Chrome 88 was released just last week, marking the launch of the Manifest V3 extension API, changes to password management and the official demise of Adobe Flash support. Chrome 89 has now arrived on the Beta Channel and appears to be an even bigger release – even though many of its changes are hidden from most people. Let’s dive!
Privacy Sandbox
Google announced the Privacy Sandbox for the first time in 2019, as the company’s planned replacement for third-party browser cookies. It is still a work in progress, but Google intends it to be “a secure environment for personalization that also protects user privacy”. Chrome 89 has the first pieces of the personalization interface, currently hidden behind a new banner: # privacy-sandbox-settings.
With the flag enabled, a new page for Privacy Sandbox can be found in Settings> Privacy and Security> Privacy sandbox. Currently, there is a single toggle button, which allows ‘crowd measurement and advertising on the web’. Google explained how this works in a recent blog post:
Federated cohort learning (FLoC) [Privacy Sandbox] proposes a new way for companies to reach people with relevant content and ads, grouping large groups of people with similar interests. This approach effectively hides individuals “in the crowd” and uses on-device processing to keep a person’s web history private in the browser.
When creating simulations based on the principles defined in the Chrome FLoC proposal, Google’s ad teams tested this privacy alternative for third-party cookies. The results indicate that, when it comes to generating interest-based audiences, FLoC can provide an effective replacement signal for third-party cookies.
Google does not yet allow sites to use the Privacy Sandbox, but we now know where you can manage your settings when the feature is complete.
Discover feed
Chrome 89 has some changes to the Discover feed on the New Tab page. Currently, the articles in the Discover section are listed on cards, but in Chrome 89 they are separated only by dividers. The source of the title also looks slightly larger and, perhaps most importantly, the description view has been removed.
Chrome 88 (left) vs. Chrome 89 (right)
It’s interesting to see Google try to remove the text from the teaser. In most cases, they are too short to provide any useful context or additional information, and removing them allows more articles to appear on the screen at once.
Google is testing a new interface for the website information pop-up on Android, which appears when you press the ‘I’ or the lock icon in the address bar. The pop-up usually shows the full address, information about the security of the page and a list of granted permissions. Chrome 89 includes a new flag (# page-info-discoverability) that updates the design of the pop-up.
Left: Old UI; Center, right: New UI
The new pop-up fits better with Google’s updated design language, and you can revoke permissions without opening Chrome’s normal settings panel.
NFC Web API
Google began testing NFC in web applications with the launch of Chrome 81. This release added initial support for the NFC Web API, allowing sites to read and write NFC tags. It is primarily intended for inventory management, conferences, museum exhibitions and anywhere else NFC is used frequently. As of Chrome 89, the NFC Web API is enabled by default on Android.
Chrome Dev Summit 2019 web NFC demo
The NFC Web API is limited to reading and writing NDEF data, so low-level operations like ISO-DEP, NFC-A / B, NFC-F are not supported. Point-to-point communication mode and Host-based Card Emulation (HCE) also do not work. Unfortunately, this probably precludes any chance of anyone creating an Amiibo creator web app.
As with microphones, cameras and other hardware resources, NFC requires a pop-up permission to be granted. It will be interesting to see how the API will be used in the coming years.
Desktop web sharing
Chrome on Android has been supporting the Web Share and Web Share Target APIs for a while, which allows web apps to send and receive data with Android’s native sharing menu. Features have come a long way to blurring the line between native and web apps on Android, but annoyingly, they weren’t available on desktop platforms (except with Safari on macOS) … until now.
Web sharing on Chrome OS 89
With the launch of Chrome 89, web sharing (where web apps can open the system sharing dialog) is now available on Windows and Chrome OS, and web apps can function as a target on Chrome OS . Developers will not have to add any extra code for the functionality to work on desktop platforms.
Other changes
As always, this update includes changes for users and developers. Here are some minor changes included with Chrome 89:
- Chrome added support for text snippet links in 2019, which are links that automatically scroll to a certain text string. Google Search started using them in 2020 and now websites can change the appearance of highlighted parts with the new CSS :: target-text pseudo-element.
- Chrome 89 can load AVIF content natively using AV1 decoders on Android and WebView.
- The CSS property ‘list-style-type’ supports two new keywords: ‘disclosure-open’ and ‘disclosure-closed’.
- The default value of the ‘display’ CSS property for
has been changed from ‘block’ to ‘list item’. - Chrome now supports the CSS property ‘overflow: clip’, which allows web pages to turn off any scrolling for a box. It uses less RAM than ‘overflow: hidden’, which is generally used for the same purpose.
- Google added a new cross-source reporting API for websites to track usage across different web domains.
- Sites can now detect whether the current device is set to high contrast display mode, using the new forced color CSS media query (similar to how dark mode detection works).
- Some legacy legacy events (webkitprerenderstart, webkitprerenderstop, webkitprerenderload and webkitprerenderdomcontentloaded) have been removed.
- Chrome now supports the keyword ‘await’ at the top level of JavaScript modules.
- The chrome: // media-internals page will be removed in Chrome 91, and Chrome 89 includes a new flag (# enable-media-internals) that toggles access to the page.
- The new flag # enable-table-ng is available in Chrome 89, which enables the new Blink table layout engine, TableNG.
- There is a new flag to enable “a rich background sheet” for installing Progressive Web Apps on Android, # mobile-pwa-install-use-bottom-sheet, but it doesn’t seem to do anything yet.
- When you enter a website in the Chrome address bar, it currently adds “http: //” ahead by default. Chrome 89 has a new flag (# omnibox-default-typed-navigations-to-https) that changes this behavior, and if the site does not support HTTPS, Chrome will return to the HTTP URL.
- Chrome 89 has initial support for XFA forms in the PDF reader.
- A new flag, # read-later-reminder-notification, adds a pop-up when an article on your reading list has not been read for a week.
- The Serial Web API, which allows web applications to communicate with hardware over serial connections, is now enabled by default on Windows and Chrome OS. Previously, it was only enabled by default on Android.
- The WebHID API allows websites to use gamepads and other interface devices more easily and is enabled by default in Chrome 89.
Download
The APK is signed by Google and updates your existing application. The cryptographic signature ensures that the file is safe to install and has not been tampered with in any way. Instead of waiting for Google to send this download to your devices, which can take days, download and install it like any other APK.
