Chrome 50 released to stable channel with improved push notification reliability [Update]

Update 4/25: Chrome 50 for Android is rolling out now with the ability to pause and cancel downloads from the notification shade.

Chrome 50 is rolling out now to Mac, Windows, and Linux. The latest version of the browser contains the usual bug and security fixes, but also features an update to improve the reliability of push notifications and speed up page load.

Version 50 of Chrome switches to a new model called push notifications payloads as part of the Push API. Notification data is now sent at the same time as the message. As a result, a bad Internet connection or multiple messages being sent will not disrupt notification delivery.

Sites will be able to detect when a user closes a notification and as such be able to close notifications sent to other devices. Notifications in Chrome 50 will be more customizable, with web developers being able to set custom time stamps and button icons. Sites can also ask users whether a notification should play a sound, vibrate, or remain silent.

Chrome now supports the ability for sites to the tell the browser ahead of time what resources should be downloaded. This will cause the site to load faster, as seen in this video. Besides other developer facing features, Chrome 50 will finally add a pause and cancel button for downloads on Android. This update includes 20 security fixes contributed by external researches and internal teams.

Chrome 50 for desktop is rolling out now, with updates for Chrome on Android and Chrome OS following shortly.