Google Chrome is probably the browser everyone is using. When it launched back in 2008, it was lauded as a super-small, resource-saving program that wasn’t even feature-complete, but that has long changed. After its long and winding march to market domination, the browser received more features, grew in size, and is now known as an absolute resource hog and data collection engine.
But the development never stands still. Chrome’s developers keep adding new features and great tricks to the browser, with equally as many aimed at improving functionality as there are focused on enhancing speed, resource management, and stability.
This hub serves as an overview of what the Chrome developers are up to, and what’s new in every version, with a focus on what regular users can expect — don’t expect a technical deep dive into development. We’ll regularly update it when we cover new Chrome versions and new features, so be sure to bookmark this page or keep coming back to it whenever you want to learn more about what’s new in Chrome.
Enjoy this reverse-chronological list, with the current (beta) release coming up first, followed by the current stable version and then those that came before it. At the bottom, there is sometimes a section of cutting-edge features that either aren’t tied to any particular Chrome version yet or upcoming Canary and Developer versions that are more experimental than the beta.
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Chrome 124
Chrome 124 will be released as a beta on March 20 and then graduate to stable on April 10, 2024. The new version is currenty in its early Canary development stage, but a few things have already been spotted in it that we’d like to take a look at in this section.
What’s new in Chrome 123: Android-style media player on desktop
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Chrome 124 makes it easier to add web apps to your desktop
It has been possible to turn virtually any website into a web app for your desktop by adding a shortcut to it and ticking the Open as window box. The process isn’t as intuitive as it could be, though, and Chrome 124 tackles it heads-on. The new version of the browser differentiates between “Install page as app” and “Create shortcut” right in the overflow menu, negating the need to find that rather hidden extra checkbox.
Google Chrome for desktop is preparing a serious Lens upgrade
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Chrome 124 could introduce a bottom bar for Google’s custom tabs
According to a flag and evidence in the Chromium Gerrit, Google is planning to add a bottom bar to Chrome custom tabs opened via the Google app. We don’t know much more beyond that, as turning on the flag doesn’t change anything at the time of writing. It’s possible that the bottom bar will feature some Google-specific features. We might see some additional search options in it or the bottom bar from the Google app itself with Discover, Search, and Saved. Only time will tell, though.
Chrome for Android could get a (very limited) bottom bar again
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Chrome 124 preps its own version of Circle to Search on desktop
Google recently added Circle to Search to the Samsung Galaxy S24 and a selection of recent Pixel phones. While it may take some time until this feature makes it to more phones, it looks like the company could introduce something similar to it on Chrome for desktop. Evidence in Chrome Canary 124 points at a new way to invoke Google Lens, which essentially takes a screenshot of the website you’re looking at and then allows you to search for images and text on it. It’s still in early stages, so we don’t have a full picture of the feature’s name, functionality, and availability.
Google Chrome for desktop is preparing a serious Lens upgrade
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Chrome 124 preps new keyboard shortcuts for exiting fullscreen
Exiting Google Chrome’s fullscreen mode is different on every operating system. Google wants to unify the system across all platforms going forward. Chrome 124 offers a hidden flag that makes it possible to simply press and hold the Esc key to leave a fullscreen view.
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Chrome 124
Chrome 124 will be released as a beta on March 20 and then graduate to stable on April 10, 2024. The new version is currenty in its early Canary development stage, but a few things have already been spotted in it that we’d like to take a look at in this section.
What’s new in Chrome 123: Android-style media player on desktop
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Chrome 124 makes it easier to add web apps to your desktop
It has been possible to turn virtually any website into a web app for your desktop by adding a shortcut to it and ticking the Open as window box. The process isn’t as intuitive as it could be, though, and Chrome 124 tackles it heads-on. The new version of the browser differentiates between “Install page as app” and “Create shortcut” right in the overflow menu, negating the need to find that rather hidden extra checkbox.
Google Chrome for desktop is preparing a serious Lens upgrade
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Chrome 124 could let you group a single tab on Android
Google is working on bringing feature parity to tab groups across desktop and mobile, and in the process, the company is experimenting with single-tab tab groups on mobile. It has long been possible to create those groups on desktop, which is helpful for launching a dedicated browsing session into a single topic. Google has more features planned for tab groups, like the option to send them to different devices and people.
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Chrome 124 could let you group a single tab on Android
Google is working on bringing feature parity to tab groups across desktop and mobile, and in the process, the company is experimenting with single-tab tab groups on mobile. It has long been possible to create those groups on desktop, which is helpful for launching a dedicated browsing session into a single topic. Google has more features planned for tab groups, like the option to send them to different devices and people.
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Chrome 124 could introduce a bottom bar for Google’s custom tabs
According to a flag and evidence in the Chromium Gerrit, Google is planning to add a bottom bar to Chrome custom tabs opened via the Google app. We don’t know much more beyond that, as turning on the flag doesn’t change anything at the time of writing. It’s possible that the bottom bar will feature some Google-specific features. We might see some additional search options in it or the bottom bar from the Google app itself with Discover, Search, and Saved. Only time will tell, though.
Chrome for Android could get a (very limited) bottom bar again
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Chrome 124 preps its own version of Circle to Search on desktop
Google recently added Circle to Search to the Samsung Galaxy S24 and a selection of recent Pixel phones. While it may take some time until this feature makes it to more phones, it looks like the company could introduce something similar to it on Chrome for desktop. Evidence in Chrome Canary 124 points at a new way to invoke Google Lens, which essentially takes a screenshot of the website you’re looking at and then allows you to search for images and text on it. It’s still in early stages, so we don’t have a full picture of the feature’s name, functionality, and availability.
