Google Chrome on iOS may soon get native notification settings

Google is working on a new feature to improve the notification experience for Chrome users on iOS. The feature would bring its own notification settings for Chrome on iOS. The feature is tested behind a flag named “iOS Provides App Notification Settings” .

The new flag, spotted by us on Chromium Gerrit, suggests that Google is working on a deeper integration with iOS’s notification settings.

The “IOS Provides App Notification Settings” flag description reads:”Enabled integration with iOS’s ProvidesAppNotificationSettings feature”

The commit message reads: “[ios] Add a flag for provides app notification settings feature”.

By using iOS’s ProvidesAppNotificationSettings feature, Chrome could offer a more native notification experience. This might include features like granular control over which websites can send notifications and the ability to customize notification preferences within Chrome itself.

Chrome on iOS has limited notification support due to Apple’s restrictions on third-party browsers. It used to depend on Safari’s system, but now supports web push notifications in iOS 16.4 and later. Users must add websites to their home screen and grant permissions for alerts, even when the browser isn’t active.

For iOS users who prefer Chrome over Safari, this change could significantly improve the browsing experience by making it easier to manage notifications. Additionally, this brings Chrome’s iOS experience closer to feature parity with Android and desktop.

Apart from this, Chrome on iOS would soon get tab reminders and improved incognito support for YouTube. Additionally, related to iOS, Chrome may soon let you auto-delete downloads after 30 days.