TL;DR
- Google has rolled out a new feature to lock incognito tabs when quitting Chrome on Android.
- Users can unlock incognito tabs with whatever they use to unlock their device.
- This feature is not yet available on all devices.
Did you know that it’s almost Data Privacy Day (January 28th)? Google is celebrating the day a little early by posting tips for using Chrome safely. The company, somewhat buried under everything else on its blog, has revealed that it is rolling out a new feature that will allow Android users to lock incognito tabs.
In case you didn’t know, the ability to lock and unlock incognito tabs in Chrome has been around since 2021. However, this was his Chrome-only feature on iOS. Now Google is bringing this feature to his Android devices.
If you want to start using this feature yourself, it’s very easy to enable.just go Settings > Privacy & Security > and toggle Lock incognito tabs when you leave ChromeI took some screenshots (below).
Using this feature is as easy as setting it up. Just close the Chrome app and when you open it next time you will see a splash screen with a button to unlock the tab. After tapping the button, a message will appear asking what you normally use to unlock your device. This is your fingerprint, PIN, or pattern.
Additionally, public tabs are still fully accessible.
This is a useful feature if you need to give your phone to someone else but don’t want to peak at the websites you’re visiting. If you can’t find it on your phone, Google says the rollout to Android devices is still in progress.