With Google constantly developing their Chrome browser, it’s no surprise the company is already hard at work on the next version, version 54, which has already been released in beta form. The updated version brings a number of improvements to Google’s popular browser, namely user and developer improvements to the Android version, though some important changes have also been made to the traditional desktop version.
Looking at the changes, Google has improved the way videos are handled through the Android app. Now, videos will continue to play in the background when you leave the app, switch tabs or even if the display is off, similar to they way videos are handled on the desktop app. In addition to this, developers can trigger a full-screen mode when a device changes orientation into landscape, meaning media players can activate a rotate-to-full screen option. One further design change Google has implemented in the Android version is a redesigned New Tab page which will now display Google Now suggested articles. Moving on to the desktop version, embedded video players will now be rewritten by the desktop version of Chrome 54 in order to use the embed style of HTML5, which should improve both performance and security. These aren’t the only changes in the update. Google has also included support for developers so that they can create custom elements and components with support for the new V1 spec and a new BroadcastChannel API which should allow websites to better communicate with their own custom tabs.
The updated version of the browser comes only a short time after Google released the final versions of Chrome 53 and Chrome OS 53 which saw the introduction of Material Design to Windows, but disappointed Chrome OS users by delaying Android app support. With Chrome 54, many Chrome OS users will surely be hoping the final version brings the long-awaited Android app support, but, for now, the beta release does not include this. Users who wish to test out the beta version and all of its new features can download the version but they should take into account that the version may be unstable, which could lead to crashing, and could also include a number of bugs.