Chrome 88 was only released last week, marking the launch of the Manifest V3 Extension API, password management changes, and the official death of Adobe Flash support. Chrome 89 has now arrived in the Beta channel, and it seems to be a larger version – even though many of the changes are hidden from most people. Let’s dive in!
Privacy Sandbox
Google only announced Privacy Sandbox in 2019 as the planned replacement of third-party browser cookies. It’s still a work in progress, but Google aims to be a secure environment for personalization that also protects users’ privacy. Chrome 89 has the first pieces of the personalization interface, currently hidden behind a new flag: #privacy-sandbox settings.
If the flag is turned on, you can find a new Privacy Sandbox page in Settings> Privacy & Security> Privacy sandbox. There is currently a single link, which allows ‘measurement of web hosts and ads’. Google explained in a recent blog post how it works:
Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) [Privacy Sandbox] proposes a new way for businesses to reach people with relevant content and ads by bringing together large groups of people with similar interests. This approach effectively hides individuals “in the crowd” and uses in-device processing to keep a person’s web history private in the browser.
By creating simulations based on the principles defined in Chrome’s FLoC proposal, Google’s advertising teams tested this privacy first alternative to third-party cookies. Results suggest that FLoC may provide an effective replacement signal for third-party cookies if it generates interest-based audiences.
Google does not yet allow Websites Privacy Sandbox, but now we know where you will be able to manage the settings once the feature is complete.
Discover feed
Chrome 89 has made some changes to the Discover feed on the new tab page. Currently, articles in the Discover section are listed in maps, but in Chrome 89 they are only separated by separators. The title font also looks slightly larger, and perhaps most importantly, the description preview has been removed.
Chrome 88 (left) versus Chrome 89 (right)
It’s interesting to see how Google is experimenting with deleting the text. In most cases it is too short to add useful context or information, and if you delete it, more articles may appear on the screen at once.
Google is testing a new interface for popping up the website information on Android, which appears when you press the ‘I’ or the lock icon in the address bar. The pop-up usually shows the full address, page security information and a list of permissions. Chrome 89 includes a new flag (#page info-discoverability) that updates the pop-up design.
Left: Ou UI; Middle, right: New UI
The new pop-up is better suited to Google’s updated design language, and you can revoke permissions without opening Chrome’s normal settings panel.
Web NFC API
Google first started testing NFC in web applications with the release of Chrome 81. The version added initial support for the Web NFC API, which enables websites to read and write NFC tags. It is primarily intended for inventory management, conferences, museum exhibitions and any other place where NFC is frequently used. From Chrome 89, the Web NFC API is enabled by default on Android.
Chrome Dev Summit 2019 NFC Web Demo
The Web NFC API is limited to reading and writing NDEF data, so low-level operations such as ISO-DEP, NFC-A / B, NFC-F are not supported. Peer-to-peer communication mode and Host-based Card Emulation (HCE) also do not work. Unfortunately, this probably does not rule out the possibility that someone could create an Amiibo creator web application.
As with microphones, cameras, and other hardware features, NFC requires pop-up permission. It will be interesting to see how the API will be used in the coming years.
Desktop Web Sharing
Chrome on Android has been supporting the Web Share and Web Share Target APIs for some time, allowing web applications to send and receive data using Android’s original share menu. The features have gone a long way in blurring the lines between native and web applications on Android, but annoyingly, it has not been available on desktop platforms (except with Safari on macOS) … until now.
Web Sharing on Chrome OS 89
With the release of Chrome 89, web sharing (where web applications can open the system share dialog) is now available on Windows and Chrome OS, and web applications can act as a target on Chrome OS. Developers do not need to add any additional code for the functionality to work on desktop platforms.
Other changes
As always, this update contains changes for both users and developers. Here are some minor changes to Chrome 89:
- Chrome added support for text snippet links in 2019, which are links that automatically scroll to a certain text range. Google Search started using it in 2020, and now sites can change the way the tagged sections look with the new CSS :: target-text-pseudo-element.
- Chrome 89 can originally load AVIF content using AV1 decoders on Android and WebView.
- The CSS property ‘list-style type’ supports two new keywords: ‘disclosure open’ and ‘disclosure closed’.
- The default value of CSS ‘display’ property for
has been changed from ‘block’ to ‘list item’. - Chrome now supports the CSS feature ‘overflow: clip’, which enables web pages to turn off any type of blocking for a block. It uses less RAM than ‘overflow: hidden’, which is often used for the same purpose.
- Google has added a new source reporting API for websites to track usage across different web domains.
- Websites can now detect whether the current device is set to high contrast display mode, using the new CSS media query with forced colors (similar to how dark mode detection works).
- Some previous events (webkitprerenderstart, webkitprerenderstop, webkitprerenderload and webkitprerenderdomcontentloaded) have been removed.
- Chrome now supports the highest-level keyword “wait” in JavaScript modules.
- The Chrome: // media-internals page is removed in Chrome 91 and Chrome 89 contains a new flag (# enable-media-internals) that changes access to the page.
- The new # enable-table-ng flag is available in Chrome 89, enabling the new Blink table layout engine, TableNG.
- There’s a new flag for inserting a rich subpage for installing Progressive Web Apps on Android, #mobile-pwa-install-use-bottom-sheet, but it seems to be doing nothing yet.
- When you enter a website in the Chrome address bar, it’s added “http: //” at the front by default. Chrome 89 has a new flag (# omnibox-default-typed-navigations-to-https) that changes this behavior, and if the site does not support HTTPS, Chrome will revert to the HTTP URL.
- Chrome 89 has initial support for XFA forms in the PDF reader.
- A new flag, #read-later-reminder-notification, adds a pop-up if an article in your reading list has not been read for a week.
- The Web Serial API, which enables web applications to communicate with hardware over serial connections, is now enabled by default on Windows and Chrome OS. It was previously enabled only by Android standard.
- The WebHID API enables websites to use gamepads and other interface devices more easily, and is enabled by default with Chrome 89.
Download
The APK is signed by Google and upgrades your existing application. The cryptographic signature guarantees that the file is safe to install and that it has not been tampered with in any way. Instead of waiting for Google to send this download to your devices, which can take days, download and install it just like any other APK.
