Google releases Chrome for iPhone and iPad

Updated. Google unveiled its Chrome browser for iOS at its Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco Thursday, making the browser available on the iPhone and iPad. Brian Rakowski, Vice President, Chrome, said that the new browser will be available in iTunes later today.

The new browser brings cross-device syncing to iOS, making it possible for users of the Chrome desktop browser to access any of the tabs they have opened on their PC on their iOS mobile device as well. Chrome also synchronizes browser history, making it possible to use the back button to access previously opened sites.

Google’s Sundar Pichai said earlier during the keynote that mobile will be the biggest growth market for Chrome. Three billion people already access the web, he said, but half of the world’s population still have yet to come online. “And those we reach via mobile,” he said, with Chrome being key to these effort. “Chrome is the most popular browser in the world, globally,” he declared.

Update: The release coincides with Google making Google Drive available on iOS. More on this in our live blog.

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