Google Chrome for desktop is preparing a serious Lens upgrade
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Chrome 124 preps new keyboard shortcuts for exiting fullscreen
Exiting Google Chrome’s fullscreen mode is different on every operating system. Google wants to unify the system across all platforms going forward. Chrome 124 offers a hidden flag that makes it possible to simply press and hold the Esc key to leave a fullscreen view.
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Chrome 123
Google Chrome 123 was released as a beta on February 21, 2024, and launched in stable on March 13, 2024. The new release isn’t as feature-filled as some before it, but there are a few interesteing tweaks, both behind the scenes and visible to the naked eye.
What’s new in Chrome 123: Android-style media player on desktop
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Chrome 123 could make your PDF reader app obsolete on Android
Google Chrome might get a native PDF reader on Android, with version 123 laying the groundwork. This would allow you to view PDF files right within the browser, rather than having to download the file and then open it in your preferred local PDF reader. The change could streamline the PDF viewing process across the desktop and mobile versions. It’s possible that Android 15 will be needed for this to work, though, as Google was spotted working on a native PDF reader option for this version of Android.
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Chrome 123 wants to make it easier to get rid of annoying website notifications
Many websites are begging you to turn on notifications only to send you irrelevant updates. If you make the mistake and agree to getting notifications, the option to unsubscribe is usually buried in Chrome or Android settings. To make this easier, Chrome 123 will add a simple unsubscribe button to all notifications from websites in Chrome.
Google wants to make it easier to disable Chrome’s annoying notifications
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Chrome 123 gets an Android-style media player on desktops
Google is continuing its quest to unify its design language across platforms. As a next step, the company plans to bring the Pixel phones’ media player interface to Chrome for desktops, complete with the squiggly-line playback bar. Functionally, there isn’t much of a difference, though the buttons have been rearranged and the one controlling playback has grown to make it more prominent.
Google Chrome’s Android-like media player is just about ready
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Chrome 123 prepares tab group sharing on Android
Google Chrome may soon allow you to share tab groups with others rather than just individual links. In version 123, the browser received new flags that indicate the company is working on just that. The flags currently don’t work in this version just yet, though, so it may take some time until we have a better idea of how this feature will work.
Google Chrome could make tab group sharing a breeze on Android
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Chrome 122
Google Chrome 122 was promoted to the beta channel on January 24 and has arrived in stable on February 14, 2024. The release is packed with some more AI enhancements following the big Chrome 121 release, but there are other features beyond it, too. Here’s all you need to know.
What’s new in Chrome 122: Read Aloud and Help Me Write
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Chrome 122 helps you pick up where you stopped on another device
Chrome 122 is working on expanding the functionality of the new tab page. In the future, the browser might show you cards displaying recent tabs from other devices. This is similar to a feature that’s already made its way to Chrome on iOS, allowing you to pick up your browsing session from another device seamlessly. It’s good that this is also added to the desktop version.
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Chrome 122 could let you theme your browser with AI
Google is working on adding AI to its browser, and with Chrome 122, there is first evidence that you might be able to tweak your browser theme using AI. There isn’t much known about how this works right now, but from what’s visible in the interface, you will be able to select a subject, a style, a mood, and a color using drop-downs. The solution may not be as pretty as Android 14’s AI wallpaper feature, but it sure seems to work similarly.
Google could soon let you use AI to create a personalized Chrome theme
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Chrome 122 rolls out AI-powered writing help
Google announced that the generative AI-powered Help me write feature launches on Chrome 122. It’s rolling out to users in the US who have their browser set to English and is available alongside two other AI features in Chrome’s settings. When you use Help me write, it is capable of understanding the context of the website you’re writing your text in, making it easier to find the right tone for reviews, customer service requests, and other use cases.
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Chrome 122 rolls out AI-powered writing help
Google announced that the generative AI-powered Help me write feature launches on Chrome 122. It’s rolling out to users in the US who have their browser set to English and is available alongside two other AI features in Chrome’s settings. When you use Help me write, it is capable of understanding the context of the website you’re writing your text in, making it easier to find the right tone for reviews, customer service requests, and other use cases.
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Chrome 122 could get boarding pass detection on Android
Google Wallet lets you store your boarding passes, but what if you don’t get yours via Gmail but only on a website? Chrome’s new feature might make it possible to detect boarding passes, letting you add it to your Wallet. This is similar to how it already works for photos and screenshots.
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Chrome 122’s Incognito mode makes clear that websites could still track you
Google recently settled a lawsuit alleging that it spied on users despite them using Chrome’s Incognito mode. It’s likely that the latest change is a direct result of this settlement. Chrome 122 introduces new and clearer warnings when you first open an Incognito tab, making clear that your browsing history and cookies aren’t retained on your device once you’re done, but that websites could still track you and save information about you based on some other identifiers.
Google Chrome’s incognito mode now explains that websites still track your activity
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Chrome 122 experiments with one-time permissions for websites
Long ago, Android introduced one-time permissions for apps, for example allowing them to access your camera only once, when it’s really necessary. Chrome 122 tests a similar approach for websites. Once the chrome://flags/#one-time-permission flag goes live, you can use it to turn the extra one-time option on or off when a website wants permission to some of your device’s sensors. That way, you can’t forget to revoke the permission if you don’t want the website in question to keep it.
Chrome will make websites behave even more like apps on Android
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Chrome 122 tests app-specific history on Android
On Android, apps can use a stripped-down version of Chrome (or any other browser that supports it) to show web content. To make it easier to tell apart which websites you’ve visited through the browser itself and other apps, Google is testing an option to show app-specific history. The feature currently isn’t functional, but Chrome 122 added a chrome://flags/#app-specific-history flag that will divide your browsing history into different parts.
