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Chrome 65 beta prevents more malicious redirects w/ improved pop-up blocker

Following the rollout of version 64 to Android, as well as Mac, Windows, and Linux and Chrome OS, Chrome 65 is now available on the beta channel. On the security front, users should benefit from an improved pop-up blocker that counters more types of malicious redirects, while developers have access to a number of new APIs.

Chrome’s pop-up blocker will now counter sites that open a desired link in another tab, while the main window visits an unwanted page. An infobar will be displayed and the main tab redirect prevented. Users will be able to continue to their intended destination, with this improvement building on Chrome 64 preventing diguised links from opening.

Version 65 is testing a redesigned video player on Android that features transparent controls. The progress indicator, mute toggle, and fullscreen button now rest on a semi-transparent bar, while the play/pause button in the bottom-left corner has been removed. Enabling this flag (chrome://flags#enable-modern-media-controls) will also allow you to double-tap to scrub on YouTube. It’s unclear whether this new player is ready for prime time yet.

Meanwhile, in Chrome OS, a flag to support display scaling on external monitors is now available.

For developers, this version introduces a new Server Timing API to better measure the performance of web applications.

This new API provides developers a more complete performance picture that includes the speed of both the client and the server. For example, Chrome Developer Tools now shows server timing performance information via the Server Timing API.

Google is also adding support for a Web Authentication API to “allow the creation and use of strong, attested, cryptographic scoped credentials by web applications, for the purpose of strongly authenticating users.”

Chrome 65 should hit the stable channel in a few weeks time.


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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com