Samsung Internet 13.0 beta adds “One UI 3.0 enhancements”, new extension APIs, and more

Samsung on Wednesday detailed new features hitting its mobile web browser, called Samsung Internet, in the beta channel right now.

First up, Samsung Internet 13.0 is preparing for the upcoming release of Samsung’s Android 11-based One UI 3.0 software. The company says the latest browser release includes immersive scrolling for improved one-handed usability. Going forward, non-scrollable elements such as the status and navigation bars will be hidden when scrolling, which Samsung says will allow users to focus on the content they’re manipulating. Samsung Internet 13.0 will also bring an expandable app bar into bookmarks, saved pages, history, downloads, ad blocker, add-ins, and settings, which will provide useful information at the tap of a button. Samsung also plans to place the “more menu” button in the lower bar, so you can reach the button more easily in sections like tab manager and downloads.

Samsung is tweaking the permission request UI in the latest beta to display a warning if a website you’re visiting looks malicious. Samsung claims the warning will make it harder for users to be tricked or forced into allowing notifications.

Samsung also detailed an expansion of the browser’s extension APIs. The new API modules available, according to Samsung, are: WebRequest, Proxy, Cookies, Types, History, Alarms, Privacy, Notifications, Permissions, Idle, and Management. Interested developers can learn how to contact Samsung for approval to develop a third-party extension by following this link.

Other changes in Samsung Internet 13.0 include easier editing of your bookmarks right from the toast notification you get once you press the bookmark icon, double-tap to play/pause videos while in video assistant fullscreen, a better description of what Secret Mode does, the removal of the news feed in the Quick Access homepage, the ability to hide or show the status bar while visiting websites, the ability to use High Contrast mode when Dark mode is on, a new tab design with a rounded tab shape, the ability to see detailed history for the apps that can call the browser, and lastly, a rebase on top of Chromium M83.

There are many other changes coming to Samsung Internet 13.0, which you can browse in the announcement post. Users have a lot to look forward to, and with many of these features already being tested in beta, hopefully we’ll see a stable release sooner rather than later.

Samsung Internet Browser Beta (Free, Google Play) →

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