Chrome is rolling out an update for Android users that lets them lock their incognito sessions with a password code or biometric info when they exit the app. The feature has been available for iOS users for some time, but now it’s being made available to folks using Chrome on Android.
Users can activate this feature by going to Chrome Settings > Privacy & Security and turning on the “Lock incognito tabs when you close Chrome” toggle. So next time when a user exits Chrome, their incognito session will automatically be locked. To unlock the incognito tabs, you can use the biometric unlock on the phone such as a fingerprint unlock or lock code.
This feature works well when searching for a topic that you don’t want to appear in your recommendations or history.
Because Google has just started rolling out the feature, it is possible that the update might not be available for you even if you are using the latest version. In that case, you can type in “chrome://flags/#incognito-reauthentication-for-android” and enable the flag to unlock the feature instantly.
As part of a broader update, Google said it’s also updating its Safety Check feature to send users more personalized recommendations about permissions they have shared with specific sites. For instance, if a site is sending too many notifications, Safety Check will prompt you to change settings for notification access.