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Chrome 122 could make viewing PDF files a one-stop operation on Android
A lot of information on the web is saved in the form of PDF files, and Google wants to make accessing them more seamless in Chrome. In Chrome 122, a new chrome://flags/#open-download-dialog flag adds a toggle in the browser’s Android version that lets you choose whether you’d like PDF files to be opened automatically without interaction once they’re downloaded.
Google Chrome for Android could make viewing PDF files easier
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Chrome 122 could make web apps feel even more native
Google is on a quest to make web apps feel as much as native apps as possible. The latest step in achieving that puts web apps’ icons front and center. When you get a notification from a web app in Chrome 122, it will show the app’s icon rather than the generic Chrome icon on Windows. The browser also adds the app’s icon to the app’s toolbar.
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Chrome 122 rolls out picture-in-picture for custom tabs
Google has long been experimenting with a picture-in-picture mode for custom tabs and has finally started rolling the option out in stable Chrome 122 to everyone. In custom tabs opened via other apps, you will now see a downward-pointing chevron next to the x button, allowing you to minimize the custom tab into a floating panel that you can reference later. This makes it possible to keep using the app behind the custom tab without losing the website you’re on.
Google Chrome’s custom tabs get a serious multitasking upgrade
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Chrome 122 rolls out picture-in-picture for custom tabs
Google has long been experimenting with a picture-in-picture mode for custom tabs and has finally started rolling the option out in stable Chrome 122 to everyone. In custom tabs opened via other apps, you will now see a downward-pointing chevron next to the x button, allowing you to minimize the custom tab into a floating panel that you can reference later. This makes it possible to keep using the app behind the custom tab without losing the website you’re on.
Google Chrome’s custom tabs get a serious multitasking upgrade
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Chrome 121
Google Chrome 121 was released in beta on December 7, 2023 and went live in early stable on January 17, 2024. The new release starts adding some experimental generative AI features like automatic tab organization and a “Help me write” tool, which Google officially announced long after they were first spotted under development. Here’s everything you need to know.
What’s new in Chrome 121: Testing generative AI features
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Chrome 121 officially gets first wave of AI features
Ever since OpenAI’s surprise success with ChatGPT, Google has been going all in on generative AI, adding it to every service imaginable. The same is true for Chrome. As spotted under development long before, Chrome 121 offers an AI-powered tab organizer that bundles related tabs into a tab group, a Pixel-style wallpaper generator, and a Help me Write tool to improve your writing and draft all kinds of messages for you. With the exception of Help me Write, these features are gradually becoming available for everyone on Chrome 121. Help me Write is launching at a later date.
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Chrome 121 lets you listen to this page on Android
Google is making its browser more accessible on Android. With Chrome 121, a recently added flag named chrome://flags#read-aloud has become functional. When activated, it adds a Listen to this page button to the browser’s overflow menu, also available in custom tabs. The feature is almost identical to Google Assistant’s Read aloud feature.
Google Chrome for Android gets a feature-rich ‘Listen to this page’ tool
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Chrome 121’s settings get Material Design 3 toggles on Android
Google is still in the process of modernizing its applications across Android to fit the latest Material Design guidelines. Chrome 121 will get another piece of the puzzle, which you can see in the browser’s settings. It’s now using new fully filled toggles that offer more contrast and are easier to recognize at a glance.
Chrome for Android flips on the Material You toggles in settings
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Chrome 121 could let you restore web apps from your old Android phone
Android’s backup and restore options aren’t as robust as those on iOS, but they still help you quickly install all the apps that you’ve had on your old phone. This isn’t the case for web apps, though, which often don’t live on the Play Store and are installed via Chrome. That’s where a new Chrome capability comes in. Google is experimenting with a workflow that allows you to restore web apps from your old phone, with first evidence visible in Chrome 121. Once it’s finished, the browser will prompt you to restore web apps when you first open it, giving you a quick way to install multiple web apps at once.
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Chrome 121 might play more nicely with third-party password managers on Android
If you use a third-party password manager on Android, you probably know that it’s often not great at autofilling information in Chrome. It’s possible that Chrome’s integrated autofill method is interfering. That’s why Google might be working on a way to turn off its autofill system on Chrome 121 altogether. This would hopefully allow password managers to offer better autofill options, though we haven’t been able to notice any improvement when we tested this.
Chrome for Android could soon work better with your password manager
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Chrome 121 is experimenting with a probabilistic Memory Saver mode
Google’s Memory Saver is supposed to automatically suspend tabs you haven’t used in a while. It sometimes isn’t smart about which to pick and which to leave running, though it will usually never suspend tabs that have unsaved changes in them or that you’re currently filling out forms in. The system could get much smarter with a new probabilistic mode that would intelligently determine which tabs you’re more likely to return and which not. This should make Memory Saver even more seamless. It may still take some time until it rolls out in stable, as Chrome 121 only seems to exhibit early stages of this feature.
Chrome’s Memory Saver could soon get better about killing your tabs
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Chrome 121’s AI-powered tab organization is taking more shape
Google is working on a number of AI-powered tools for Chrome. Among them is a new AI-powered tab organization tool that’s supposed to bring order to those dozens of tabs you absolutely need to leave open at the same time. The tool will sit in a new Advanced settings section that has an AI mention in its URL. While we haven’t seen it in action yet, it’s clear that it will use AI to order thematically similar tabs into tab groups.
