Chrome 90 Defaults to HTTPS, Adds AV1 Codec for Optimized Video Conferencing

Google today rolled out Chrome 90 to its stable channel, introducing automatic preference for HTTPS sites over the HTTP protocol, plus some other notable changes.

chrome 90
By default, Chrome will now redirect all websites to use the more secure HTTPS protocol. Encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS), HTTPS secures communication over networks by authenticating the website and protecting the privacy of data in transit. MacRumors.com has supported HTTPS for some time now.

In addition, Chrome 90 adopts the AV1 codec for optimized video conferencing with WebRTC. The new codec should improve compression efficiency and reduce bandwidth consumption while improving video quality, and improve connectivity on low bandwidth connections. Screen sharing is also said to be more efficient when compared to the VP9 codec.

Elsewhere, users can now hide the Reading List without delving into Chrome's flags. To do so, right-click the Bookmark Bar and deselect the new Show Reading List option at the bottom.

Meanwhile, for developers, Chrome 90 introduces support for CSS overflow, which should help prevent scrolling within a CSS box. Google has also renamed the Feature Policy API to Permission Policy, which lets users adjust the behavior of certain APIs and web features in the browser.

In the previous version of the browser, Chrome 89 introduced Google's live caption transcription feature, which uses machine learning to create a real-time transcription for videos or audio played through the browser.

Google Chrome for Mac is a free download available directly from Google's servers. Google Chrome for iOS is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Tag: Chrome

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Top Rated Comments

Santabean2000 Avatar
52 months ago
I know Chrome is hugely popular (and I have used it a lot too, and still do have to occasionally), but I have not been happier since kicking it into touch for the most part. Such a greedy pig of a thing is so many ways...

Safari on an M1 is snappier!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ForkHandles Avatar
52 months ago
It’s free because they want your life story, then they sell adverts you’ll love.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cerberusss Avatar
52 months ago
This and the previous version of Chrome now contain FLoC, Google's replacement for cookies. It's slowly being turned on by default. If you value your privacy, the EFF has a website that to check whether it's enabled or not:

https://amifloced.org/
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
telo123 Avatar
52 months ago

It’s free because they want your life story, then they sell adverts you’ll love.
Ad blocker. Turn off ads personalization on Google Account settings.

Easy fix. I don't know why people make such a big deal about this.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
apparatchik Avatar
52 months ago

Ad blocker. Turn off ads personalization on Google Account settings.

Easy fix. I don't know why people make such a big deal about this.
If 100% of people did this, Google would stop offering the product or disable ad-blocking altogether as it has in mobile Chrome.

As you’re basically working around the product which is you. That’s why it’s a big deal, you’re working around the product design and understating the implications of the business model and its derivatives:

https://chromeisbad.com/

I’ve struggle myself trying to find lightweight Chromium-based alternatives for all the functionality intentionally missing from Google services in Safari, such as the ability to share just one browser Tab or program window on a Google Meet call, or the ability to share the audio from said tab or window. This is just an example.

Heck, up until relatively recently you couldn’t even take Meet/Hangout calls in Safari, even though Safari had implemented the technologies to do so. Proven by the fact that if you changed Safari’s browser agent the sites would work.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jtrenthacker Avatar
52 months ago
I have been using Brave on my Macs and PC for the last couple of months and love it. Very fast.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)