The Google Chrome team might have you believe that Incognito mode is simply for covering your tracks when buying diamond rings for loved ones. However, it’s actually quite useful when you’re developing web apps.

Most apps have a logged-in and logged-out state, and when you’re developing, it can be annoying switching between these states constantly. You could keep two different browsers open, but that’s not really ideal, especially when it comes to cross browser testing and consistency.

When I’m logged into a web app and I need to check what a page looks like to the public (in the logged-out state), I simply open a new Chrome window in Incognito mode. This will create a completely fresh browser session with no saved cookies, allowing you to see exactly what is publicly visible. The best part is, you can have both a normal browsing session and an Incognito browsing session open simultaneously.

For example, on the Think Vitamin Membership site, we release many videos for free so that people can get a feel for the service before signing up. When we set a video to being publicly available in the admin section, it’s always smart to double-check the public facing pages in Chrome’s Incognito mode. You can open an Incognito window really quickly using the shortcut keys:

• Mac OS X: ⌘-Shift-N
• Windows: Ctrl-Shift-N

If you have a tip that works even better than this one, or any other quick tips related to web development, we would love for you to share in the comments!