Google’s Material You is spreading to Chrome for desktop
Material Youis Google’s big new theming engine it launched last year alongside Android 12, and it has been spreading to many Android apps since. However, the dynamic interface theming option hasn’t spread beyond Google’s own platforms just yet, with it remaining locked to Android only. The latest Chrome Canary release, version 110, is changing that and brings Material You to Mac, Windows, ChromeOS, and Linux.
Since Chrome doesn’t hook into your computer’s desktop wallpaper, it works a little differently than on Android. As spotted byRedditor u/Leopeva64-2, the Chrome interface dynamically takes on the dominant colors from the wallpaper you choose for your new tab page. To make this work, you first need to enable the chrome://flags/#customize-chrome-color-extraction flag.
Once you turn on the flag, you’ll notice that the interface still lacks a toggle that lets you switch between custom themes and self-selected themes. You need to turn off the flag again to reliably use a different color for your address bar and tab. Otherwise, the wallpaper color will override your preferred color whenever you change Chrome wallpapers.
The feature will be completed by the chrome://flags/#ntp-comprehensive-theming flag, which will add more colored elements to the new tab page itself. It will add the theme color to the search bar and the under-development cards that live on the new tab page. However, we haven’t been able to activate this alongside the color extraction flag.
Either way, it’s clear that dynamic theming is shaping up to become a reality on Chrome on desktop. While you still need to install Chrome Canary to get a taste of it, it probably won’t take too long to come to the stable release of the browser. In the meantime, get a good look at thebest apps updated for Material You on your phoneright now.
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