Chrome OS Dev version 72, you can navigate to ‘chrome://flags’ and search for the ‘#enable-request-tablet-site’ flag. Once you’ve enabled the flag and restarted your Chromebook, the three-dot overflow menu will contain the new ‘Request tablet site’ option.
It’s also worth noting that this Chrome OS flag isn’t exactly new, but may not have been widely available before now.
Regardless, Pixel Slate users — and other touchscreen Chromebook users — will likely welcome the new feature. If you’re using your device in tablet mode, desktop websites can be a common frustration. Having the option to force things to be touch-friendly should help in that regard.
Source: Android Police, About Chromebooks
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