Following version 77’s release on Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux, the next beta release of Google’s browser is rolling out. The Chrome 78 beta will feature a “click-to-call” feature from desktop to Android, theming, and dedicated Chrome OS settings.
Instead of manually dialing phone numbers you come across when browsing the desktop web, Chrome 78 introduces “click-to-call.” Users will be able to highlight and right-click a phone number link — like tel:800-800-8000 — in desktop Chrome and send it to their Android phone. It’s similar to the “Send this page” link feature that Google widely rolled out with the latest stable.
In February, Google launched a Password Checkup Chrome extension that warns of breached third-party logins. As you sign in with unsafe credentials, a red Safe Browsing-like dialogue prompts users to change their leaked password.
If we detect that a username and password on a site you use is one of over 4 billion credentials that we know have been compromised, the extension will trigger an automatic warning and suggest that you change your password.
This password warning functionality will begin rolling out as part of Chrome 78. The feature works without Google ever becoming aware of the plain-text credentials.
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- Thanks Encestral Z
At the moment, you can customize the background of the New Tab page by uploading your own image or choosing from the “Chrome backgrounds” gallery. Users can now customize “Shortcuts” and “Color and theme.” Accessible from the same “Customize” button in the bottom-right corner of the New Tab page, the first new option refers to the grid of website favicons just under the search bar. There are three possibilities:
- My shortcuts: Shortcuts are suggested based on websites you visit often
- Most visited sites: Shortcuts are curated by you
- Hide shortcuts: Don’t show shortcuts on this page
“Color and theme” lets you choose from the over 20 preset themes, or launch a color picker to select your own and have Chrome create one. If not live on your device with the Chrome 78 beta, it can be enabled with two flags:
As you navigate away from an existing page, Chrome 78 no longer allows the old site to trigger pop-ups. Along with synchronous XHR requests being disallowed, this will “improve page load time and make code paths simpler and more reliable.”
Chrome is cleaning up chrome://flags starting with version 78. The stated reason for enterprise customers is how policies are a better way to configure the browser. “Many flags” will be removed going forward, but this should not significantly impact consumers.
Chrome OS 78 will separate browser and device settings. The former will be accessible at chrome://settings, while the latter — which opens in a new window — will be chrome://os-settings.
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