14 DAY TRIAL // Two weeks after the official launch in the Android Market, Chrome Beta sits somewhere between 100,000 and 500,000 downloads. Given the fact that the application is only compatible with devices that run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, this is a great achievement.
However, Google's Senior Vice President Sundar Pichai told CNET that Chrome for Android would be improved with important new features that were requested by beta users.
According to Pichai, the application received lots of positive feedback, mostly due to the sync capability and tab stack feature. Google will release new updates for Chrome for Android “at a healthy pace.”
“In a year from now, we're going to take leaps and bounds,” claims Pichai. Hopefully, he means Chrome for Android will be available on previous versions of Android as well.
Anyway, it appears that some of the most requested features include the ability to see the desktop version of a website by default, as well as the option to browse in full screen.
Google's official confirmed for CNET that these are only minor improvements which the developers are willing introduce in future updates. Unfortunately, there is no roadmap for these future updates, so there's no telling when exactly these features might be available.
Last but not least, Android users have expressed their concern on the lack of Adobe Flash support. Apparently, this won't be a problem for Google, Pichai claims, though he didn't offer a clear explanation for the moment.
Even though only two new features have been confirmed for future update, Google will probably add more capabilities to its Android browser. In addition, the company stated that it would bring Chrome for Android to more countries as well.
Chrome Beta is now available as a free download in the Android Market and is fully compatible with all devices running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and up.