iPhone Users Can Now Easily Swap Between Personal and Work Accounts in Chrome

[MacRumors]

Google today updated its Chrome app for the iPhone and the iPad to add easier account switching for Chrome Enterprise. The functionality is designed for iOS users who need to swap between personal and managed work accounts.

When a Chrome user switches from a personal account to a managed work account using the added functionality, Chrome ensures that data for managed accounts stays separate. Work account browsing and personal account browsing remain distinct, with work-related tabs, history, passwords and other local data associated only with the managed account, and personal data limited to the personal account.

Google says that the improved account switching experience is designed to enable businesses to permit employees to use the devices of their choice in BYOD situations. The functionality is not available for switching between two standard Google accounts in Chrome on iOS.

When a user signs in to or swaps to a managed account, they will be informed about the separation for managed account browsing, and will be notified that they are using a managed experience with an on-screen confirmation.

Google is also extending Chrome Enterprise reporting capabilities to iOS devices, so organizations can send critical data related security events to the security investigation tool in the Google Admin console or Chrome logs. URL filtering is coming to iOS devices as well, so businesses can restrict employees from accessing unapproved or unsanctioned websites.


Article Link: iPhone Users Can Now Easily Swap Between Personal and Work Accounts in Chrome

 

[H3boy]

Functionality the Edge app has had for a loooong time.

 

[now i see it]

This might be useful for the 9 people who use Chrome on their iPhone

 

[deadspider187]

Doesn't Safari on IOS already do this with profiles?

 

[Dr McKay]

Functionality the Edge app has had for a loooong time.

I used to love Edge until one day, they changed every single one of my saved passwords to long strings of code which made them all completely unusable.

Had to switch to a dedicated password manager and being the petty person I am, switched browser and vowed never to use Edge again.

 

[SeaFox]

Doesn't Safari on IOS already do this with profiles?

But Safari would be syncing iCloud profiles wouldn't it? I thought the reason to use Chrome or Firefox on iOS was to gain syncing to Google or Mozilla accounts, respectively.

 

[applefan8254]

Nice. Can we get multiple users for iOS too? Thank you

 

[kirky29]

I used to love Edge until one day, they changed every single one of my saved passwords to long strings of code which made them all completely unusable.

Had to switch to a dedicated password manager and being the petty person I am, switched browser and vowed never to use Edge again.

Weird, I can't imagine you being petty...

 

[Jumpthesnark]

Doesn't Safari on IOS already do this with profiles?

But if your workplace uses Google Enterprise, so you have a work Google address and a personal Google address, this would make it easier to switch between the two on your iOS device.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Doesn't Safari on IOS already do this with profiles?

Sure does, but I'm not allowed to use Safari on my work iPhone.

I can use Chrome or Edge. Currently use Edge.

 

[deadspider187]

But if your workplace uses Google Enterprise, so you have a work Google address and a personal Google address, this would make it easier to switch between the two on your iOS device.

I currently use my personal Google account in a "Google Services" profile, which is not my default, so Google should in theory (I know, I know...) shouldn't be able to track my personal browsing history day-to-day unless I need to check that profile to check my email, use Youtube, etc. I use a "Work" profile for my work, which is all Google-based (I assume that's Enterprise). I just switch profiles when needed. This is all on MacOS however. I just checked Gmail on my phone and the web version looks like garbage, so I probably wouldn't use that; I have a work phone with Gmail installed for that. In MacOS, I can just open two Safari windows, one personal, one work, never the two shall meet.

Sure does, but I'm not allowed to use Safari on my work iPhone.

I can use Chrome or Edge. Currently use Edge.

I'm not sure why they would restrict that, but under your circumstances that's understandable. It doesn't sound like a useless feature, I'm just probably not the target audience for this, as I have de-googled just about all of my devices, apart from the "Google Services" profile and "Work" profiles in Safari. I also have my work Google account connected on my personal phone just so I can see my personal and work events on the same calendar, which I dislike, but it is what it is.

I would like to use Firefox all-around, but I'm not a fan of their current "containers" implementation.

 

[Black_Mage]

I don't care. I don't trust Google. The only Google product I use is YouTube. I use Firefox as my daily driver.

 

[MakaniKai]

I can't get it to show up with my work Google account, but I'm also not sure if I have the update yet or not. The app store shows no updates, and the last one was ~6 days ago. It could also be that my work account is not "managed." Hmm...

I wish they'd let us do this with any Google account, like how on desktop you can make various profiles. Clearly they can do it, if they can do this. They just choose not to.

 

[contacos]

Doesn't Safari on IOS already do this with profiles?

It was an half assed attempt the one time I tried like I still saw the reading list and bookmarks of the other profile when I switched between profiles. Made the whole thing useless to me.

 

[Dr McKay]

Weird, I can't imagine you being petty...

You’ve made a powerful enemy today

 

[cgs1xx]

Just use different browsers... and be 100% safe 🙂

why would an iPhone user choose to have Chrome as a default browser though? 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[jonatron]

Just use different browsers... and be 100% safe 🙂

why would an iPhone user choose to have Chrome as a default browser though? 🤷🏻‍♂️

There is a very simple answer for that. So they can sync history, bookmarks, logins etc with their Chrome browser that they use on their Mac or Windows device. Which, as it turns out is quite a lrge porportion of people as Chrome is the most popular browser by quite a margin. 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

[bradman83]

I'm not sure why they would restrict that, but under your circumstances that's understandable. It doesn't sound like a useless feature

A lot of corporations that issue company-owned iPhones will restrict the software that can be used in favor of approved solutions, especially companies where employees may be dealing with sensitive information on their phones.

I work for a large financial services company and all of our iPhones are completely locked down to approved apps only. You can't sign in with your Apple ID, install additional apps from the App Store, and the default Phone and Messages apps are disabled in favor an approved app that can monitor, record, and redact messages and calls.

You might be thinking "But Apple's services are super secure and privacy focused" and they are, but they're also not fully cross-platform and Apple's enterprise support is lacking. You might also think the above restrictions are a bit much, but my company has a vested interest in making sure sensitive customer information doesn't get sent or uploaded to the wrong place, hence why you can only use apps that support robust monitoring tools.

 

[Dr Nobody Important]

Chrome finally catching up to Safari, cool for the few that use Chrome. 😄

 

[Dr Nobody Important]

There is a very simple answer for that. So they can sync history, bookmarks, logins etc with their Chrome browser that they use on their Mac or Windows device. Which, as it turns out is quite a lrge porportion of people as Chrome is the most popular browser by quite a margin. 🤷🏼‍♂️

That is because people keep pushing it. I push back and remove Chrome when I can or just not install the garbage. Some sites indicate that they require Chrome and I ignore their suggestion to install malware.

 

[Dr McKay]

Just use different browsers... and be 100% safe 🙂

why would an iPhone user choose to have Chrome as a default browser though? 🤷🏻‍♂️

A very large portion of iPhone users are likely to have a windows PC if they own a computer. Since Safari was discontinued for Windows in 2012, Chrome is still the most popular web browser with 66% market share as of 2025. Chrome used to be a great browser, its descent has been pretty gradual.