Google launches new ‘Material You’-based Chrome Web Store

With over 2 billion users across the globe, Google Chrome is certainly one of the world’s most popular web browsers. It is a Chromium-based browser, Google’s open-source software project. Last month, Google Chrome turned 15, and to commemorate that, Google announced that it would be rolling out the biggest redesign in the browser’s history in the coming weeks. The update is now live and it has brought the ‘Material You’ theme which became popular with Android 12, with refreshed icons and new colour palette options that can be used to customize the toolbar and tools. And finally, the new Chrome Web Store is now live.

All new Chrome Web Store

While the new Chrome Web Store was previously available in the preview phase, Google has announced that it is now officially open for business. This means all users can now access the redesigned web store to find extensions and themes to tweak their Chrome browser and enhance their experience.

Additionally, there are now categories for AI-powered extensions such as AIPRM for ChatGPT, WebChatGPT, Perplexity, and more. The update also introduces a category for shopping extensions such as The Camelizer, Smarty, and Honey. The Web Store will also suggest extensions tailored to your interests that will be based on the ones you’ve already used. Additionally, the Editor’s Spotlight on the Chrome Web Store now features recommendations of newly launched extensions.

Google says that it is now easier than ever to navigate through the Web Store with the search bar now placed at the top right of the screen. It also allows you to filter by all items or featured extensions to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Google’s Material You redesign

The new Material You theme allows users to tweak the browser's dynamic colour, motion, as well as widgets. Users can pick a single-coloured theme and Google will use its color extraction logic and output it through 65 colour APIs. It should be noted that even though it is a redesign, the layout and the broader appearance of Google Chrome are still the same, so it will not feel like a new browser. However, what you will notice is a drop-down menu on the extreme left that shows all the open tabs as well as the ones recently closed.

Announcing this redesign, Google said, “Thanks to all of our users for the last 15 years! There's so much to explore on the web, and we'll keep making improvements like these so you can easily and safely find what you need.”