Google brings fingerprint support on Chrome beta for Android and Mac

The latest update for Chrome beta is bringing an extra layer of security for Android and Mac devices. The app will use Android fingerprint sensors and the MacBook Pro’s Touch ID sensors for biometrics. It isn’t indicated though if other biometric security options like Windows Hello fingerprint scanners or Touch ID on older iOS devices will be supported as well.

Chrome 70 beta brings with it some other features, too. It’ll exit full-screen mode when dialog boxes for payments, authentication prompts, or file pickers show up so you get a better view of what you’re filling out. Web Bluetooth support comes to Windows 10, letting Chrome communicate with other nearby Bluetooth devices. There’s also a new experimental Shape Detection API that will let you identify barcodes, QR codes, text in images, and faces, among other things.

Source: The Verge

Google tests horizontal tab switcher for its Chrome app on Android

One of the biggest changes Google is implementing in Android P is the horizontal orientation of the recent apps switcher. It seems this design change is making its way to the Chrome app on Android, too. The latest update to Chrome Canary (the unstable version of Chrome) shows a horizontal tab switcher, letting you see more of the page as you swipe left or right. You can close tabs by swiping up and down.

One of the other new things in Chrome includes how you interact with Incognito tabs. You can tap on the incognito icon in the upper right corner to open all of them. If you want to switch back, you just need to tap the icon again. If you want to try this out before the official Chrome app gets it, you’ll need to install the Chrome Canary app from Google Play and then bring out the flags by typing chrome://flags in the search box, find the #enable-horizontal-tab-switcher and then enable it.

Source: GSMArena

Google Chrome finally mutes autoplaying videos by default

Back in December, Google was testing out the ability to mute autoplaying videos on its Chrome browser. Now in Google Chrome 66 version, this feature goes live for users on both the desktop and mobile apps. Chrome will now automatically block these videos from autoplaying. As for those that are set to autoplay without sound, those will continue to play in the background. Another exception is for sites where you have “previously shown an interest in media on the site.” So, if you use YouTube a lot, expect autoplaying videos from there to start playing.

Source: Mashable

Google Chrome on the desktop will get an easier way to access emojis

While it’s easy to access emojis to use for Chrome on mobile, the case isn’t the same for desktop. But this will change soon. The latest Canary version of Chrome will let you access Chrome emojis by simply right-clicking on the browser to pull up a menu with the emojis you want to use. It is already possible to use emojis on Chrome right now but there’s an extra hurdle for both Mac and Windows users to get to them.

For Mac users, it’s easier. Just hold Control + Command + Space to launch the emoji selector. Meanwhile, Windows users need to click on the keyboard icon in the task manager and look for the emoji button there. Unfortunately, there is no keyboard shortcut to access the emojis on Windows. This feature, if you’re waiting for it, will likely come to the stable version of Chrome in the coming weeks.

Source: Android Authority