Items tagged with Chrome
If you are reading this, there is a good chance you are doing so on a Chrome browser, based on the available market share data. And if that is the case, do yourself a solid and update Chrome, "like right this minute." That suggestion is not coming directly from us, but from Justin Schuh, Google Chrome's security boss and engineering director. Schuh made the suggestion on Twitter, in which he pointed to a recent update to Chrome's Stable Channel for desktop systems. The reason he is sounding the alarm is because the latest update to Chrome mitigates a zero-day security hole labeled as CVE-2019-5786. The exact details of the zero-day vulnerability have not yet been disclosed, but it's presumably...
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Chrome is on its way towards becoming a much faster browser than it already is, though there is a caveat—the upcoming speed boost applies to previously visited webpages, as Google's developers are exploring a new back-and-forward cache scheme that will make navigating back and forth "very fast," the company says. "A back/forward cache (bfcache) caches whole pages (including the JavaScript heap) when navigating away from a page, so that the full state of the page can be restored when the user navigates back. Think of it as pausing a page when you leave it and playing it when you return," Google developer Addy Osmani explains. This new scheme caches entire web pages for faster access. It...
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If you are a Chrome user, you have probably fired up its Incognito Mode a time or two, whether out of curiosity or to hide your online activities—you know, like when you're birthday shopping, right? Suuuuure. Anyway, we're not judging when or why you might use a private browsing session. We are just here to tell you that Google is making Incognito Mode in Chrome better than it already is. As you might already know, going Incognito means Chrome will not save your browsing history, cookies and site data, or any information you enter into online forms. It will keep any files you download and bookmarks you create, but otherwise it offers a sense of privacy, at least for the most. What you might...
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Chrome is the most popular browser on the market even though it is far from perfect. One of the biggest complaints that Chrome users have is that the browser tends to be very resource intensive using up memory and excess processing cycles that can slow down the entire system. It appears that Google is finally ready to do something about the resource-intensive nature of Chrome with a new mode that would place limits on resources the browser can consume. Details of a mode called "Never-Slow Mode" have surfaced on Chromium Gerrit and indicate that the mode would place hard limits on the resources a webpage could consume. Developer Alex Russell explains that the mode "would enforce per-interaction...
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Website and database breaches are becoming a more frequent occurrence these days, which is why it has become even more imperative for users to take stock in the passwords they use [and reuse] on multiple websites. In order to add an extra layer of protection and to prompt users to change passwords that may have been compromised with previous breaches, Google has announced the availability of its Password Checkup extension for the Chrome web browser. To put it simply, whenever you input your username and password to sign-on on to a website, the Password Checkup extension will automatically compare those entries to a database that contains over 4 billion compromised credentials....
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Google is starting to see the light (darkness?) in offering users a dark mode option for some of its products and services, such as Android and YouTube. Some people find dark themes to simply be less straining on the eyes. If you're one of them and you own a Windows 10 PC, we have good news—a dark mode option is being added to Google's Chrome browser. Confirmation of this comes from Chrome developer Peter Kasting, who in May of last year submitted a bug report related to having a dark mode. "Windows 10 allows users to set their apps to 'light' or 'dark' mode. Chrome should respect this. The most obvious hack is to use the default incognito color scheme in normal mode (as well as incognito)...
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If you have been using Google's Chrome browser lately, you have probably noticed that the company has been pushing out an updated user interface that features a mobile-centric design focus. This interface was first pushed out in September, but it was an optional feature up until Chrome 71, which was released this month and forces you to use the new UI. It appears, however, that many users are unhappy with the new interface. Many of the arguments against Chrome have been voiced on Reddit, where users have complained that the new interface is too lightly colored, and many have also commented that it's too difficult now to tell which tab you are currently looking at. Other comments have said common...
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With Google's Chrome web browser being the most popular browser out there right now, new features for the browser are something that many web surfers look forward to. Google is reportedly working on a new feature that will stop one nefarious tactic websites use to keep you from leaving their site. Specifically, a new version of Chrome will stop websites from preventing the back button from working. Google calls the act of breaking the back button "history manipulation." The first hints that Google was working to stop this sort of manipulation came from code spotted inside the Chromium project; this is the core code that the Chrome browser is based upon. This code suggested that the Chrome feature...
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The Chrome Dev Summit 2018 event is underway now, and one of the big focuses of the event is making the web faster and smoother. One of the ways Google's Chromium team is going to make this happen is with a new tool called Squoosh, a powerful image compression tool that launches almost instantly and offers a simple, fast UI, even when it’s working hard. The app offers compression and conversion between image formats like PNG, JPG and WebP with multiple compression algorithms to choose from. The Squoosh web app works in any browser but of course Google recommends Chrome for the best experience. Regardless, the tool also gives you the ability and options for resizing, smoothing...
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Google has begun pushing out a new build of its Chrome browser, version 70.0.3538.67, to end users at large. This latest release is an official build, not a beta version, and as such should be considered stable for the general populace. One of the new features Chrome 70 brings to the table is a retooled account login system. The new feature is in reaction to complaints and concerns that the previous build was automatically signing users into their Google accounts whenever they would visit a Google website or service, such as Gmail. The featured sparked a privacy concern. Google insisted it wasn't using the auto login feature to collect more data, but ultimately conceded it was the right move...
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Sometimes making it into a beta test for a new service seems as unlikely as hitting the lottery. Some folks may have thought when Google announced Project Stream earlier this month and invited people to sign up for a chance at the beta test for the service, the odds of getting in on a Google beta for a completely new service were slim. As it turns out, it appears that Google invited everyone who signed up for the beta. If you signed up, check your email because you probably have an invite sitting there. Inside the welcome email is a setup code unique to each user. To play you go to the Project Stream website, where you enter your setup code, agree that you are 17-years old or older, and agree...
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Google has been catching some flak for a feature it recently introduced into its Chrome browser, one that automatically logs users into the browser whenever they visit a Google website or service, such as Gmail. Starting with Chrome 70, Google will give users the option of disabling this controversial feature if they want to. "While we think sign-in consistency will help many of our users, we’re adding a control that allows users to turn off linking web-based sign-in with browser-based sign-in—that way users have more control over their experience. For users that disable this feature, signing into a Google website will not sign them into Chrome," Google stated in a blog post. In announcing...
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A good dark theme for your computer and other devices is worth its weight in gold to many users. Google is looking to add a little dark magic to Chrome, and its initial rollout will be very limited. Google Chrome users can already download third-party dark themes for the browser right now, but Chrome is getting a native dark mode with a caveat. That caveat is that the native dark mode will work on macOS only. There is speculation that the native dark mode might come to other Chrome users later, but that is unconfirmed for now. Apple will begin supporting a system-wide dark mode with macOS 10.14 Mojave, which is currently in beta and will be released this fall. Support for the dark theme...
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Chrome fans will be glad to hear that the Chrome 70 beta has landed and that it is packing some very cool features that will enable improved security on some devices. The big new feature for macOS and Android users is support for Touch ID or fingerprint sensors; the hardware is enabled by default as part of the Web Authentication API. One of the cool things about that implementation is that websites with support for the API allow the use of Touch ID for 2-factor authentication. Google is also removing the Android and iOS build numbers from the user-agent identification string that is visible to websites in Chrome 70 to increase privacy. Chrome for iOS will show the build number as 15E148 from...
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