Hi Don,

You can turn-off articles suggestions and ads on front start page pretty much by following this tutorial. It still works! You can get a good old plain start page, showing you only Google logo and input search box.

About spell checking feature, you can send a message to app developers on Play Store and maybe they will consider it if many asks for it, but that is unlikely to happen. One of the reasons it is omitted is probably technical (app size, performance issues, complexity to implement that feature, other issues which are more urgent etc.). Another one is because Android OS auto-complete and spell checking feature built-in inside languages and keyboards (see Settings in Android) eliminates most of the typos, but not all. Also, that avoids duplicating code, features and maintenance.

Also, spell checker in Desktop Chrome is not without flaws, either. It underlines some words which are not wrong, but simply not in the dictionary, or just do not comply with the dictionary version (e.g. capital first letter difference etc.).

For instance today, the first “suggestion” has a picture of Michelle Obama! Trust me I’ve seen enough of her to last a lifetime.

Now, you folks with FIOS probably don’t realize this, but some rural Americans have satellite internet with BANDWIDTH caps. I don’t need to see suggestions nor all those d*mn auto play videos.

If I wanted braindead, I would have an iPad.

Thanks for report, haven’t checked yet myself. If true, well, it was good while it lasted, it’s about time to consider proposed alternatives in the article.

UPDATE: It is true that bottom Bookmarks and Recent Tabs shortcuts are permanently removed from Chrome 58/59 and above, but you can still disable suggested articles content using above method.