10 days ago Google rolled Chrome 75 Stable Browser out and that has mainly security features and the new reading mode in the luggage. Now follows the beta channel and increased to version 76, bringing back significantly more innovations. At least in the Google Chrome 76 beta version, quite a few things are now being processed which have been in the pipeline for a long time and will probably also find their way into the final version.
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Flash is blocked by default
The use of Flash has fallen sharply, and in the coming year, developer Adobe will stop supporting the technology. Even Google will remove Flash at this time from the Chrome browser and now goes the next of many small steps. As of Chrome 76 Beta, Flash globally is disabled by default. Although users still have the option to change this globally, as well as for every single website, that will probably do the least. The next coffin nail is set so accurately.
Recognition of incognito mode is no longer possible
It has just been announced that Google wants to prevent detection of the incognito mode, which was previously possible through a special API. Changes to the FileSystem API now make sure that a very common method for detecting this mode does not work anymore.
A clear reference to Progressive Web Apps
If a Progressive Web App is available for the currently visited website, there is now a plus button on the right side of the address bar, behind which the dialog for the installation hides. To make the user more aware, the long word “install” is first displayed in animated form and then fades out shortly afterward.
Progressive Web App Updates
With the new version, the browser will now search for updates to the Progressive Web Apps on a daily basis instead of the previous three days. Obviously, the development is progressing even more in this area and apps are getting new features on average more often. In addition, web pages will be able to customize the message about installing PWAs.
Changes to the popup blocker
Google Chrome does not allow some features, such as opening pop-ups until the user interacts with a webpage. There are new rules, what counts as interaction and what does not. Pressing the ESC key no longer counts as an interaction. Moving the cursor or very short swipes is also no longer considered interaction, but clicking a content or typing in a form field already.
The changed transition between web pages
When the user opens a new web page, Google Chrome will display a blank page for the transition, which will flash only briefly as the next page loads fast. This changes now for fast-loading websites because these should be omitted on the intermediate step. For this, the browser will wait for the answer to a webpage very shortly and react accordingly.
Detection of the dark mode
From Chrome 76 it is possible to use the CSS prefers-color-scheme media query to query whether the user wants to use a dark mode or not. Then they can react accordingly and deliver even dark versions. The Chrome 76 Beta will be rolled out immediately and will be distributed in mid/late July for all users in the stable version.
