Chrome on Android has been updated today to version 55 and presents a new really appreciated function that allows you to download web pages and videos in order to make them available offline, to be able to see them, that is, even without internet connection and whenever you want. This new feature starts from an improvement of the Chrome download manager, which was absent on Android, and was created with the aim of being able to prepare for reading articles and then be able to open them calmly even when you are away from home in places where you cannot connect to the internet, such as on an airplane.
Obviously, this feature also becomes very convenient for managing downloaded files of all kinds and for storing favorite videos and news, perhaps to then share them via chat or messages without having to go through the site that hosts them.
This download function, which I remember is available from the Chrome 55 version, is easily visible from the main menu with the symbol of a down arrow that is positioned next to the star to add the page to favorites.
Whichever website opens, you can press this down arrow icon to save that web page as it is viewed, with all the images and photos included.
If you then open a site with a video embedded inside it, the down arrow, which also becomes visible on the video player, allows you to download the movie for offline viewing from the media player of the Android smartphone.
This feature is, of course, disabled for sites that use video copy protection, but you can try it, at the moment, on sites like Repubblica or Gazzetta.
From the Chrome 58 version, you can also touch and hold on a link to save the web page for offline viewing.
In addition, if you open a page and your mobile phone is not connected to the internet, a button will appear, under the dinosaur that signals the failure to connect, to download the page once an internet connection is detected.
The downloaded web pages and videos can be found and reopened by touching, on the main menu, the new "Download" item, which shows the list of all files downloaded via Chrome.
When you open a downloaded site, it opens with the word "offline" on the address bar.
From this same download page it is possible to delete the downloaded contents or share them, by holding down on and then with the button with three dots in the upper right.
This is an evolution of Chrome's recent Offline mode function, which instead downloads the web pages visited automatically, so as to keep them visible even without an internet connection.
