Until recently, the only way to open a link in Chrome’s mobile browser was to exit your current page, or move the link to a separate tab. Neither scenario is ideal, especially if you just want it to briefly scroll through a link before opening itFortunately now Chrome finally you can preview hyperlinks in android.
Google recently added the page preview option via a server-side update. It’s turned on by default for all devices, so you don’t need to scroll through your settings or install further patches for it to work, but some users may not know that it is even possible to preview links as Google’s functionality so suddenly added.
To preview a link in Chrome’s Android app:
- Long press a hyperlink to open a popup menu
- Select Sample page.
- A smaller tab will open over the current page. You can scroll through the preview and view its content as normal without leaving the page you are already on.
- To load a sample page into its own tab, tap the arrow icon in the top right corner. press the “X” icon to close a preview window.
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Link preview is a small addition to Chrome, but a useful addition that serves a variety of purposes so you can recognize them stroking or skimming an article to see if this is what you are looking for.
That said, don’t view preview pages unless you’re sure it’s a safe website. Previewing a link will load all of the content on a page, including all images, videos and code that the page uses. That includes any NSFW content you might avoid, but there are bigger threats than adult websites to worry about.
Phishing and malware scams often use fake URLs to steal personal information or sneak malicious software onto your devices, and previewing these pages can be just as dangerous as opening them directly. The best option is simply not to touch suspicious links. However, you can inspect a link in Chrome without opening the page or previewing the page – just long tap the link to open the popup menu. The URL of the link is displayed at the top of the menu. If you don’t recognize the URL, or if it’s clearly fake, don’t click on it.
[9to5Google]