Google Chrome Updated With Fingerprint Lock for Incognito Tabs on Android: How It Works

Google Chrome users will be able to “unlock" Incognito tabs with their fingerprint after reopening the browser on Android.

Written by Himani Jha, Edited by David Delima | Updated: 27 January 2023 13:09 IST

Google Chrome Updated With Fingerprint Lock for Incognito Tabs on Android: How It Works

Google Chrome introduced the fingerprint lock feature for Incognito Mode on iOS in 2021

Highlights

Google Chrome’s Incognito tabs are now locked after exiting
The feature is currently available on specific devices
This Google Chrome feature was earlier exclusive to iOS phones

Google Chrome's Incognito Mode is set to get more private on Android. A new feature is rolling out to users on Android phones that will automatically lock Incognito tabs on Google Chrome when the browser is exited. Users will be able to unlock them using biometric authentication, using the fingerprint scanner on their smartphone. The feature is currently rolling out for Android users, however, not all users will have access to the feature. The biometric lock feature for Incognito tabs was first introduced on iOS devices in 2021 and is now making its way to Android users.

The rollout of the Google Chrome feature was announced by the company via a blog post, and the company says that Android users will require biometric authentication to reopen their Incognito tabs after they close and reopen the app. This means no one except the device's owner will be able to access the Incognito session. The feature is rolling out to Chrome users on Android, according to the company. It is worth noting that this feature is not enabled by default and users will have to enable the functionality in Chrome's Settings menu.

To enable this new privacy feature, users can access Chrome's settings menu, then click on Privacy & Security and enable Lock incognito tabs when they close Chrome. Once done, the feature will be enabled and the users will need to "unlock" their Incognito tabs using the phone's fingerprint scanner. Also, enabling or disabling this feature requires users to provide verification, such as their device PIN or pattern. Google first introduced the fingerprint lock feature for Incognito tabs on iOS devices in 2021.

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Meanwhile, Google has shared five ways to offer a safe browsing experience ahead of Data Privacy Day which is celebrated on January 28. The features include the ability to delete the browser's history including history, cookies and cache, from a specific time or altogether, using Chrome's password manager on Android, iOS and desktop to remember and automatically fill passwords on their devices.

Google is also reportedly working on a newly redesigned menu that will have a new toggle to block all unwanted extensions at once. The new toggle will disable extensions and block potentially malicious extensions. Microsoft Edge, too, has a similar "pause extensions on this site" feature. The new feature is currently under development and is seen in Chrome Canary. However, it doesn't work at the moment, and just turns on and off and doesn't show the installed extensions as well, as per the report.

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