What is Google Chrome?

What is Google Chrome?

Google Chrome is Google's web browser, and on most Android phones it comes preinstalled as a system app, which is why its package, com.android.chrome, sits among the system apps rather than the apps you installed. It is usually the default browser out of the box, so links you tap in other apps open in Chrome unless you choose otherwise.

Chrome shares most of its code with Android System WebView, the engine other apps use to show web pages inside themselves. Google's WebView documentation explains the relationship: on Android 7, 8 and 9, Chrome itself provided WebView to save space and memory; from Android 10 on, the two share code but appear as separate apps. They do not share browsing data, and Chrome features such as sync are not available inside WebView.

Because it is a system app, you can update it and remove its updates, but you cannot fully uninstall it from Settings the way you can with apps from the Play Store.

Can I disable it?

Yes, with one caveat: install another browser and set it as the default first, or links have nowhere to open. Google documents how to turn Chrome off. Google's Chrome help explains that most Android phones come with Chrome built in and do not allow removing it, but that turning it off hides it from your app list:

1. Install the browser you want to use instead, and set it as default under Settings > Apps > Default apps > Browser app.
2. Open Settings > Apps > Chrome (tap See all apps first if needed).
3. Tap Disable.

If the Disable button is missing on your phone, ADB does the same thing:

adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.android.chrome

What you lose: Chrome itself on this phone. Bookmarks, history and passwords that were synced stay in your Google account, ready for another device or for Chrome if you turn it back on. Other apps keep working. On Android 10 and later, WebView is a separate app and is not affected; on Android 7 to 9, Google's WebView documentation says WebView switches to its standalone version automatically when Chrome is disabled.

Does it drain battery or data?

It can, when it works in the background on your behalf, but Chrome on its own is not a heavy drain. Battery and data use come from what Chrome is doing: finishing downloads, delivering notifications from sites you allowed, syncing with your Google account, and loading the articles shown on the New Tab page. Video and heavy web pages naturally use a lot while you browse.

If Chrome stays high in battery lists when you are not using it, check two things under Chrome's Settings > Site settings: Notifications and Background sync. Removing permission from sites you do not need usually fixes it.

Data use also includes updates, which are large and frequent; limit Play Store updates to Wi-Fi if mobile data is tight.

Why did it just update?

It updated because Google releases a new major version of Chrome about every four weeks, a schedule the Chromium team announced in 2021, with security fixes in between, all delivered through the Google Play Store. Disabling Chrome stops these updates; if you enable it again later, the Play Store will catch it up.

On Android 10 and later, Chrome and WebView usually update together, because both are built from the same Chromium release and share a common library on the phone.

Which packages are behind it?

One package for the browser you use:

• com.android.chrome is Google Chrome.

Test versions of Chrome install as separate apps with their own packages, such as com.chrome.beta, com.chrome.dev and com.chrome.canary. On Android 10 and later, Chrome and Android System WebView (com.google.android.webview) also rely on a shared Trichrome library package that installs alongside them.

If something goes wrong

If Chrome keeps crashing or will not load pages, update both Chrome and Android System WebView in the Play Store, then restart the phone. Updating both was Google's own fix for the widespread app crashes of March 2021.

If problems continue:

1. Clear Chrome's cache: Settings > Apps > Chrome > Storage > Clear cache. This keeps your bookmarks and passwords.
2. Remove updates from Chrome's App info menu, then update again from the Play Store. Google's help recommends a reinstall when Chrome has trouble with search engine settings, pop-ups or updating, and on a phone where Chrome is built in, removing updates is the nearest thing to a reinstall.
3. Check the default browser setting if links open in the wrong app.

If you disabled Chrome and want it back, enable it from Settings > Apps > Chrome, or with ADB:

adb shell pm enable com.android.chrome
adb shell cmd package install-existing com.android.chrome