ChromePIE Xposed Module Gives Rooted Users Customizable Swipe-In Controls For Chrome

It really is staggering how much customization you can do with the flexible Xposed Framework, even on a stock phone or tablet. The latest interesting Xposed module adds some much-needed options to Chrome for Android, at least if you’re a root user who knows your way around the tool. ChromePIE is not a delicious browser-flavored snack cake, it’s a module that adds swiping controls to Chrome, modeled after the popular LMT-PIE navigation bar replacement.

The old AOSP Android browser actually had a settings menu option for controls very similar to PIE, activated by swiping in to the page from the side of the screen. ChromePIE adds the same options for the latest version of Chrome, but it’s even better, because you can customize which controls appear and where. We got a few tips after the latest Material-style Chrome update lamenting the fact that the basic back, forward, and reload controls are now hidden in a menu. With ChromePIE, you can add them back in via the swiping action.

  

Though the swipe-out menu can only hold about five actions comfortably, you can add as many as you like, and the variety is staggering. New tab, close tab, a handy full-screen button, scroll to top, find in page, and even an “add to home” button are included. Basically anything in the drop-down menu, Settings menu, or tab menu can be accessed with a quick swipe.

ChromePIE’s setup UI isn’t very intuitive, and it’s missing some more advanced features like color and animation options. But for a .1 release, it’s a fantastic implementation of a very useful idea. Rooted users who’ve already set up Xposed can download ChromePIE from the Xposed repository (sorry, there’s no Play Store listing yet). It might not play nice with all Android devices, but Nexus and other near-stock ROMs seem to work just fine.

Source: Xposed Module Repository, XDA-Developers via Adam Lawrence Google+