Google will launch Chrome 88 for the stable channel today, on January 19, 2021. The latest browser includes some interesting changes, including a dark theme enhanced for Windows 10 and the start of less intrusive permission prompts. Here are the highlights.
Better support for dark theme in Windows 10
Chrome has supported the Windows 10 system dark theme for a while, but Chrome 88 makes it a little better. Dark theme now applies to scroll bars on many of Chrome’s internal pages. This includes settings, bookmarks, history, new tab page and more. It is not yet present on sites that support obscure themes.
No more FTP on Google Chrome
With Chrome 88, Google Chrome no longer supports FTP URLs – in other words, ftp: // addresses.
FTP support is a legacy feature that does not support encrypted connections (without FTPS). An attacker could modify the files you are downloading in transit, unlike encrypted HTTPS or FTPS, where this is not possible. Since Chrome and other browsers are moving to an always encrypted web, abandoning old protocols like this makes sense.
Google has been working on removing FTP from Chrome for some time, but it was still available to some people – and a flag could enable it. Google usage data showed that very few people used FTP. All FTP support is now disabled. If you want to use FTP, you will need a separate FTP application.
Mac OS X Yosemite is no longer supported
Google is officially ending support for Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite on Chrome 88. Mac users will need OS X 10.11 El Capitan or newer to use Chrome 88. This shouldn’t come as a shock, as Apple does not offer Yosemite support since 2017.
Legacy browser add-on that has changed forever
With Chrome 85, Google removed its Legacy Browser Support add-on as functionality was incorporated into Chrome. Chrome 88 takes it a step further and disables all installed instances of the add-on.
LBS was designed for IT administrators to call Microsoft Internet Explorer on Chrome for older applications written for that browser, as well as intranet sites. As it is now integrated with Chrome, the add-on is unnecessary.
Less obtrusive permission requests
Chrome 88 is experiencing a smaller and less intrusive way to request permissions. Instead of the pop-up covering the website’s content, a new “chip” appears to the left of the URL.
The chip appears first with the full text, such as “Use your location?” After a few seconds, it is minimized to just a small icon. Clicking on the card, which appears as a blue oval, opens the permission prompt you’re used to seeing.
You can try the new permission chips now by activating the flag in chrome://flags/#permission-chip
Testing light and dark themes for Chrome OS
Google is testing more defined light and dark themes for Chromebooks. The theme can be switched in the Quick settings menu. Themes affect the shelf, the App Launcher, and the quick settings panel. Not everything is working 100% now.
If you want to experiment on a Chrome OS system, signaling can be enabled at chrome://flags/#dark-light-mode. After restarting, the theme toggle button will appear in Quick Settings.
Guide search comes to the desktop
Chrome 87 brought a useful Tab Search feature to Chromebooks, but it was not available on Windows, Mac or Linux. Chrome 88 brings this to these platforms through a Chrome flag.
When enabled, you get a drop-down arrow on the top tab bar that shows all of your open tabs when selected. You can then use the integrated search bar to find the guide you are looking for.
To get this feature in Chrome 88, turn on the Guide Search flag at chrome://flags/#enable-tab-search.
RELATED: Searching for open tabs in Google Chrome
Developer Goodies
Much of what’s new in each version of Chrome is under the hood, and Chrome 88 is no exception. Google described many of these changes on its developer site and on the Chromium blog:
- Digital goods API: Web apps published to the Google Play Store can now use Play Store billing like native apps.
- WebXR: Estimated AR lighting: For AR and VR content on Android, lighting estimation can help make models look more natural and how to “adapt” better to the user’s environment.
- Anchor target = _blank implies rel = noopener by default: To defend against “nap” attacks, anchor that target
_blankwill behave as ifrelis configured fornoopener. - CSS aspect ratio property: This allows you to explicitly specify an aspect ratio for any element to achieve similar behavior to a replaced element.
- Origin insulation: Web applications can choose to increase the security of a page in exchange for giving access to certain APIs.
- JavaScript Engine: Chrome 88 incorporates version 8.8 of the V8 JavaScript engine.
As always, Chrome will automatically install the update when it becomes available. To immediately check and install all available updates, click the menu> Help> About Google Chrome.
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