Google Chrome 66 Puts A Muzzle On Annoying Autoplaying Videos By Default

by Brandon Hill — Thursday, March 22, 2018, 10:43 AM EDT

Ads and videos on website that we frequent are a normal occurrence that we have all gotten used to over the years. However, one thing that really irritates internet surfers are videos that play automatically when we load a page -- especially if they have blaring audio accompanying them.

Google has heard your cries for help and will address this annoyance with Chrome 66. With new autoplay settings that have been incorporated into the browser, video will only autoplay if content is muted by default, if you have already clicked on or interacted with the site, or if you have frequently played media on a particular website in the past (in accordance with the Media Engagement Index).

Chrome 66 will also make greater strides to reduce browser crashes. The first step in this effort is to display a warning message after a crash occurs. The message will point the finger at the offending app that caused the crash. Users will then be given the option to remove the app, if they so choose. Chrome 68 will take things a step further to rejecting apps the rely on code injection. According to Google, apps that use code injection are 15 percent more likely to cause Chrome crashes.

Chrome Anti injection Warning — **This is the message users will see after Chrome crashes.**

Another feature being added is the Asynchronous Clipboard API, which allows reading and writing to the clipboard. Future Chrome release, however, will add the ability to support rich content copying and pasting including images.

In addition, Chrome 66 will remove trust for Symantec-issued certificates that ware issued before June 1, 2016. Google said that it came to this decision after a "continuing pattern of issues over the past several years that has caused the Chrome team to lose confidence in the trustworthiness of Symantec’s infrastructure."

Google Chrome 66 is currently available in the beta channel and should hit the public release channel in mid-April.

Tags: Google, (nasdaq:goog), google chrome, chrome 66

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

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