Google Chrome’s AI-powered tab organization is taking more shape
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Chrome 121 adds a Save Frame option to videos
For a while now, Chrome has allowed you to copy video frames from YouTube and some other video players. Since many people use this feature to save video frames to files, Chrome 121 is making the process easier with a new save frame option that lives in addition to copying. Both options are accessible by right-clicking a video, though on YouTube, you have to right-click twice to get to the native menu that includes the options. We previously presumed this feature would go live in the next version of Chrome, Chrome 122, but it’s already available for many people in this release.
Chrome is making it easier to screenshot videos without all the junk
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Chrome 121 gets a picture-in-picture mode for custom tabs on Android
On Android, Google Chrome can run as a so-called custom tab, which is a stripped down version of the browser that lives within other apps. With Chrome 121, Google is experimenting with an option to save these tabs for later, allowing you to return to the app in question without fully exiting a website. This is achieved using Android’s picture-in-picture mode, with the custom tab living within a small floating window above the content you’re viewing. The feature is still hidden behind a flag, but it might be launching in stable soon as it works pretty well already.
Chrome wants to make Android apps better with its new multitasking trick
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Chrome 120
Chrome 120 was released in beta on November 1, 2023 and reached early stable on November 29, 2023. It is packed with changes big and small. It’s the first release to be serious about killing third-party cookies for good. It also adds some design enhancements on Android, like improvements to the transparent navigation bar and a revamped new tab page experiment.
What’s new in Chrome 120: The end of third-party cookies is nigh
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Chrome 120 is ending support for Android Nougat
Android Nougat was released in 2016 and isn’t used on many phones anymore — on top of becoming increasingly insecure. That’s like why Google decided to draw the line and cut Chrome updates to the outdated Android version. Chrome 119 is the last version to work on it, with Chrome 120 and newer only available on more recent Android releases.
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Chrome 120 gets an optional bottom bar on iOS
Google is making Chrome behave more like Safari on iOS, if that’s your preferred way to browse. With Chrome 120, you can optionally move the address bar from the top to the bottom where it sits right on top of the navigation buttons and the rest of the interface. For a long time, Google experimented with bringing a similar design to Chrome for Android, but the company scrapped the tests and stripped the remaining bits out of the Android version in 2020.
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Chrome 120 will let you save individual YouTube frames
There are many reasons why you might have to save a YouTube frame, be it for school research or as a wallpaper. Chrome has supported copying frames for a while now, but Chrome 120 might make this process more streamlined with an option to save rather than just copy a frame. This makes saving a frame a one-click operation rather than a multi-step process.
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Chrome 120 tests letting you pin Side Panels to the toolbar
Google is building out the utility of its sidebar, which is filled with different options like search, bookmarks, a reading mode, and more. With Chrome 120, Google is experimenting with the option to pin different sidebars to the top right of the toolbar. This gives you easy access to often used sidebars without having to fiddle with the sidebar selector itself.
Chrome Canary now lets you pin Side Panels next to the omnibox
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Chrome 120 allows for password sharing with family members
Google is slowly working on making its own password manager a full-fledged alternative to its big competitors. To that end, the company is introducing support for password sharing. In Chrome 120, you’re limited to sharing credentials with other Google family group members only, and even then, changes you or they make to the entry aren’t synced. At least there is now a secure way to share passwords with others, and we can only hope that Google will further improve the feature later down the line.
Google’s password sharing is live in Chrome Canary, here’s how it works
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Chrome 120 experiments with new automatic tab organization feature
Chrome has made dealing with lots of tabs significantly easier with tab groups, but you still have to manually organize your tab groups to really make the most of the feature. Chrome 120 improves on existing experiments that are meant to take this burden off your shoulders. A new Organize Tabs button should make it possibel to reoder thematically relevant tabs. It looks like the feature is still in an early stage and might take some time to fully launch, though.
You can now preview Chrome’s new tab organizing feature in Canary
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Chrome 120 preps big new tab redesign
Google is working on a redesigned new tab page in Chrome 120. The company is currently experimenting with a few different looks, but it’s clear that the new design is supposed to look more in line with Google’s own Material Design 3 guidelines. The search bar could take a more rectangular form, along with a more visually distinct section for your recently visited websites. The Discover feed isn’t going anywhere, of course.
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Chrome 120 tests a new responsive toolbar on desktop
Chrome is slowly but surely increasing the amount of clutter in the space to the right of the address bar. You can pin as many extensions as you like there, and Google has also added additional shortcuts and buttons like a side panel toggle and the media player. To make sure that you can always reach all of these buttons, Google is experimenting with a new responsive toolbar that adds a chevron to the right if there isn’t enough space to display all buttons. In its menu, you will find the remaining buttons that don’t fit anymore.
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Google’s new Chrome Web Store is rolling out
While technically not a Chrome 120 feature, the Chrome Web Store redesign is rolling out alongside the new browser release. The revamped Web Store looks a lot more modern and is right in line with the web version of the Play Store, using similar layouts and interface elements. Along with the redesign, Google is also adding a few new extension categories. For example, a new section will showcase AI-powered extensions.
Google’s refreshed Chrome Web Store is now up and running for everyone
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Chrome 119
Chrome 119 went live in stable on October 25, 2023. It was released in beta on October 6, 2023. With this release, Google is moving its schedule forward by a week, which explains the short beta phase for the current version. Despite this, there are a few interesting additions in Chrome 119, which you can read all about below.
What’s new in Chrome 119: Saving and syncing tab groups
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Chrome 119 adds useful upgrades to the address bar
While not technically a Chrome 119 feature, a few new address bar options were announced shortly before the stable release of this browser version. According to Google, Chrome will now detect typos in addresses, automatically correcting them to lead you to the website you actually wanted to visit. The new address bar behavior also makes it easier to access your bookmarks with the option to include bookmark folder names in your search. A small visual refinement is also rolling out.
