Google Chrome is one of the best web browsers on Android, and it has been the hotbed of changes in recent months, as the developers behind it try to keep the browser’s interface modern and synchronized with Google’s Material Design guidelines. The address bar is a critical component of Chrome, or any other browser for that matter, and it is receiving an infusion of color on Android. Changes are afoot on the desktop version, too, with Chrome seeing a small tweak to toggles.

Google kicked off Material Design changes for the Omnibox, Chrome’s address bar cum search box, back in September 2022. Another development came as an A/B test with Chrome 108 stable and Chrome 109 beta in December, when the company tested the redesign. It makes the browser UI look more like the Google Search experience, with it losing its pill-shaped search field and a card-based design for search and autocomplete suggestions. This redesign is now making its way to the stable channel on Chrome 109, as 9to5Google reports.

Left to right: Pixel Launcher search; Chrome 108 Beta Omnibox; Chrome 109 Stable Omnibox, Effect of toggling the Chrome Flag

There is one key change since we saw the feature in beta, though. The pill-shaped Omnibox background is back, and we couldn’t be happier. Most search boxes across first-party Google apps sport pill-shaped search fields, so why should Chrome 109 be any different?

The Omnibox, search suggestions, and their background borrow colors from your active wallpaper dynamically, much like the Pixel Launcher search which is experiencing issues on the latest Android 13 QPR Beta build. This change helps more people who aren’t using a Pixel phone with Pixel Launcher search get a taste of Material You and dynamic theming with Chrome. The change is a server-side update for stable channel Chrome 109 users, but can also be enabled by activating the following flag:

chrome://flags/#omnibox-modernize-visual-update

Meanwhile, changes are afoot on Chrome’s desktop client as well. Chrome sleuth and Android Police reader Leopeva64 recently discovered Google experimenting with a new toggle design, where the color isn’t the only indicator of its on/off status. The new design shows a checkmark in the toggle when switched on, clearing any residual confusion.

The Redditor also recently found Google developing a singular toggle switch to disable all your Chrome extensions on desktop. The check mark in the toggle would be a great way to figure out when the toggle is switched on, especially if you don’t use the option frequently, or have visual impairments preventing you from seeing colors perfectly.