Google Chrome for Android Moves Toward Vertical Tabs Overhaul for Foldables and Tablets
Google is actively writing code for a vertical tabs overhaul in Chrome for Android, targeting users who manage large numbers of open pages on foldable phones, tablets, and large-screen devices.
Browser development tracker @Leopeva64 first spotted an experimental flag for vertical tabs in an early Chrome build last month. At the time, the flag was an empty placeholder — toggling it did nothing.
That remains the case today. Still, engineering work behind the flag has accelerated significantly, with developers now wiring the interface controls to functional code.
What the Redesign Changes
The most visible addition places a new toggle directly inside the tab menu. It lets users switch between the existing horizontal tab bar and the new vertical layout.
Developers recently finalized the icon for the button that returns users to the horizontal view, according to code reviewed by PiunikaWeb.
When a user switches to vertical mode, Chrome suppresses the existing top bar entirely. That prevents both layouts from appearing simultaneously and consuming screen space.
The vertical panel is not a simple list of links. Google is adding dedicated buttons for Tab Search and tab groups at the top of the panel — mirroring how Chrome already handles tabs on desktop.
Groups and Pinned Tabs Get a New Structure
The redesign also changes how tab groups — collections of related pages a user bundles together — appear on screen.
Currently, Android tab groups display as a grid of thumbnail squares. The new vertical layout replaces that grid with a straight, scrollable list.
Pinned tabs, which users lock in place for quick access, sit at the top of the list. Grouped tabs nest in rows below them.
Developers are encoding strict rules into the browser so it never mistakes a group’s header row for an individual page within that group — a distinction that affects how drag-and-drop reordering works.
Persistent Layout Preferences
The code also shows Chrome will store a user’s layout choice inside the app’s core preferences file.
If a user selects the vertical layout and closes Chrome, the browser opens in vertical mode on the next launch. The setting persists across full app restarts.
The Larger Context: Android for Laptops
The timing of this work connects to a broader strategic shift at Google.
The company is developing a platform internally referred to as “Aluminum OS” — a full desktop operating system built on Android that Google intends as a replacement for ChromeOS on consumer laptops.
A vertical tab panel uses the wider screen of a laptop or an unfolded foldable device more efficiently than a horizontal bar compressed at the top of the window. That makes the layout a natural fit for a desktop-class environment.
Bugs Still Blocking Release
The feature is not ready for public release. Automated tests tied to the new layout are still failing, which is holding up final code approvals.
One recent bug caused errors when a user dragged a tab out of a group in vertical mode — a math error in the ordering logic that left tabs dropping in the wrong position.
Developers are actively correcting those errors and building a dedicated system to maintain the correct sort order in the vertical list as users rearrange tabs.