Google Chrome’s search bar upgrades help you browse the web even faster
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Chrome 119: Hover link previews on desktop
Chrome 119 is experimenting with a new hover preview option for links, but it’s still in early stages right now. In the current test implementation, you can hover over a link to see a preview of where it will lead you to, which you will have to exit with an extra click. Google will likely refine the system over time, but once it works properly, it could definitely turn into a time saver. A similar feature exists on Safari for iOS, where you can long-press a link to preview where it will lead you to.
Google Chrome for desktop learns a trick from Safari for iOS
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Chrome 119: Intelligent tab organization
As we spend more and more of our lives in our web browsers, Chrome wants to get better at helping us stay organized while we browse the web. In Chrome 119, a new feature could make it possible to help you manage your tabs. There is supposed to be a new interface that makes it easier to reorder, move, and bundle your tabs across different windows, tab groups, and other surfaces.
Google wants to intelligently organize your Chrome tabs for you
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Chrome 118
Chrome 118 went live in beta on September 14, 2023, and was released in early stable on October 4, 2023. Following the big desktop update with Chrome 117’s redesign, this release is concerned with tying up some loose ends and doesn’t bring too many features. One of the bigger additions is the native integration of passkeys on macOS.
What’s new in Chrome 118: Extending passkey support
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Chrome 118 upgrades Reading Mode with a Read Aloud feature
Chrome 118 brings a new “Read Alond” option to the browser’s Reading Mode, significantly upgrading the small and kind of useless reading mode in Chrome that only lives in the sidebar. The button does exactly what you would think it does, and makes it easy to focus on the text you’re reading better.
Google Chrome’s useless Reading Mode to get a useful audio upgrade
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Chrome 118 turns Material You on for the Read Aloud button
Chrome 117 is bringing Material You to the desktop version of the browser, and along the way, some kinks are being ironed out. When you use the Reading Mode in the sidebar with Material You theming, the Read Aloud button stuck out like a sore thumb, only ever being available in blue. With Chrome 118, this is a thing of the past, and the button takes on a color dynamically fitting your browser theme.
Google Chrome’s Reading mode could soon get a colorful splash of Material You
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Chrome 118 adds themes for Global Diversity Awareness Month
Google Chrome is celebrating the Global Diversity Awareness Month with 20 new themes, showing off art that represents different communities all around the world. Combined with Material You theming, added in Chrome 117, this leads to a fully integrated look that also dunks more Chrome interface elements in your theme’s colors.
Desktop Chrome picks up new themes for Global Diversity Awareness Month
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Chrome 117
Google Chrome 117 was released in beta on August 16, 2023 went live in early stable on September 6. It’s the first version to start rolling out more Material You elements to desktop computers, dunking the interface into a color based on your Chrome background. It also gives you more control over tab group syncing and lets you unblock third-party cookies temporarily, among other things.
What’s new in Chrome 117: Material You for your desktop
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Chrome 117 has a fresh Material You look on desktop
After month of testing, Google has announced that it’s rolling out the big Material You-inspired desktop redesign to Chrome, starting with version 117. You may not see the change immediately, as it rolls out in stages, but once it’s there for you, the browser’s interface colors are dynamically pulled from your Chrome theme, which you can choose and customize in the bottom right corner of the new tab page. A similar update is rolling out to Chromebooks with ChromeOS 117, but since Google has full control over the OS, it is integrated much more tightly and works based on your desktop wallpaper.
Google celebrates Chrome’s 15th birthday with a fresh Material You makeover
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Chrome 117 tests letting iPhone users move the address bar to the bottom
Google Chrome for Android experimented with a “Duet” interface for a long time, which allowed you to move the address bar to the bottom for easier access without changing how you grip your phone. Years after Google abandoned this feature on Android, the company is resurrecting it for iOS, where you can enable a flag to move the address bar to the bottom. It should be noted that Safari has switched to this approach a few iOS versions ago already, so a bottom bar might be in higher demand on iOS than on Android.
Google Chrome is letting iPhone users move the Omnibox to the bottom
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Chrome 117 is getting proactive about warnings for unsafe extensions
Google Chrome wants to be better about warning you when you had an unsafe extension installed. When its automated tools detect a malicious extension in your browser, it will be removed automatically, which has happened before, but without a note on what was going on. In other scenarios, the extension may be left installed, but you will still be notified about changes to it. That’s the case when the developer unpublished the extension or when it was removed from the Chrome Web Store due to violating the policy.
Chrome 117 is getting proactive about warnings for unsafe extensions
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Chrome 117 makes Reading Mode even more cumbersome to use and customize
Chrome’s Reading Mode is frankly a joke, with it only available in a sidebar. That means that busy website design that you might want to avoid with Reading Mode will stay visible in the main panel. With Chrome 117, Google is experimenting with a way to make it harder to reach settings for Reading Mode, requiring more clicks to adjust things to your liking.
Google is making Reading mode settings slightly harder to access in Chrome
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Chrome 117 might make password sharing simple
Google has been experimenting with sharing passwords for a long time now, and it looks like the tests are continuing. The company was spotted adding a share button to saved credentials, though at the time of writing, this button doesn’t do anything just yet. Instead, Google has announced it’s going live with Chrome 120 only.
