Google’s Search and Discover apps for Android no longer open webpages in full screen. Instead, the app opens articles near the top of a sheet that can be organized by swiping down from the top of the screen.
According to Pixel phone owners, when you click on any article in the Google Discover feed, the website opens in a sheet, which is still a Chrome custom tab. This design could also soon come to Samsung phones with the Google Discover option on their leftmost home screen pane.
The X button on the top left of the sheet will close the sheet.
Google Discover’s new design isn’t widely rolled out yet
You can manipulate the sheet by using tabs on the side of the document, with specific meaning to each. Engaging one tab will cause the content of that section to fill the screen, while another tab would shrink it and make it more manageable. Although this eats up some of your vertical space, Google will change search results based on what is open in each tab.
ESPN video opened in fullscreen mode automatically to improve video viewing experiences. A bunch of Pixel owners running Google app v13.37 beta experience this change, but there is no clarity on how widespread the change is or if it’s just a part of Google’s A/B test.