{"id":34043,"date":"2022-08-03T08:22:53","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T08:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/whats-new-in-chrome-104-available-now\/"},"modified":"2022-08-03T08:22:53","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T08:22:53","slug":"whats-new-in-chrome-104-available-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/whats-new-in-chrome-104-available-now\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s New in Chrome 104, Available Now"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The slow march of Chrome releases continues with version 104 of Google’s popular browser. This update, released on August 2, 2022, includes page loading experiments, better screen sharing tools, and a handful of UI changes for Chromebooks.<\/p>\n

Experimenting to Speed \u200b\u200bUp Page Loading<\/h2>\n

In the early days of the internet, browsers would load an entire page at once. Browsers and websites eventually started shifting to \u201clazy loading,\u201d where some content isn’t loaded until it’s visible. However, Chrome only lazy-loads embedded content if the page specifically allows it.<\/p>\n

Google is testing an experiment called \u201cLazyEmbeds\u201d that will lazy-load some embedded content automatically, without the page asking for it. The experiment is planned to start with 1% of people running stable Chrome 104.<\/p>\n

Region Capture for Web Apps<\/h2>\n
\"Region
Google<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chrome now has the ability to crop self-captured video tracks. The feature is called \u201cRegion Capture,\u201d and it lets you choose which part of the screen you want to record or share.<\/p>\n

The example Google gives is for video conferencing. You could always choose which tab to share, but now you can also select the area of \u200b\u200bthe screen you want to share. This can be especially useful for hiding the video conferencing controls while screen sharing.<\/p>\n

Chromebooks Get a New “Start Menu”<\/h2>\n

\"Chrome<\/p>\n

Google has been working on revamping the Chrome OS interface for a while now. One of the biggest changes comes to the app launcher. It now looks much more like the Windows Start Menu.<\/p>\n

The new \u201cProductivity Launcher\u201d floats in the corner of the screen like the Windows Start Menu. It has a Google Search bar and Assistant shortcut at the top. You can right-click or tap and hold anywhere to sort by name or icon color. It’s a pretty big improvement over the old launcher.<\/p>\n

Automatic Light and Dark Themes for Chromebooks<\/h2>\n

\"Light<\/p>\n

Chromebooks have had \u201cunofficial\u201d dark and light themes for a while. Thankfully, the functionality is coming to the stable channel along with the ability to have the themes automatically switch.<\/p>\n

Previously, the themes were only available if you enabled a feature flag. The ability to have the themes automatically switch at night and day was not present. Now, just like Windows and macOS, Chromebooks have fully featured light and dark themes.<\/p>\n

System Tray Improvements for Chromebooks<\/h2>\n

\"Chrome<\/p>\n

Google is also revamping the System Tray on Chromebooks. This is the area that shows the clock, battery, and Wi-Fi. Chrome OS 104 adds the date to the System Tray and brings a new calendar widget with it.<\/p>\n

The clock is now split to show the date on the left. When you select the date, you get a nice, big calendar widget. You can click a date on the calendar to the option to \u201cOpen in Google Calendar.\u201d Google has also tweaked the design of notifications a bit.<\/p>\n

What Else Is New?<\/h2>\n

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