Google Chrome is the most popular browser in the world, with more than a billion users, not by accident, as it comes with several features that make using it between different devices a breeze, and it has virtually unlimited features thanks to its massive extensions store. The browser was updated last Tuesday, bringing it to version 47 and introducing several improvements, security fixes and more features with most of them devoted to developers. Perhaps the most remarkable change is the dismissal of the Notifications Center, which you may not have even noticed it was there – and it was one of the reasons Google removed it, as “no one used it.” If you were unaware of this, the Notification Center resided on your system icons and it used to house all the notifications you got from websites you followed. Of course Chrome is not done with website and web apps notifications, the problem was just the center.
Most new features are devoted to developers, so if you are one, it is important to take a look at the full changelog on the source link at the end of the article and the notifications documentation. Other than the removal of the notification center, there are several changes devoted to these alerts. First of all, it is now possible to set notifications to be dismissed automatically – if you didn’t notice yet, Chrome notifications currently don’t go away unless you close them, which is annoying. There are more complicated and technical changes to allow developers to make better usage of idle times to boost performance.
Google has an interesting program of giving money rewards for those who find bugs and security flaws. For this version alone, the company has paid over $100,000 in “bounties” for several users, as calculated by Venture Beat. To check if you already have the latest version of Chrome installed, just open the Chrome menu, go to “Help and About” and hit “About Google Chrome”, and check for the version – it should be 47. It can happen that the browser is set to update automatically, but if you leave your computer always on, there’s chance Chrome is just waiting to be restarted in order to install the update, so, close everything, quit and open it again. Chrome 47 for Android is also coming soon, and will bring in other exclusive features for mobile, which will be explained when it arrives.