Improved Safe Browsing has been a part of Desktop Chrome for quite some time and we also mentioned it in our article on how to improve Google Chrome security. And, after many months, Google introduced this advanced security feature to Android. According to GoogleImproved Safe Browsing on Chrome minimizes security threats by 20% on desktop and 25% on Android, which is a significant number. So, if you want to enable enhanced safe browsing on Chrome for Android, follow it. But before that, let’s see what exactly Enhanced Safe Browsing is.
What is Enhanced Safe Browsing on Chrome for Android?
To protect users on the web, Google operates something called a Safe Browsing Block List. It contains a list of unsafe and potentially dangerous website URLs. Google updates this list every 30 minutes and Chrome on your desktop or smartphone retrieves this list locally after every 30 minute time window.
However, there are cases where sophisticated phishing websites change the domain name within that 30 minute window of time that slips into Google’s block list. So to combat this huge problem, Google has brought improved Safe Browsing to Chrome which checks the website for threats and updates the blocklist in real time. In this way, not only you but billions of users on the web can be protected from harmful websites with instant reports.
The only problem with this approach is that Google has to send the URL to its servers to verify them and the data is temporarily linked to your Google account (in current practice, navigation data is anonymized). Google says it is made to protect you on various Google services like Google Drive, Gmail, Google Photos, etc.
For some privacy-conscious users, this may sound like another Google data collection exercise, but it’s your own free will that you want to temporarily transfer your browsing data to Google. In my opinion, for older users who have no idea about the dark side of the web, enabling enhanced safe browsing would be a great option.
Enable Enhanced Safe Browsing on Chrome for Android
1. First of all, update Chrome to the latest version from the Play Store. If you don’t have an update, you can download the latest version of Chrome from APKMirror (Free). For your information, you should be on Chrome 86.0.4240.114 and above for access to enhanced secure browsing.
2. Then open chrome://flags and search for “safe browsing“. Now turn on two Chrome flags, “Improved Safe Browsing Protection on Android” and “Security Section on Android”. When finished, press “Relaunch”.
3. Now open the Chrome Settings page and navigate to “Privacy and Security“. Here you will find the “Safe Browsing” option at the bottom. Open it up.
4. Now you will have three options: Improved protection, standard and without protection. Tap “Enhanced Protection” and you’re done. You can also tap the arrow next to learn more about enhanced protection on Chrome. Enabling it will check URLs in real time and improve your overall security on Google products.
5. Similarly, you can choose “Standard protection”Which is also activated by default. This method does not check the website with Chrome’s blocklist in real time, but after every 30 minute window.
Improve your security on Android with enhanced safe browsing
This is how you can enable enhanced Safe Browsing on Chrome for Android. I would say that for general users who don’t have much idea about web and security, this security feature should be enabled. This will help them stay away from deceptive sites and protect them from all corners. Anyway, it all comes from us. If you want to learn more about these Chrome tips and tricks, follow our related guide. And if you have any issues, let us know in the comments section below.