Mac OS X

Six 'Mac OS X' stories May 2013 - April 2016

Google tests Chrome notifications in Mac OS X notification center, removes merged tabs on Android

Abner Li Apr 6 2016 - 11:18 am PT

chrome-dev-bookmarks

Chrome 47 removed the rarely used notification center from desktops last year, but many Mac users have long wondered why the browser doesn’t use the native OS X center for notifications. Now, it appears Google is actively working on adding that feature and a preview is available in the Canary channel. Additionally, Chrome Dev for Android has removed merge tabs and has a redesigned bookmarks widget…

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How-To: Make email links default to Gmail in Chrome, Safari, and Firefox on OS X

Jeff Benjamin Feb 26 2016 - 9:18 am PT

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Gmail Default mail app

I’ve never been a big proponent of the stock Mail application in OS X, so I generally find myself relying on Gmail inside a browser for all of my email needs. In fact, I don’t have any accounts configured inside of the Mail app at all. With this in mind, I get frustrated when I accidentally click a mailto link while I’m using Chrome. Doing so forces the Mail app to open, which wastes time.

Wouldn’t it be better if you could configure Gmail to be the default mail client inside of Chrome or another browser? In this video tutorial, I’ll show you how easy it is to configure Chrome, Safari, and even Firefox to use Gmail as default.
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Chrome to stop supporting Windows XP, Vista, and older Mac OS X versions in April 2016

Abner Li Nov 10 2015 - 2:42 pm PT

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Google has said today that Chrome will no longer be supported on several legacy operating systems.

While Microsoft stopped supporting XP in April of last year, Google announced that they would continue providing updates and security patches to Chrome till the end of 2015:

Millions of people are still working on XP computers every day. We want those people to have the option to use a browser that’s up-to-date and as safe as possible on an unsupported operating system.

In a post today on the Chrome blog, Google announced when they will finally stop supporting XP: April 2016. Additionally, Windows Vista will stop getting support as well. On the Mac side, Google is dropping support for Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7, and 10.8 around the same time.

Google notes that the operating systems are no longer being actively supported by Microsoft and Apple, and they encourage users to move to a newer OS in order to receive the latest Chrome versions and features.

Google is removing the Chrome notification center because no one uses it

Stephen Hall Oct 14 2015 - 10:55 am PT

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You probably know about this little notification center, but it’s very unlikely that you ever use it. That fact is according to data that Google itself has compiled, and — as is definitely not unusual — low usage means cutting features in the name of simplicity…

In some cases, these desktop notifications would appear while users were gone, so in 2013 Chrome launched the notification center, a place for users to find notifications from Chrome apps and extensions that they’d missed.

However, in practice, few users visit the notification center. To keep Chrome simple, it will be removed from Windows, Mac, and Linux in the upcoming release. The notification center on Chrome OS will remain unchanged.

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‘Easy Unlock’ feature could soon come to Chrome OS, automatically unlocks your Chromebook if your phone is nearby

Chance Miller Apr 17 2014 - 12:54 pm PT

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Android Police has spotted a new feature in the Chrome OS dev channel that could one day allow users to unlock devices running Chrome OS by simply having their phone near the computer. The feature, which is still in a very early beta, is dubbed “Easy Unlock.” With this feature, your Chromebook could sense when your phone is nearby and Easy Unlock would automatically unlock the Chromebook, preventing the need to enter your password.

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Google begins rolling out revamped conversational Voice Search features in Chrome

Jordan Kahn May 22 2013 - 5:50 am PT

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During its Google I/O keynote earlier this month, Google announced that it would be bringing conversational, Google-Now like voice search to the desktop. Using a UI similar to voice search and Google Now in its mobile apps, Google would soon allow Chrome users to search and drill down further into results using only their voice.

Today, Google appears to have finally started rolling out the feature for Chrome users on the stable and beta channels of Chrome.

After updating to the latest version 27.0.1453.93 of Chrome, users can navigate to Google.com, click the microphone icon, and choose to allow the new Google Voice search feature to begin listening. Google will only ask for permission to listen once and from then on users can simply speak in order to search. For certain search results such as questions Google will also provide audible results.

Not all of the functionality seems to be available as of yet. For example, when Google first showed off the feature users weren’t required to click at all. Google execs were activating the feature by simply saying “Ok, Google” and were able to continue searching with their voice, hands-free, from on the search results page. The feature as it’s currently implemented now requires users to click the mic icon in order to start a voice search.
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