Chrome is experimenting with the option to share your saved passwords
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Chrome 117 might let you unblock third-party cookies temporarily
Many people are blocking third-party cookies because of the privacy nightmare they present. However, some sites still rely on the technology that’s soon to be phased out, and you may have to activate them to get certain features to work. Chrome 117 is testing an option to allow third-party cookies temporarily, adding a switch to the crossed out eye symbol in the overflow menu that depicts that third-party cookies are blocked.
Google Chrome is working on an option to temporarily unblock third-party cookies
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Chrome 117 to let you enable or disable tab group sync
One of Google Chrome’s strength is its excellent cross-platform sync, allowing you to pick up a different computer and have all of your data, including passwords and open tabs, available at your fingertips. Google Chrome 117 experiments with adding one more extra point to the list of things you can toggle on and off individually: Saved tab groups. This will make it possible for you to decide for yourself whether you want them synced across different devices.
Google Chrome will give you more control over syncing saved tab groups
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Chrome 117: Material You tweaks on Android
Chrome 117 is adding some more Material Design 3 elements to the address bar on Android. There are taller, more rectangular shapes for suggestions, which make the browser look more at home among other Material You apps.
Google Chrome adds a Material Design theme to the omnibox on Android
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Chrome 117 introduces Privacy Sandbox features
As the industry is moving away from privacy-invading third-party cookies, the advertising business is looking for alternatives to keep showing relevant ads. Google’s idea here is the so-called Privacy Sandbox, which moves the user tracking from cookies to the browser itself, supposedly only giving advertisers more broad key information on what topics they should show. Privacy Sandbox is becoming broadly available with Chrome 117, with third-party cookies soon to be phased out.
Privacy Sandbox pushes cookies to the back burner in Google Chrome
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Chrome 117 has a redesigned Chrome Web Store in tow
While technically not a Chrome feature, the Chrome Web Store is a vital part of the Chrome experience as it is the place to go for extensions and custom themes. That’s why we’re looping in the Chrome Web Store’s latest redesign as a Chrome 117 change. The new look is more in line with Google’s current Material You design language, utilizing colors, more white space, and redesigned buttons to make the look match the current state of affairs on Android.
Google Chrome Web Store gets its long-overdue Material You makeover
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Chrome 116
Google Chrome 116 was released in beta on July 20, 2023, and went stable on August 9. There are a few key enhancements to the Memory Saver, a feature that automatically hibernates inactive tabs on desktops, but other than that, most other enhancements are behind-the-scenes things that you have to enable explicitly via flags. Here’s everything you should know.
What’s new in Chrome 116: Smoother scrolling on Android 14
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Chrome 116 adds more Material You elements to desktop
Google has a big redesign ready for desktop Chrome in 2023 that incorporates a lot more Material You elements. In preparation for this, Chrome 116 now dunks more parts of the interface in the same color as the theme color you picked.
Google is expanding Material You on Chrome Canary for desktop
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Chrome 116 improves Incognito screenshots
It’s been possible to take screenshots in Incognito for a long time using a flag, but the problem with this solution was that it also meant your preview in the Recents overview wasn’t obscured. To combat this, Chrome 116 is introducing a new flag that allows screenshots but that still obscures the preview of the Incognito window in the multitasking view. This is made possible with a new system capability in Android.
Chrome’s Incognito mode gets a privacy-preserving screenshot option
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Chrome 116 is making Memory Saver’s working more obvious
In addition to the visual refresh for Memory Saver detailed above, Chrome 116 also gives you a quick look at how much MB you’ve saved with the feature when you hover over an inactive tab. It’s a neat way to give you that info without having to open the tab again, which defeats the purpose of Memory Saver in the first place.
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Chrome 116 is giving Memory Saver and the media player a visual refresh
Google Chrome’s media player has become incredibly powerful, allowing you to turn on live-generated captions for any content you might want to see. To give you more control over the feature, a fully redesigned media player gives you quick access to settings. In that same vein, the Memory Saver has been updated with new visuals that make it clearer if the amount of memory you saved is a lot or not.
Google is giving Chrome’s Memory saver and media controls a visual refresh
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Chrome 116 is adding Google Maps shortcuts to the address bar
When you search for a business on Google Chrome, you might just want to get to the juicy bits quickly. Google Chrome 116 experiments with an option for that for some people, putting links to reviews, directions, and the phone number right in the auto-complete suggestions when you start searching. This should make it easier for you to find the information you need with even fewer taps.
Google Chrome is testing a way to jump straight to the juicy bits about a business
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Chrome 116 combines Windows 11’s Mica effect with Material You
You would think that Google’s Material You design language and Windows 11’s translucent Mica effect might clash, but it looks like Google has found an elegant solution to make its browser appear as a first-class citizen on Windows without losing its signature design. Chrome 116 is testing a translucent Mica background on the app bar and inactive tabs while it uses Google Chrome’s signature colors for the active tab and the address bar. Google started experimenting with Mica in Chrome 115, but it looks like this will only go live in Chrome 116.
Google Chrome mashes together translucency and Material You on Windows
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Chrome 116 rolls out permanent search side panel
Chrome 116 wants to make it easier for you to jump back into your Google Search session. It achieves that with a new side search panel that you can open with a click on a new Google logo in the right of the browser bar. When you don’t have an active search in it, you can use it to quickly drag and drop an image or term from the main website that you would like to look up on Google Search.
Why search the old way when Chrome 116 lets you sidestep to success?
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Chrome 116 rolls out Google’s AI Search Experience website summaries
Google wants to make it easier to understand the gist of long articles (yes, the irony is not lost on me, maintaining this 10,000+ word resource). That’s where a new Google Search experiment comes in that automatically summarizes long articles for you. While not technically a Chrome feature, and you have to opt into it separately, it is rolling out only on Chrome for now.
