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Read web pages offline with Chrome for Android

Google's mobile browser just made it even easier to cache and read pages when you don't have the internet.

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida

Want to read it later? That web page, I mean? Chrome for Android just made the option a lot easier.

Google 's mobile browser added offline reading last year, but a new update expands the capability with a couple handy features.

For starters, you can now long-tap any link, then choose Download link from the pop-up menu that appears.

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Long-tap a link to download it for offline viewing -- in all its online-viewing glory.

Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

If you're already offline and trying to load a page -- resulting in the appearance of Google's "offline dinosaur" -- you can tap the new Download Page Later button. The next time you're connected, Chrome will fetch that page.

Finally, no more wading into menus to find your downloads. Now, when you open a new tab, Chrome will display recently downloaded pages with an "offline" badge, so you know they're immediately available for viewing.

Of course, you can also hit up the menu and tap Downloads to see a full list of all your saved pages.

Cool stuff, Google! Now how about a little iOS love?