Google Chrome for iOS headed to iPhone, iPad

With the paint barely dry on Chrome 19, there’s word from Business Insider that Google may finally be submitting Google Chrome for iOS to the App Store. Full-on Chrome for your Apple phone? Don’t get too excited, Apple’s got rules about these things.

No app is allowed to duplicate the built-in functionality of the default iOS apps. Browsers, therefore, are limited to running a customized interface atop Safari Mobile — which is what alternative apps like Dolphin and Firefox Home do right now. Chrome for iOS, then, would work the same way — and it would probably look a lot like the existing Google Search app for iOS.

The hope, obviously, is that Google would integrate Chrome Sync functionality so you’d at least have easy access to your bookmarks, stored credentials, and tabs from other devices. And really, the experience wouldn’t be drastically different from a straight-up Google Chrome app for iOS since Chrome (like Safari) is built atop the WebKit engine.

No official word has come from Google about this yet, however. The buzz is based on a report issued by Macquarie analyst Ben Schacter, who says that Apple may already be reviewing the app and that it could arrive before the end of the second quarter — or at least some time later this year. One thing’s for sure: if Google does offer up Chrome for iOS, they’re probably hoping that doing so will free up a few extra dollars. Right now, they’re splitting revenue with Apple for all searches fired off through Safari.

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