The Duet menu is probably a section of the Chrome browser that keeps getting updated from time to time. For the ignorant, Chrome Duet is the bottom bar that contains all the main features such as the home tab, tab switches and the overflow icon. By default, this bottom bar remains disabled in the stable version (which could in fact be activated via the Chrome Duet flag). With recent changes to the Duet menu in Chrome, it has now been updated with a new user interface. Let’s take a look at the changes it has undergone and the steps to activate it on your device. In addition, Chrome Canary for Android is testing a new sharing hub. Also take a look at this.
New Duo menu in Chrome
The new design change in the Duet menu in Chrome reduces the number of menu items from 5 to 3. Previously, you had the Home, Share, Search, Tab Switcher and Overflow menu. However, after activating the new user interface, you will be able to choose one of the three options. These include either the Home, Research, Tab Switcher variation or Home, Search, Share variation or New tab, search and share variation.
However, this is where the main problem arises. None of the three combinations offers Tab Switcher and Share together. In my opinion, these are two of the most used functions of the Chrome bottom bar and the lack of one of them could be annoying for users.
Activating the new duo menu in Chrome also changes the top bar accordingly. The first is that the top bar includes the Omnibox, the tab selector and the overflow icon. The next will only let the top bar have the address bar and the overflow icon. While the third incorporates the four, namely Home, address bar, tab switch and overflow icon. The changes are currently active in the Chrome Beta, Chrome Dev and Chrome Canary versions. To try it out, here are the steps to follow.
Activate the new Duo menu
To activate and try out the new duo menu in Chrome, you must have activated a certain Chrome flag. They are experimental in nature and are used to test new features before moving to the stable version. So if you’re having stability issues after activating it, consider disabling the Chrome flag. That said, here are the steps necessary to try the new Duet menu in the Chrome browser.
Steps to follow
- Open the Chrome Beta, Canary or Dev version. This guide is produced using the Canary version.
- Then enter chrome: // flags in the address bar.
- Look for the Chrome Duet flag and tap the default keyword. This flag is responsible for activating the new duo menu in Chrome.
- This will open a long list of menus, select from the activated variant Home-Search-TabSwitcher, the activated variant Home-Search-Share or the activated NewTab-Search-Share variant.
- Chrome will now notify you to restart the browser. hit Revive do this.
That’s it. The new Chrome Duet menu would have been activated successfully. This will vary for each of you, depending on what you ultimately choose. In addition, you will also see the variation in the top menu bar, as mentioned earlier.