With Chrome 51 rolled out to browsers, mobile, and Chromebooks, version 52 is now in the beta channel. The release adds many developer focused features that should improve the overall performance of the browser.
With Chrome 50 fully rolled out to browsers and Android, version 51 is now in the beta channel. One of the key features in this version is a new API that improves the website login experience and a more power efficient way to render a page.
You might not know that Chrome for Android has two ways of dealing with downloads. When there is a file you want to save, you will often click on a link which redirects you to a blank page where a pop-up window asks for your consent to download the file, which is essentially the ‘Downloads’ (or ‘Download Manager’) app making its way into Chrome. Another way of downloading a file is to simply long press on it and consequently click ‘save’. This second method utilizes Chrome’s built-in downloader, which is seeing some welcomed additions with the upcoming version 50 of the Chrome app (via AndroidPolice).
While the stable version of Chrome on the Android N preview already has the functionality built in (because the OS comes with Chrome v50), both the v49 currently running on Marshmallow and the latest build of Chrome Beta do not. What the latest iteration of the browser allows you to do, though, is to both pause and resume files that are being downloaded, and also to delete them altogether in case you were to start downloading something unintentionally…
While Chrome 50 is expected to bring Material Design by default to desktop browsers and Chrome OS, version 49 will introduce more low laying features for developers. Notably, improved background sync, better JavaScript performance, a new API for recording audio and video, and a host of other features…
With Chrome 47 currently rolling out to desktops and Android, Google has announced the Chrome 48 Beta and the new features that will come with it. Most are more developer-focused and geared towards Chrome for Android.
Google has quietly launched a Chrome beta for iOS through TestFlight, the beta distribution service Apple acquired last year and integrated into its own developer services. Google has yet to make an official announcement for the beta release, but users can already sign-up and download the beta when visiting Google’s Chrome beta download page on iOS.
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Chrome beta has been updated to version 46 across Android, Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS. According to Google, this version of the browser is getting some “new CSS animation features, improved performance controls, and a large number of API tweaks.” In other words, this update doesn’t include any exciting user-facing features — it’s mostly a developer-focused update.
Here’s what Google had to say about the update in its blog post:
Animating objects along author specified paths
Previously, animating objects along an author-specified path required complex javascript code that could block important events like rendering and input. Developers can now animate any graphical object along an arbitrary path declaratively as a CSS property, allowing simpler code that doesn’t block rendering or input.
Optimized image loading and service worker instrumentation
Tools like srcset allow developers to serve an optimized image variant in a responsive way, but it can be cumbersome and inefficient to use in practice. Developers can now negotiate with the server to download the best image variant for a device using straightforward HTTP request headers. These headers communicate DPR, Viewport-Width, and the intended display width of the resource being fetched to the server.
In addition to improving image loading, developers can now instrument service workers to gather detailed fetch and script timing. Developers can also measure the startup time of service workers more accurately.
If you’re an avid user of the beta channel of Chrome on Android, you’ll notice that the update is rolling out right now. If you would rather manually update your app, you can do that too.
As the Google Chrome web browser and web-based Chrome OS operating system continue on their ever quickening path towards divergence and feature parity with the native Android smartphone operating system, all of which are overseen by Google CEO Larry Page’s number two, Sundar Pichai, Chrome for Android is getting some new functionality that brings it closer to what developers can get out of native apps.
We learned back in March of an experimental feature the Chromium team was testing in its canary channel that replaces the thumbnails of your most frequently visited sites on the New Tab page with simpler large icons (the site’s respective favicon) for each site. The thinking goes that the screenshot Chrome takes of the sites you frequent don’t always look great, and sometimes the browser’s cache of screenshots doesn’t refresh for a while, so large icons prove to be a much cleaner solution.
Above you can see an example of the current desktop New Tab page on the left and the new suggested page on the right. Now, though, the change can be enabled in Chrome 44 beta for Android…
Google has bumped the Chrome OS beta channel to version 43 this afternoon, and it’s actually a pretty substantial update. Among other features, the new version includes credit card autofill from Google Wallet, always-on “OK Google” on the new Chromebook Pixel, a new Material Design overhaul for the virtual keyboard user interface and more.
Here’s the full change log:
Some highlights of these changes are:
- Autofill settings for credit cards from Google Wallet
- Enable always-on “OK Google” from anywhere when screen is unlocked on new Chromebook Pixel
- Physical keyboard auto correction
- Material design for Virtual keyboard UI
Update: Chrome 43 beta for Android has rolled out too.
Google released Chrome 42 this week through its beta channel for Android, Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome OS. The latest Chrome beta previews a couple of interesting features that make web apps more like native apps including push notifications and saving web apps to your Android home screen faster…
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Today, Google announced plans to bring its new Bookmark Manager to Chrome’s beta build. Mountain View says it will release this new content management feature over the next few weeks, so it might not show up right away. Based on the project referred to as “Stars,” Google quietly released this item last month as a Chrome extension, however this new direction suggests that it will eventually be baked into the company’s popular browser.
Chrome Beta for Android was updated today with a slew of new performance features that should be welcomed by any user. Now available to download from Google Play, the 36th version of Mountain View’s portable browser brings improved text rendering to non-mobile websites and reintroduces Doodles to the new tab page. Chrome Beta users will also be treated to better suggestions for text entry, along with a several bug fixes and performance improvements. If you’ve already updated this app and are tinkering with its new features, be sure to let us know how it’s treating you and your device.
The latest Chrome beta introduces the same slide navigation feature seen in IE8, sliding left or right to navigate back and forth between pages, reports The Verge. Apple also has a similar function in Safari on the Mac via its multi-touch trackpads.
Pinch-to-zoom also appears to be something Google is experimenting with too, thanks to an “enable pinch scale” option in the Chrome Canary flags. It’s more experimental than the swipe navigation, but it works as you’d expect by zooming in websites using your fingers. On Windows 8, Google is also supporting the onscreen keyboard fully in the desktop version by displaying it when you tap the address bar or text boxes.
You can download the latest beta for Chrome here. Chrome overtook Internet Explorer as the most popular browser in the U.S. just last month.
Google has updated its Chrome Beta Android app today with several small new features. First, the update adds support for WebRTC, which is a web feature that allows for real-time voice and video communications. WebRTC is useful for things like voice calling, video chatting, and peer-to-peer file sharing. The update also improves page loading performance and offers up a handful of bug fixes and general stability improvements.
Full changelog:
Download it on the Play Store now.