Google’s Generative Search Experience is ready to share its page summaries
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Chrome 116 and future versions will get weekly updates
Google only recently adopted a four-week schedule for new version releases, but you may not know that the company also brings regular security fixes to stable releases every two weeks. The company found out that some bad actors were fast enough to exploit this short period of time. That’s why Google is adopting a new one-week schedule for security updates starting with Chrome 116.
Google’s kicking Chrome into overdrive with plans for the most frequent updates yet
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Chrome 116 makes scrolling as smooth as iOS on Android 14
Android 14 has a new API on board that allows Google to make scrolling in Chrome a lot smoother, with the company claiming that it can now reach iOS-like levels. Due to technical reasons, Chrome couldn’t use the same scrolling library as most other native Android apps, so it’s good to see the company finding a workaround for a better experience.
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Chrome 116 is making search on mobile smarter
Google wants to make it easier to research topics and continue your browsing journey on mobile. The company has announced a new “Related to this page” section in search suggestions when you’re visiting websites, and new trending searches suggestions when you’re just starting to search. On Android, touch to search has also been leveled up with more suggestions.
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Chrome 116 lets you easily copy video frames
Google Chrome 116 introduces the option to copy individual video frames from YouTube and other streaming websites via the right-click menu. To access it on YouTube, you have to right-click twice in order to open Chrome’s own right-click menu rather than YouTube’s custom one, but once you’re through this hurdle, you can get going with it. The copy feature makes it easier to cite certain parts of a video without having to download the full video first and extract the frame in question.
Google Chrome is making it easy to capture still frames in videos
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Chrome 116 kills the click-to-call feature
A long time ago, Google introduced an ingenious but apparently rarely used feature: Click to call allowed you to select a phone number on a website and then send it to your Android phone with your Google account on it, making it easy and seamless to call a phone number you find on your desktop. Google has removed this option with Chrome 116, citing low usage.
Google Chrome’s click-to-call feature is dead, without a suitable replacement in place
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Chrome 116 adds captcha improvements
Chrome 116 makes it easier to automatically solve captchas. This is achieved by a new auto-verify feature that uses a cookie-like proof that you’ve already made yourself known as a human.
Chrome has a solution for sites constantly asking to prove you’re human
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Chrome 115
Google Chrome 115 came out in beta on May 31, 2023, and went live in stable on July 12, 2023. It has a bigger than usual gap, which is a regular occurence during the summer months when many workers are on vacation. The update adds some choice enhancements, like Google’s Reading mode, a more intuitive Memory Saver interface, and automatic upgrades from HTTP to HTTPS whenever possible.
What’s new in Chrome 115: Google’s Reading Mode is here
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Chrome 115 enables the Windows Mica effect
Microsoft is modernizing its operating system, and third-party apps like Chrome can also take advantage of some of the new visual tweaks the company made. Among them is the Mica effect for windows, which offers a slightly translucent effect to the app bar, making parts of the background colors shine through. The effect is enabled by default for everyone using Chrome 115.
Chrome’s tab bar is getting an eye-catching redesign on Windows 11
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Chrome 115: Stop Memory Saver for your favorite websites
Google Chrome’s Memory Saver automatically hibernates sites that you haven’t actively used in a while, but this can be annoying when it’s a tab you would like to keep active at all times, like WhatsApp Web or Google Messages Web. That’s where Chrome 115 comes in with a new option in the address bar that makes it easy to exempt websites from Memory Saver. If you want to do this in earlier versions, you need to head to Memory Saver’s settings and manually add the sites in question there.
You can soon stop Google Chrome’s Memory Saver on your favorite websites
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Chrome 115 makes Memory Saver more prominent
Google wants you to know that it’s working hard to reduce Chrome’s memory footprint, and its Memory Saver feature is likely the signpost feature in that quest. That’s why the company is making it more prominent. Tabs that are hibernated by the feature will become darker and more muted to help you tell them apart from others, and a new Chrome flag allows you to tweak when exactly the Memory Saver is supposed to kick in after not touching a tab.
Google Chrome wants you to notice Memory Saver with these features in the works
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Chrome 115 is rolling out more Privacy Sandbox APIs
Google wants to replace third-party cookies with its Privacy Sandbox, which is supposedly a less intrusive way to track users to give them targeted advertisement (the name is certainly misleading). In Chrome 115, the company is rolling out a few more APIs for developers and some controls for users, making it easier to manage which data websites and advertisers are allowed to use.
Google inches closer to replacing third party cookies with a fresh set of APIs
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Chrome 114
Chrome 114 was released as beta on May 4, 2023, and launched in stable later that same month on May 24. It only adds a few enhancements to the Android version, but you can see a lot of progress being made for the desktop redesign, which is slated to fully launch in September 2023.
What’s new in Google Chrome 114: Transparent navigation bar for Android
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Chrome 113
Google released Chrome 113 in beta on April 6, 2023 and published it to everyone in stable on May 2, 2023. The version is jam-packed with new features that add quality-of-life improvements, along with laying further groundwork for the big 2023 desktop redesign. Read on below to find out more.
What’s new in Google Chrome 113: A new share menu on Android 14
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Chrome 112
Google Chrome 112 was released as an early stable on March 29, 2023. It offers a handful of new features and preps some bigger design changes coming to the browser later this year. It also deprecates Chrome apps for good on desktop computers, which has been a long time coming.
What’s new in Chrome 112: Google finally killed Chrome apps for good
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Chrome 111
Google Chrome 111 was released on March 1, 2023. It adds a few choice enhancements like a more powerful picture-in-picture mode and smoother transitions for web apps. An experiment in it also shows you how many downloads you’ve currently got active. Check out what’s new in Chrome 111 in the article below.
