14 DAY TRIAL // As promised, Google has been keeping the new Chrome for Android beta updated and in sync with the desktop version. But that's not all, the latest beta update also came with a couple of new features, the most interesting of which being support for chrome://flags.
chrome://flags is an internal configuration page in Chrome that enables users to switch on or off various experimental features.
The desktop version has had it for years, but it was only enabled in the Android port now.
It means you can finally start to play around with the flags and make the app even more unstable than it already is.
Quite obviously, many of the flags are not available on Android since they're intended for the desktop builds. But there are plenty that work on Android and, what's more, a few Android-exclusive flags as well, like the one to enable WebGL.
WebGL, the web 3D graphics technology hadn't been available in the mobile Chrome until now. It's still considered unstable, which is why it is hidden behind a flag.
But if you'd like to see just how well your phone can handle web 3D content, all you have to do is switch the flag on and relaunch the browser.
After that, a good place to start is the Chrome Experiments website where you'll find plenty of interesting things done with WebGL. Don't look for them in the new mobile experiments section since you won't find any, WebGL on mobile is too new.
Be warned though, you're bound to run into trouble. While some of the experiments should work, plenty won't or will be incredibly slow.
These experiments were not designed with Chrome for Android in mind and generally push the limit of what the desktop browser, with a desktop CPU and GPU, can do.
