Use Cydia Tweaks To Enhance Google Chrome For iOS; Add Features And Change The Keyboard

Almost everyone is now aware of Google having announced Google Chrome for iOS. Just a few days after Google’s I/O and this app for iOS has already soared to the number 1 spot in the free iOS apps category and not without reason. The browser has the native Apple browser, Safari, beat in just about every way. And to help it become better and more user friendly, a lot of Cydia tweaks have surfaced in the past couple of days. These tweaks are all aimed at making Chrome the browser of choice. We previously wrote about how you could make Chrome the default browser for iOS (an option not provided in iOS) and how you could open URLs in Chrome instead of in Safari, from within other apps too.

Two more Cydia tweaks to enhance your browsing experience have now come into the limelight.

One of these Cydia tweaks aims to correct what many people are complaining about. The devs behind Chrome for iOS preferred to stick with their own keyboard layout. The only issue here is that this layout does not incorporate the Top Level Domain (TLD) shortcut that most iOS users have grown accustomed to, thanks to Safari. For those who can’t seem to recall what this feature is, it’s basically how when you type a URL in the address bar and then tap and long press the .com key, a whole list of other TLDs appear. However, on Chrome this functionality is noticeably absent so when you tap and hold the same button, no TLDs appear.

To regain this useful feature, all you need is a simple Cydia tweak. Needless to say, your iDevice needs to be jailbroken in order for you to use it. When you download and install this tweak, named ChromeURL, it will simply swap the Chrome keyboard with the stock Safari keyboard that houses the TLD shortcut, allowing you to have the best of both worlds.

The tweak does not add yet another icon to your homescreen. Also, the tweak does not have configurable options. It simply does what is required of it and lets you use the TLD keyboard shortcut again. If this tweak sounds like what you need, head over to Cydia’s repository BigBoss and get it absolutely free of charge.

The second tweak, called Chromizer, adds more features to your Google Chrome browser. Simply put, it adds three new features these being full screen browsing, pull to refresh and the third, for iPad, is iPhone-like tab switching.

Google Chrome already has a set of excellent features but with this added functionality makes the browser just about perfect. As is obvious, those who download this tweak for use on an iPhone will only get the first two features mentioned above.

Chromizer too is available for free. Head over to ModMyi repo in Cydia and download it.

If you decide to give these tweaks a whirl, they will make Google Chrome a near-perfect browser. Stay tuned to TechSliver!