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Chrome 110
Google Chrome 110 reached early stable in February 1, 2023 and rolled out widely on February 7, 2023. It has a tweaked rollout schedule in store. Starting with this version, Chrome will roll out to a small subset of users a week before the full release in order to ensure that no previously undetected bugs have slipped through the cracks.
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Chrome 109
Chrome 109 isn’t the biggest release in recent history, but it offers a few choice upgrades. It will make it possible for banks and credit card providers to add a native purchase confirmation dialog to web shops, screen-sharing improvements, and preparations for a world without third-party cookies. The release went into beta on December 1, 2022, and was launched in stable on January 10, 2023. Read more about Chrome 109 below.
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Chrome 108
Chrome 108 is chock-filled with quality-of-life additions. It lays the groundwork for the most promising passwords replacement yet, offers battery and memory savings on desktops, and more. It was released in beta on October 27, 2022, and came to the stable channel on November 29, 2022.
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Chrome 107
Chrome 107 is bringing smaller changes to the browser, but they might be helpful for those who find themselves videoconferencing most of the day. This version of Chrome was released on October 25, 2022. It first launched in beta on September 29, 2022.
What’s new in Chrome 107: Better presentations in video conferences
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Chrome 106
Chrome 106 adds a few enhancements, but mostly only prepares the ground for new features to come in later versions. For example, it finally adds an RSS reader to the desktop version of the browser that’s been available on mobile for a while, but it’s still hidden behind a flag and not fully functional yet. Version 106 launched in beta on September 1, 2022, and went live in stable on September 27, 2022.
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Chrome 105
Chrome 105 comes with a few neat enhancements. Developers can make use of a new picture-in-picture API, there are enhanced window controls overlays for web apps on desktop, and it is now possible to natively create custom highlights on desktop computers — neat for developers. Chrome 105 first launched in beta on August 4 and then in stable on August 30.
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Chrome 104
Chrome 104 brings a slew of new features to the table. Among them is the revamped Privacy Sandbox screen in settings, further multi-screen enhancements for desktop, and video-conferencing improvements. It was first released as beta on June 23, 2022, and went live in stable on August 2, 2022.
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Chrome 103
Chrome’s incredible release pace doesn’t show any sign of slowing down, and not even a month behind Chrome 102 going stable, we’re getting our hands on the new release of Chrome 103. This version adds a few notable improvements, but most of these are solely behind the scenes, focusing on enhancements to page load times and new tools for web developers to work with. It was first released as a beta on May 26 and went live as stable on June 21, 2022.
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Chrome 102
Chrome 102 is filled with new APIs and features for developers to play with, and that’s good—that means we will soon get even better web apps that can compete even more with regular native applications. Chrome 102 initially went live as beta on April 28, 2022, and then went live in the stable channel on May 24, 2022.
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Chrome 101
Chrome 101 doesn’t feature too many new user-facing features, probably because Chrome 100 was just much easier to market for Google. We’ve still found a few bits and pieces in the release. Chrome 101 initially went live in stable on April 26, 2022.
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Chrome 100
Chrome 100 is the biggest release in a long while, with a ton of new features in tow. Google likely tried to time everything to make the first three-digit version of the browser to make a splash, and it shows. The browser entered the beta channel on March 3, 2022, and went stable on March 29, 2022.
Chrome’s milestone 100 release is here with a new icon in tow (APK Download)
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Chrome 99
Chrome 99 went live in stable on March 1, 2022. It doesn’t come with too many flashy features, as Google is apparently holding back a lot of things for its first three-digit release, Chrome 100.
Google has released Chrome 99; here’s what’s new (APK Download)
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Chrome 98
Chrome 98 launched in stable on February 1, 2022. It brings a few new features like smaller but better looking emoji fonts, improvements for PWAs, and more.
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Chrome 97
Chrome 97 launched January 4, 2022. The release brought a few select refinements and improvements, but nothing too earth-shattering. There are some simplifications when you want to delete local data saved by a website, enhanced support for international keyboard layouts (yes, that’s a problem to this day), preparations for better HDR support, and some minor PWA advancements.
Here are all the interesting things we’ve found in the release:
Google has launched Chrome 97; here’s what’s new (APK Download)
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Chrome 96
Chrome 96 was launched on November 16, 2021. In the link below, you can find a high-level overview of all the interesting new changes we found.
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Chrome 95
Chrome 95 launched on October 20, 2021 and came with a whole slew of updates. It brought some Material You design elements to the Android browser and some interesting features for developers that help websites perform better.
Read our high-level overview for all the neat new things that came to you in this release.
What’s new in Chrome 95, coming to Android 12 in a new Material You look (APK Download)
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Upcoming changes
This section is a small preview of what’s yet to come in Chrome. Here are all the features we spotted that are still under development in upcoming versions of Chrome that have neither reached beta nor stable yet.
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Chrome 127 will phase out Manifest V2 extensions
Google wants to make the way extensions work more efficient and less invasive. To that end, the company has long been working on a new extension manifest, Manifest V3. It’s supposed to supersede Manifest V2, which is currently still used by many extensions. A lot of developers were and are still unhappy with Manifest V3 as it offers a lot more restrictions than V2. The latest tweaks to the new Manifest have appeased a lot of them, though, so it seems like Google now feels confident about moving forward with the change in June 2024. That said, it’s likely that ad and tracking blockers may not run as efficiently with Manifest V3 as they did with V2, as there are restrictions to how long blocklists can be.
Google Chrome is making a big change to extensions by mid-2024
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