The team behind Google Chrome has released the latest beta builds for the web and mobile browser, bringing ‘Copy’ and ‘Share’ buttons to the mobile platforms and more tools to the desktop client.
These changes come with Chrome version 73. On mobile the main difference is the addition of Google’s ‘Share,’ ‘Edit’ and ‘Copy’ icons to the search bar suggestions, according to Android Police. These are helpful tools that should make sharing URLs a little more easier in the future.
There’s also a button called ‘More like this.’ Tapping on the button brings up content related to whatever is on your screen. The feature seemed hit and miss, appearing on some individual pages and articles, but not all of them.
This implementation of More Like this first appeared in Chrome Canary version 70 in June of 2018. So far, the function only suggests web pages that are similar to the one that you’re currently on, making it useful for understanding a topic or viewing other stories on the same thing.
One of the most exciting features that are coming to the desktop version of Chrome is an automatic Picture-in-Picture mode (PiP).
The functionality first arrived in Chrome in version 69, but Chrome 73 is taking it a step further by making the feature work as it does on Android. That means whenever a user navigates away from a video, it automatically snaps into a PiP window, reports Android Police. The update also adds a skip button to the PiP window.
The search giant has also added keyboard media controls to the browser. That means that users should be able to play and pause video and audio playback within Chrome via the dedicated play/pause button on their keyboards. The update also adds the ability for progressive web apps to show homescreen or Taskbar notifications.
Chromebooks with Android Pie will stop audio whenever an Android app begins playing music, reports Android Police. This should make the Chromebook OS work more like a smartphone.
Source: Android Police
