Some fixes appearing in early Canary builds

Google is in the middle of updating Chrome to better support OS X Lion, says the company's senior VP for the browser, Sundar Pichai. Reports note that while Chrome technically works on Lion, there are glitches with the scrollbar, gesture-based navigation, and operating in fullscreen mode. Some fixes are already available through Canary test builds, and a polished update is coming, according to Pichai.

"The scrollbar should get fixed in canary tomorrow if not tonight," he writes on Google+. "Will disappear till you start scrolling. Fullscreen needs more work and we will add it to the list and get it fixed but will take some more time. In general, we care abt [sic] a great native experience on every platform and so the team is pushing hard to get a great stable version for Lion. Can’t wait to try it all out..."

The scrollbar fix is already in place. The fullscreen problem is thought be more difficult, and Google is in fact pulling the button for the mode until it works properly, a Chromium developer reveals. Broken elements include gestures for Mission Control, and exiting fullscreen, which currently requires going into menus or using a keyboard shortcut. The button should return in future test builds.

The ultimate goal is a native fullscreen interface for Lion that will experiment with a collapsible toolbar, but until then fullscreen should function as it does in Chrome for Leopard or Snow Leopard. The issue of gesture navigation, meanwhile, is still on the horizon. No work has been done it so far.

By Electronista Staff