Google says it will give you the option to sign in to Chrome for a “customized browsing experience,” allowing you to send tabs and use your saved passwords across devices. But you don’t have to sign in to your account on Chrome if you’re not keen on linking your browsing data to your Google account. Google also notes that saving your history and open tabs to your Google account will require you to opt in separately.
“Today, users increasingly expect to just sign in to get access to their stuff and sign out to keep it safe,” Claire Charron, Chrome’s product manager, writes in the announcement. “Given this evolution of technology and user norms, we’re continuing to make progress on transforming our legacy sync model into one that more seamlessly meets the expectation users have today.”
As for when exactly this change will roll out on Android and iOS, Google says to “stay tuned for updates.”