Top 10 Google Chrome Privacy Tips for iOS

Google Chrome works like a charm on iPhone. It’s solid as a rock in terms of performance. It has an excellent user interface tailored for one-handed navigation. It seamlessly syncs data between devices. Yet Google’s name often gets around serious privacy concerns.

Compared to other browsers, Chrome also lacks important privacy-related features. You will definitely miss Safari’s ability to use content blockers. Or the always-on Private Browsing mode in Brave.

But don’t worry. You can protect your privacy, at least to some extent, when using Chrome. Let’s check how.

1. Clear Browsing Data

Chrome saves small pieces of information called cookies on your iPhone. Cookies help websites remember your login sessions and preferences so you don’t have to start from scratch every time you visit them.

But they are also used for other purposes. Some cookies can track you between sites and track what you are doing. Websites save cookies to target you with ads, but you never know what else the data might be used for.

Chrome also saves your browsing history, which is useful if you want to know about the sites you’ve visited in the past. However, if someone else has access to your device, your privacy is at risk.

This is where clearing your browsing data comes into the picture. If the browser is bombarding you with personalized ads or you’ve visited websites you don’t want others to see, do the following.

Go to Chrome Settings > Privacy > Clear Browsing Data. Now, it’s just a matter of choosing Browsing History or Cookies, Site Data or both. You can also select Cached Images and Files if you want to clear the browser cache, very useful for troubleshooting purposes.

Make sure the Time Range is set to an appropriate time zone – Last Hour, Last 24 Hours, All Time, etc.

Warning: Do not choose Saved Passwords and Autofill Data unless you really want to delete such data.

Finally, tap on Clear Browsing Data. This will clear remaining browsing data within the selected time frame.

2. Use Incognito Mode

If you hate the idea of ​​manually deleting your browsing data, use Chrome’s Incognito mode instead. Similar to Safari’s Private mode; it deletes both cookies and your history when you finish browsing.

To start using incognito mode, open the Chrome menu and tap New Incognito Tab. Or you can switch to Incognito mode via the Chrome tab switcher. Then you can start surfing privately.

Warning: Websites can still recognize you based on your IP address. Other tracking methods like browser fingerprinting also mean you are not completely anonymous in Incognito mode.

Incognito mode is not suitable for normal browsing, as you have to log in to sites and change preferences every time you start a new session. You should switch to this only when you want to surf privately.

3. Manage Sync Settings

Chrome Sync is a great feature that lets you continue browsing the web on any platform that supports Chrome.

But it also brings its fair share of privacy issues. For example, do you want your autofill data, passwords, or open tabs to be available on other devices? What if someone else has access to them?

That’s why you need to manage your Chrome Sync settings. It’s highly customizable so take advantage of it.

Start by visiting Chrome Settings > Sync & Google Services > Manage Sync. Disable the switch next to Sync Everything. Turn off the switches next to the data types you don’t want to sync to or from your iPhone.

It’s also a great idea to secure Chrome Sync with a sync password. That way, your data is safe even if your Google Account is compromised.

4. Change Search Engine

Google is the unrivaled king of search engines. Again, this is Google. And Google doesn’t respect your privacy. Fortunately, there are other search engines that are best suited for private browsing, such as DuckDuckGo, Qwant, and Startpage.

However, switching search engines from Yahoo or Bing to something other than can be confusing. Here is a complete step-by-step on changing the default search engine in Chrome for iOS.

5. Disable Search Suggestions

Chrome generates autocomplete suggestions when you search for something. It’s a useful feature, but it also poses a risk to privacy.

Your keystrokes are transmitted in real time to the default search engine to generate these suggestions. And this is frustrating. Your data can be used to identify you based on your typing patterns.

Fortunately, you can disable this feature. Go to Chrome Settings > Sync & Google Services. Then turn off the switch next to Autocomplete Searches and URLs.

This will stop Chrome transmitting any data until you tap Git while searching.

6. Disable Location Services

Many websites, including Google, want to know your exact location. It’s a privacy nightmare. Unless a site really makes good use of this data and provides you with a personalized experience, it’s best to stop your iPhone from always sending your location data.

Go to iPhone Settings > Chrome > Location Services. If you want to manually grant or deny access when a site requests your location, select Ask Next Time.

Alternatively, choose Never if you want to completely stop Chrome from accessing your iPhone’s location services.

7. Delete Account Data

Your Google Account keeps a record of the activity of all the Google apps and services you use. This includes details about the sites you visit while using Chrome.

Why is Google doing this? Make relevant suggestions in Google apps, serve you targeted ads, etc. to provide better autocomplete suggestions.

This is a little scary. And no, clearing your browsing history in Chrome will not remove this data.

If you want to delete saved browsing activity from your Google Account, you should go to Chrome Settings > Sync & Google Services > Manage Your Google Account > Manage Your Data and Personalization > Web & App Activity.

You can then filter and delete your browsing data using the various controls available in the Web & App Activity panel. Here is a complete step-by-step on deleting data from your Google Account.

8. Disable Ads

Chrome doesn’t support content blockers, so you don’t have the luxury of blocking violating trackers. However, you can block ads with a workaround that involves changing the DNS servers of your Wi-Fi or cellular connection.

This should also help block at least some of the viewers out there. It’s a long process; The guide below should guide you.

9. Disable Suggested Sites Widget

Chrome has two nifty Home screen widgets: Quick Actions and Recommended Sites. The first gives you easy shortcuts for common actions. But the latter fetches sites based on your browsing activity. This is not ideal when pulling your list of widgets around others. Here’s how to turn it off.

Switch to Today View (the leftmost Home screen) and then tap Edit below the list of active widgets.

Finally, tap the Delete icon next to Chrome – Suggested Sites and tap Remove to confirm.

10. Disable Lock Screen Suggestions

Occasionally, Siri may make suggestions based on how you use Chrome on the Lock screen. This means that others can see these suggestions by simply waking up your iPhone.

If you don’t want to leave anything to chance, here’s how to stop Siri from making suggestions based on Chrome.

Go to iPhone Settings > Chrome > Siri & Search. Turn off the switch next to Show Siri Suggestions.

Privacy Issues

Chrome for iOS is not a private web browser. Not by a long shot. But with the tips above, you can at least do something about it. Yes – not all of them are ideal. Just choose what works best for you and they will do your privacy a world of favors. Chrome is great on the iPhone and it would be a shame to abandon it without at least trying it.

Next: Want better privacy while browsing iPhone? Here are five great browsers that can help you.