Microsoft has launched Windows Defender Browser Protection for Google's Chrome browser via an extension. Anyone can download the extension now, adding an extra layer of protection to block malicious websites. The extension, which is free, alerts users when they attempt to load a dangerous website and directs them back toward safety.
Google is on a crusade to banish bad ads from the Internet. Some would argue that it's a self-serving crusade meant to steer the industry towards its own brand of ads. It's hard to argue, however, that Google is also addressing some of the biggest complaints surfers have with ads. With Chrome 66, now available on all platforms, the web browser finally delivers on the promise of blocking autoplaying videos and audio. That is, if they fall under criteria.
Whether you use them often or almost never, there's no doubt that adding emoji to text is so much easier on a phone. It's simple tap a button on the virtual keyboard, scroll to the one you want, and tap it to enter, and sometimes you can just type the word associated with the emoji and a single tap with convert it. Things just aren't that elegant on the desktop, where it can be more cumbersome to find and enter that specific emoji.
There's a codename now for the next most impressive Chromebook in the history of Chromebooks. Google's code-named this device Atlas, and it's about to hold the whole world wide web up on its shoulders - that is, a 4K display. A device of this stature would fit right in with Google's gap in hardware coverage for the highest end of great for ChromeOS devices.
Security at the Chrome Web Store took a hardline stance on cryptocurrency miners this week. In the past, the Chrome Web Store allowed crypto mining apps ONLY if they had mining as their SINGLE purpose, and the user was "adequately informed" about how the app worked. Due in part to the absurd number of apps submitted to the Chrome Web Store that attempted to bend or break these rules, the store announced they'd no longer accept any crypto mining apps at all, whatsoever.
Google is about to crack down on auto-playing video with audio, with the upcoming release of its Chrome browser taking a strict hand to noisy sites. Chrome 66 is currently in beta for those who want an early taste of what Google has been working on, though after that will graduate to the full release every user will be able to upgrade to.
Google released two new apps for Android (and iOS) devices, both of which are truly entertaining. They provide the sort of functionality that a smart handheld computer really should provide, without the whole "why does this exist though" thing getting in the way. As such, I recommend you have a peek at the both of them immediately. Or on your lunch break - unless you've got a case of The Mondays already.
Browsers are no longer just about display web pages and cat GIFs. Browser makers are extending both their software and the Web itself to accommodate all sorts of content and interaction, some of them more sensible than others. Google has tons of Chrome Experiments aimed to both show off and push the Chrome browser to its limits. It’s latest, however, is probably the most fun and addictive. Chrome Music Lab’s Song Maker is exactly what it sounds but it sounds even better when you actually use it.
Chromebooks will soon offer a splitscreen function for Android apps, and that ability has recently been demonstrated in a video. The splitscreen support has arrived in Chrome OS Canary and will make the Android app experience better on Chromebook, particularly models with a detachable display that offers more tablet-like interaction.
A day of reckoning is nearly upon us. After announcing that it was preparing an ad blocker for Chrome way back in June, Google is finally ready to send the feature live. This is a big step for Chrome users, as it will block some of the more annoying advertisements you're likely to encounter as you make your way through this wonderful internet of ours.
Google just published a reminder that may have gone slightly unnoticed by most. Starting tomorrow, February 15, Google Chrome will remove all ads on websites that fail to meet the criteria set by the Better Ads Standard from the Coalition for Better Ads. Unless you’ve been keeping tabs on the web advertising industry, you might be shocked at this rather hardline stance. Google, however, had given website owners enough time to clean up their act and, even now, is explaining how all this ad filtering business works.
The Web can be a pretty scary place. The power and information it gives users is also available to those with less benign intentions. Browser makers have long been trying to make the Web safer, only to be foiled by user browsing habits on end and websites’ poor security practices on the other. Google, for its part, has given developers and administrators enough time to get their act together. But enough is enough and starting July this year, the Chrome web browser will mark all websites still using HTTP instead of HTTPS as “Not Secure”.