Chrome for Android Could Get In-App Updates Again After Seven Years

Google appears to be revisiting an “In-App Updates Flow” experience for Chrome on Android, seven years after testing a similar way to update the browser without requiring users to manually open the Play Store.

Google is now testing the feature behind an experimental flag in Chrome Canary for Android. The #in-app-update-flow flag is described as “Enables Google Play In-App Updates flow on Android.”

The related Chromium change spotted by Windows Report describes the work as an exploratory prototype for integrating Google Play Core’s In-App Updates API, with the aim of reducing the “mobile download patch gap.”

Chrome could handle updates without requiring users to open the Play Store

Google Play’s In-App Updates system lets Android apps prompt users to update while they are using the app. It supports two update flows: “flexible updates”, which download the update while users continue using the app, and “immediate updates”, which require users to update and restart before continuing.

For Chrome, this could mean users would not need to leave the browser and manually open the Play Store when an update is available. Chrome could instead launch the Google Play update flow from within the browser.

This does not mean Google is removing the Play Store from the update process. Google Play would still handle the update. The difference is that users would not necessarily have to open the Play Store themselves to begin the process.

Google has tried this before

This is not the first time Chrome has experimented with the idea.

In May 2019, Chrome Canary for Android had a “Google Play Inline Update Flow” flag. When enabled, Chrome could download an available update while users continued browsing and then ask them to restart Chrome after the download was ready. Google Play handled the final installation.

The experiment eventually disappeared from Chrome’s flags, making the new In-App Updates flow particularly interesting. Google now appears to be exploring the same basic concept again, this time by integrating the current Google Play In-App Updates system.

Still an experiment

For now, this should not be treated as a feature that is rolling out to all Chrome users.

The Chromium change describes the work as an “exploratory prototype,” and the feature is disabled by default. Although the flag is already visible in Chrome Canary, its presence does not mean Google has decided to ship the experience.

If Google moves forward with the project, Chrome could make browser updates less disruptive.

There may also be a broader reason Google is revisiting the idea. The prototype specifically mentions reducing the “mobile download patch gap,” suggesting that the experiment is intended not only to make updates more convenient, but also to help Chrome updates reach Android devices sooner.