Google is currently rolling out the stable version of Chrome 109 for desktop and mobile as it adds new features. However, these features are dependent on being built in by third-party developers.
The update gives developers (opens in a new tab) new tools to improve interactivity between their software and the browser. Conditional focus (opens in a new tab) will be added, allowing a video conferencing application to decide whether to focus on a tab or a window when you start sharing your screen. If developers don't want either, they can set the landing page as the primary screen. Just like Zoom already does, the browser will also be able to mute audio on a video call so people don't have to mute their microphone. The main difference is that removing audio from Chrome seems to work with all video conferencing apps as long as developers have changed their software to make it compatible.
For Chrome 109 on mobile, the browser now works with the experimental Secure Payment Confirmation (SPC) standard that lets users use their phone's biometric screen unlock feature to verify payments. Instead of having to go through multiple pages to verify your identity, you can simply use your fingerprint (opens in a new tab). This feature is dependent on banks, credit card transmitters and payment gateways incorporating SPC into their software, so it may be some time before it is widely supported.
Other notable developer-focused quirks, like the new CSS values, can be found on the Chrome Developer Weblog (opens in a new tab).
own changes
The Chrome 109 update package includes some changes of its own (opens in a new tab) that the common user will appreciate. If the browser warns that you downloaded something potentially malicious, it will offer a more detailed explanation as to why it stopped downloading. For example, the warning will explicitly tell you if the file contains malware that could steal information from your social media accounts. The "From the web" feature, which notifies users about a particular page, has been renamed "About this page", making its function more obvious.
17 security fixes (opens in a new tab) are present in Chrome 109, but most of them are not catastrophic. Most of them are fixes for certain poorly incorporated components, such as the Full Screen API and permission prompts for a smoother experience. We must also mention that this is the latest version of Chrome (opens in a new tab) for Windows XNUMX and XNUMX. In the future, there will be no more updates or security patches.
Experimental characteristics
As for the rest of the features, they are all experimental, which means that their quality is going to be somewhat controversial. The Material You theme is present on the Chrome desktop, allowing you to change the look of the browser on the New Tab page. However, it seems to only be fully functional on the Canary channel (opens in a new tab); a singular version of Chrome where users can test experimental features. There are also Save Tab Sets for transferring tab sets from one version of Chrome (Windows, Mac, or Linux) for use on other operating systems. You can test them and more by entering "chrome://flags" in your browser's address bar after the update.
Google warns that testing experimental features may compromise browser security. For this reason, we advise asking Techradar's best antivirus software for XNUMX so that you can safely use the features without compromising security.