Chrome on Android uses a list of the most "popular" links. It automatically decides which link should appear there and it uses browsing history as a source of this data. Therefore if you are clearing your history, you are also clearing your home page links.

A few versions ago, Chrome added an option to set a URL address as a home page. Unfortunately, this option only affects a home page (basically, only the first tab). So you'll have to tap on the "home" button to open that page.

I've created a special web app to use as the home page. It has some issues and one of them is being unable to store data in incognito mode. But I've stumbled upon some weird internal protocol in Chrome, "chrome-native://". And after some research, I found a direct link to Chrome's internal bookmarks list. It works with Chome sync, it works with incognito mode and even supports a dark theme.

Home page comparison Left: Default home page, Right: Bookmarks list as a home page.

Changing home page

  1. Open Chrome on Android.
  2. Tap on three-dot menu (⋮) and select "Settings".
  3. Go to "Home page".
  4. Tap on "Open this page".
  5. Type in the URL: chrome-native://bookmarks/.
  6. Tap on "Save" button.

This will open "Mobile bookmarks" folder as a home page.

Some other notable folders:

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