Google recently announced at its annual developer conference that the Google Chrome internet browser, as well as Google Drive, are coming to Apple iOS devices. If you are unfamiliar with Google Drive, it’s essentially a Dropbox-like storage service.
This move means that Google users will be able to have a more consistent experience across their multiple devices, including their
iPhones and iPads. Vice President of Chrome Brian Rakowski debuted how the browser will work on iOS devices during the conference.
More specifically, Rakowski showed how Google’s sync feature, which was recently added to Chrome, will work on these devices. Sync allows you to share your browser settings across multiple devices when you are signed in using your Google credentials. In addition to that, it means that tabs you have open on your computer can be accessed when you’re on your Chrome browser on your smartphone or tablet.
Google also announced that its Drive service, which allows you to store and share documents, will also work on iOS devices as well. In addition to that, it was announced that this service will run on Chrome OS devices too. According to Director of Product for Google Apps Clay Bavor, “We brought many of the best features of Drive to mobile.”
Google launched its Drive service, which was originally known as Google Docs, around 2 1/2 months ago. Google says that already 10 million users are signed up to use it. Bavor showed off one cool feature of Drive which allows images to be scanned and stored as PDF files in Google Drive. They are also searchable using Google search technology.
Another demonstration showed how you could scan a postal receipt and then search for it in your Drive files. Pictures are also searchable, even if they are not properly labeled. For example, let’s say you wanted to find a picture of your new kitten that you named Dave. All you have to do
is type something like “Photos of kitten” and Google’s tech is able to recognize the pics and find them for you.
While all these features are pretty amazing, the best thing is the ability to have them on your iOS devices. I personally love using Google Chrome (which I’m using right now) and the ability to use that on my iPhone or iPad would be incredible. All I can say is you’re welcome, Apple lovers.
Source: CNET – Google Chrome and Drive come to Apple iOS devices
