Chrome Dev Summit boasts 400 million mobile users and exciting new features

The years Google I/O came with a whole array of exciting surprises. And even though the latest version of android 5.0 Lollipop took the spotlight, the Chrome division also had more than a few points to delight, one of which was the whopping 300 million user base on mobile devices. Last week, at this year`s Chrome Dev Summit, Darin Fisher updated that number to 400 million, which is a staggering growth to say the least.

Most of the focus was unsurprisingly centered around Lollipop and all of its various bells and whistles, like Polimer and Material Design. But Chrome has undergone some hefty improvements itself.

In the keynote Fisher touched upon WebViews, which are now untied, so to speak from android core and are therefore a lot easier and secure to develop around, which is more than welcome to facilitate recent webapp growth.

Further steps to facilitate this drive towards web technology include a general change in web content status within android itself. Web pages can now take up the whole device screen and are featured alongside regular apps in the recent apps view. Another nice little addition is the ability of web pages to effect the color of the toolbar and make it seem like a natural part of their layout.

Chrome has also further optimized the browsing experience and responsiveness by removing the 300ms artificial delay that was present in Chrome to facilitate double tapping features and implementing an almost instant response to your actions.

This interaction and feedback is facilitated even further by various additions and improvements to background services, available to web content, like keeping accurate and up-to date offline content, background sync and even access to notification APIs.

All of these features are in line with a central, higher incentive to level the playing field between native and web content. Google`s main objective is to bring a uniform experience and allow users to access content and features in a uniform way, regardless of its source and delivery method.

The keynote video from the Chrome Dev Summit is available on YouTube. At just under 20 minutes it packs a whole lot of awesome and is a must watch for Chrome and mobile web enthusiasts alike. Watch it here:

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