Google Chrome Beta on iOS Lets You Lock Incognito Tabs With Face ID - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Google Chrome Beta on iOS Lets You Lock Incognito Tabs With Face ID

Google is testing a new feature for its Google Chrome app for iOS, which will let Incognito tabs be locked with either Face ID or Touch ID on an iPhone or iPad.

chrome beta incognito authentication
As highlighted by 9to5Google, the latest Chrome beta will blur Incognito tabs in the Chrome app until confirmed with the iPhone's biometric authentication.

The feature can be enabled by going to Settings > Privacy > Lock Incognito tabs when you close Chrome. There's a similar option in the Google Search app that confirms identity with ‌Face ID‌ or ‌Touch ID‌ when returning to an incognito search session after 15 minutes, and there's also a privacy lock built into Google Drive.

Google has not updated the Chrome app for iOS since November as it is delaying new versions of most of its apps at the current time. It's not clear when the new feature might launch in the release version of Chrome, but Chrome 89 is expected to launch next month.

The Incognito tab locking feature is limited to beta testers at the current time, and according to 9to5Google, not all beta users are able to access the locking option as there is a server-side element involved.

Popular Stories

duckduckgo no ai

DuckDuckGo's 'No AI' Search Traffic Climbs as Users Reject Google's AI Overhaul

Friday May 29, 2026 3:55 pm PDT by
Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo has seen a surge in demand for its "No AI" search option in the wake of Google's May 19th I/O announcements. Google debuted a new "intelligent" search box reimagined with AI. It features AI suggestions as an upgrade to autocomplete, support for follow-up questions, expanded Personal Intelligence for connecting Gmail and Google Photos, and Search agents. ...
android iphone airdrop quickshare

Google Expands AirDrop Support to More Android Phones

Tuesday June 2, 2026 12:24 pm PDT by
Google today said its Quick Share feature that allows Android and iPhone users to exchange files with AirDrop is expanding to more devices. Quick Share is now available on the following Android smartphones. Samsung: Galaxy S26, S26+, S26 Ultra Galaxy S25, S25+, S25 Ultra, S25 Edge (new) Galaxy S24, S24+, S24 Ultra (new) Galaxy Z Flip7 (new) Galaxy Z Fold7 (new) Galaxy...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple's Overhauled Siri Will Reportedly Run on Nvidia's Blackwell Chips

Thursday June 4, 2026 2:38 am PDT by
Apple will rely on Google's fleet of Nvidia chips to power its overhauled version of Siri when it launches in September, according to a new report from The Information. Last week, the outlet reported that Apple plans to highlight the on-device AI capabilities of its devices at WWDC next week, but queries that require cloud-based processing will still fall back on one of Google's large Gemini ...

Top Rated Comments

kiensoy Avatar
70 months ago
Geez... then maybe this post is not for you guys. I’m not sure why the need of fanboys to go and attack the competition. I also use Safari but that sounds like a nice feature.


Yeah, Nah, no thanks, I’ll stick with the best browser in the world SAFARI. 😊

No thanks. Safari is safe, fast, and transparent. no need for
chrome.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
IllinoisCorn Avatar
70 months ago
Under the hood, Chrome for iOS is largely the same as Safari, so when people talk about Safari SPEED on iOS versus other browsers, they lose me.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrTechAdvice Avatar
70 months ago
No thanks. Safari is safe, fast, and transparent. no need for
chrome.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
70 months ago
Very secure. Only you and the whole of the Google Corp and all their business partners know what you’ve been looking at.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Piggie Avatar
70 months ago
Correct me if I'm wrong.
But I'm sure I recall over the past many years, whenever they had those cracking/exploit competitions that they used to hold before Covid.
Safari was always the first to get hacked/cracked into.

Sure I remember hearing about this every year in the past.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rebel22lax Avatar
70 months ago

Pretty cool idea, BUT...if someone was trying to access your locked Incognito tabs on your iOS device then wouldn't your device have already been compromised? Honest question. Just trying to wrap my head around when this would actually be useful.
yea... but I look at it like this if someone were to break into your house that would suck but they can't break into your bedroom that would suck less
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)