Chrome 28 beta for Android is out: Google Translate built-in, fullscreen on tablets, new error pages, and more

Just a day after launching the stable version of Chrome 27 for Android, Google has announced the release of Chrome 28 beta for Android. The new features include a built-in Google Translate bar, fullscreen support on tablets, and new mobile-friendly error pages.

You can download version 28.0.1500.21 right now directly from Google Play. Remember: since this is a beta release, you won’t find it via the store’s search function; you’ll need to use the link.

The biggest addition here is undoubtedly Google Translate support. When you come across a page written in a language that isn’t the default language on your phone or tablet, just tap the “Translate” button:

For those that use Chrome on the desktop, this is the same built-in translation bar you’re already used to for quickly skimming a web page you otherwise wouldn’t understand at all. Now you can use it while you’re on the go as well.

Next up is fullscreen support on tablets: as you scroll, the top toolbar disappears so you can see more web page content. The feature was first introduced in Chrome 27 for Android on phones, which have now also gained a “+” in the toolbar for creating tabs.

Last but certainly not least, Google is still experimenting with the data savings feature it introduced in Chrome 26 beta. As of Chrome 27 beta, you no longer need to enable it under chrome://flags and can see your data savings by just going to “Bandwidth Management” in Settings and enabling “Reduce Data Usage.” In Chrome 28 beta, you’ll also get a spiffy graph that shows your estimated bandwidth savings:

For reference, here’s the official Chrome 27 beta for Android changelog:

• Google Translate: When you come across a page written in a language that isn’t in the same language as your phone or tablet, look for the translation bar.
• Fullscreen on tablets: Simply scroll the page to dismiss the toolbar.
• Support for fullscreen API.
• New graph showing your estimated bandwidth savings when you use the experimental data compression feature.
• Mobile friendly error pages.

Chrome 28 could arrive as soon as June, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it was pushed back to July. This is a big release for Google, as it will be the first to ship with Blink instead of WebKit.

Top Image Credit: T. Al Nakib