Until recently, the only way to open a link in the Chrome mobile browser was to leave the current page or point the link to a separate tab. Neither scenario is ideal, especially if you just want to to briefly browse a link before opening it. Fortunately, Chrome now finally allows you to preview hyperlinks on Android.
Google recently added the page preview option through a server update. It’s enabled by default for all devices, so you won’t have to scan your settings or install any patches to work, but some users may not know that links can be previewed because Google added the feature so suddenly. .
To preview a link to the Chrome Android app:
- Press and hold a hyperlink to open a popup menu
- Select “Page preview”.
- A smaller tab will open on the current page. You can scroll through the preview and view its contents normally without leaving the page where you are already.
- If you want to load a preview page on its own tab, tap the arrow icon at the top right. Press the button “X” to close a preview window.
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Link preview is a small but useful addition to Chrome that serves a variety of purposes and allows you to detect jokes or skimmed an article to see if it is what you are looking for.
That said, don’t preview the pages unless you know for sure it’s a secure website. Previewing a link loads all the content of a page, including everything images, videos and code used by the page. This includes any NSFW content that you can avoid, but there are bigger threats to worry about than adult websites.
Phishing and malware scams often use fake URLs to steal personal information or introduce malware into your devices and previewing these pages can be as dangerous as opening them directly. The best option it’s just not touching suspicious links. However, you can inspect a link in Chrome without opening or previewing the page – just tap and hold the link to open the popup menu. The URL of the link is displayed at the top of the menu. If you do not recognize the URL, or if obviously false, don’t click on it.
[9to5Google]