Tag: Chrome

Following the release of the desktop build and the Chrome OS build last week, Chrome 58 has made its way to Android.  The updated build is version 58.0.3029.83 and it has been released into the Google Play Store.  Keep in mind that it could take several days before the update hits your phone or tablet as the update is rolled out to users.

According to the release notes, there are three new features in this update to the browser:

• View and manage in-progress downloads on the Downloads page
• View and clear your browsing data more easily on the redesigned History page
• Long-press a link to open it in a new Chrome tab (from Chrome Custom Tabs)

Along with these new features, there are several bug fixes and security improvements to the browser.

After two years of behind the scenes work, the new Google Earth has been announced and released today.  The update brings vast improvements to the app for Chrome on the web and the Android app along with several new features.  The web-based version of the new Earth is now available while the Android app, version 9.0 for those keeping score at home, is rolling out now to the Play Store.  The app sports an all new icon along with the app improvements.

The banner new feature in this update is the new Voyager feature.  Teaming up with scientist, non-profit organizations and storytellers, this new feature allows you to have an interactive guided tour of a locale within Google Earth.  My personal favorite is The Hidden World of National Parks which takes you on a journey through these protected areas here in the United States and includes a combination of Street Views, videos and, of course, interactive maps.

Slow and steadily, Material Design is making its way into the Chrome browser.  Right now there is a behind-the-scenes update that brings the more polished look to the Chrome notification panel.  If you aren’t familiar with this feature, it is under the bell icon in the taskbar in Chrome.  It gives you notifications from other Google services like Google+, Google Photos and the like.  Previously, this panel was pretty slow to load and frankly, looked a bit dated when you compare it to the beautiful Material Design look of other parts of the browser or even Google’s own websites.  If you have the latest version of Chrome browser, you will get this update and will know you have it when you see a couple of visual clues.

First, the color changing orb that shows up when notifications are loading is gone.  Now you a simple, clean progress bar at the top of the panel.  Second, you will see your notification in sub-divided areas.  So update for Google+ are under one section, Google Photos for another, and so on.

Google has announced that starting February 8, 2017, Chrome 53 and earlier will not be supported for Gmail.  Starting then, a banner will be displayed indicating that an update is recommended for a safer experience.  The current version of Chrome is build 56 for desktops.

The impact is most likely going to be felt by those who are still on Windows XP or Windows Vista.  Chrome 49 was the last supported version for these Operating Systems and Google, as Microsoft themselves have done, are no longer supporting them.  In Google’s announcement, users on XP and Vista are strongly encouraged to update to a new version of Windows.

The Chrome team has started rolling out a new major build of the browser for Windows, Mac and Linux.  Chrome build 56.0.2924.76 has a long list of security fixes and enhancements but also has an impressive list of new features along with it.  In all there are 21 specific issues addressed in the release notes, 7 of which were considered high priority.  As is the usual case, Google hasn’t released all the details of what was addressed.  They will do that after a majority of users have upgraded to the new build.

In this build, full HTML5 is supported which means the end of Adobe Flash plug-in for everyone.  You should get a prompt when you first open up the browser about Flash and the idea here is to make it a better browsing experience for everyone.  And safer.

The Google Chrome team has launched an education and troubleshooting set of videos for Chromebooks and Chrome OS on their YouTube channel.  The videos, eight in all, cover a wide range of topics from setting up your Chromebook for the first time to troubleshooting Wi-Fi issues.  Each of the videos range from a couple of minutes to nearly 5 minutes depending on the topic.  While experienced Chromebook and Chrome OS users will find the videos to be basic, for those who are moving from a Windows PC or Mac, they can be a huge time saver when it comes to understanding their new device.