UI Enhancements

Cromite includes numerous user interface improvements and customization options, particularly on Android, to enhance usability while maintaining privacy and security.

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Address Bar and Navigation

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Omnibox Improvements

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URL Display

Many browsers hide parts of URLs (like “www” or “m”), which can be exploited for phishing. Cromite shows complete URLs for security.

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Search Engine Settings

Enhanced search engines:

• Google search engine that forces English language
• Disables RLZ and field experiment parameters
• DuckDuckGo Lite added as option

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Bookmark Management

Cromite significantly improves bookmark functionality, especially on Android:

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Tab Management

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Tab Behavior

Tab Switcher

Use list mode for tab switcher - More efficient vertical list instead of card stack

• Easier to scan open tabs
• More tabs visible at once
• Faster tab switching
• Better for many open tabs

Tab Groups

Web search in tab group - Option to open searches in tab groups

• Organize search results
• Keep related tabs together
• Better tab organization

Tab Opening Behavior

Opens tabs in foreground - Option to control whether new tabs open in foreground or background

• Customize tab opening behavior
• Immediate visibility or background loading
• User preference control

Tab Persistence

Keep empty tabs between sessions - Empty tabs are preserved when restarting

• Maintain workspace layout
• No lost empty tabs
• Session consistency

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New Tab Page

NTP customization:

• Use home page as new tab page (option)
• Never fetch popular sites (privacy)
• Disable remote suggestions by default
• No Google integration

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Close All Tabs

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Navigation Controls

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Bottom Navigation Bar

• Better reachability
• Modern mobile UI pattern
• Easier thumb access
• Optional configuration

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Browser Controls

Always open browser controls in new tab - Consistent behavior for browser control visibility

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Reload Button Menu

Enable menu on reload button (Desktop) - Additional options when clicking reload:

• Normal reload
• Hard reload
• Clear cache and reload

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Reading and Viewing

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View Source

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Dark Mode

Forces dark mode on websites:

• Reduces eye strain
• Battery savings on OLED
• Consistent dark theme
• Fingerprinting risk - Can be detected by sites

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Pull-to-Refresh

Readded disable-pull-to-refresh-effect flag - Option to disable pull-to-refresh gesture

• Prevents accidental refreshes
• Better for reading
• User preference

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Media Playback

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Background Audio

Perfect for:

• Music streaming
• Podcasts
• Video audio
• Audio content

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Video Playback Controls

Video Resume Feature

Flag to control video playback resume - Video playback whenever switching between tabs is not blocked

• Videos continue playing when switching tabs
• Or pause when tab is not active
• User configurable
• Battery saving option

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Media Format Support

• Platform AAC audio - Enabled due to license restrictions
• H.264 video - Enabled due to license restrictions
• HEVC enabled by default - H.265 video support
• JXL support - JPEG XL image format enabled

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Pop-up and Selection Handling

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Pop-up Selection Options

Pop-up Selection Behavior (Android)

Options for handling text selection pop-ups:

• Opens tabs in foreground - Selected text search opens in foreground
• Move web search to top of items - Web search first in context menu
• Web search in tab group - Group search result tabs
• Enable smart text selection - AI-powered selection (disabled by default for privacy)

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Tap Behavior

Add setting to invert tap and long tap - Accessibility option for different tap preferences

• Helps users with motor difficulties
• Customize interaction model
• Accessibility improvement

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Home Page and Startup

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Privacy UI

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Incognito Mode

Always-incognito mode available - Option to always browse in incognito mode

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Add to Home Screen

Disable add to home screen prompt - Removes annoying PWA install prompts

• Less clutter
• No unwanted prompts
• User-initiated only

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Promo and Help Dialogs

• No feature promos
• No upgrade nags
• No marketing popups
• Clean experience

Remove help menu item - Help menu item removed to reduce clutter

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Paint Preview

Disable Paint Preview by default - Disables page preview generation feature

• Saves memory
• Improves privacy
• Reduces storage use

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Downloads

Do not ignore download location prompt setting - Always respects download location preference

• Consistent behavior
• User control
• No default location forcing

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Autofill

Benefits:

• Better integration with password managers
• System-level autofill
• More secure
• Works with Android autofill services

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Certificate Display

EV Certificates appear as normal - Extended Validation certificates don’t get special UI treatment

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Customization Options

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User Agent

User agent customization - Ability to customize browser user agent string

• Spoof different browsers
• Compatibility testing
• Site compatibility
• Advanced use cases

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Proxy Configuration

Comprehensive proxy configuration:

• HTTP/HTTPS proxies
• SOCKS proxies
• PAC file support
• Per-host rules

Reference: https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/HEAD/net/docs/proxy.md

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Theme Customization

• Dark mode support
• Darken websites (optional, fingerprinting risk)
• System theme integration
• Custom color schemes

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User Scripts (Android)

Use cases:

• Custom page modifications
• Automation scripts
• Privacy enhancements
• Feature additions

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Experimental Features

• Dictionary suggestions - Omnibox dictionary lookups
• Ask to restart on connection change - Prompt to restart when network changes

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Platform-Specific UI

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Android

• Exit menu item
• Bottom navigation bar
• Improved bookmarks UI
• Tab switcher list mode
• Native autofill
• User scripts
• Always-incognito mode

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Desktop

• Menu on reload button
• Traditional desktop UI
• Extension toolbar
• Multi-window management

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Best Practices