Chrome 109 improves video calls but it's up to developers to add the changes

Date:
Wed, 11 Jan 2023 20:46:18 +0000

Description:
Besides video conferencing apps, Chrome 109 now supports the experimental SPC standard for faster payments.

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Google is currently rolling out the stable version of Chrome 109 on desktop and mobile as it adds new features. However, those features are dependent on third-party developers implementing them.

The update gives developers new tools to improve the interactivity between their software and the browser. Conditional Focus is being added, which will allow a video conferencing app to decide if it wants to focus on either a tab or window when screen sharing begins. If the developers want neither, they
can set the capturing page as the main display instead. In a similar fashion to what Zoom already does, the browser will also be able to suppress audio in a video call so people dont have to mute their microphone. The main
difference is Chromes audio suppression appears to work with all video conferencing apps so long as the developers have tweaked their software to support it.

For Chrome 109 on mobile, the browser now works with the experimental Secure Payment Confirmation (SPC) standard allowing people to use their phones biometric screen unlocking feature for verifying payments. Instead of having to go through multiple pages to verify your identity, you can just use your fingerprint . This feature is contingent on banks, credit card issuers, and payment platforms implementing SPC on their software, so it may be a while before this sees widespread support.

Other notable developer-centric features like the new CSS values can be found on Chrome Developers blog . Firsty-party changes

The Chrome 109 update package includes some first-party changes that the everyday user will enjoy. If the browser detects that you downloaded
something potentially malicious, it will offer a more detailed explanation of why it stopped the download. For example, the warning will explicitly tell
you if the file has malware that could potentially steal information from
your social media accounts. The From the web feature, which informs users about a particular web page, has been renamed to About this page making its function more obvious.

17 security fixes are present in Chrome 109, but most of them arent dire.
The majority are patches for some poorly implemented components like Fullscreen API and Permission prompts for a smoother experience. We should also mention that this is the last version of Chrome for Windows 7 and 9.1 Moving forward, there will be no more updates or security fixes. Experimental features

As for the rest of the features, theyre all experimental, meaning their quality will be a little dubious. Material You theming is present on Chrome for desktop, allowing you to change the look of the browser on the New Tab page. However, it appears to only be fully functional on the Canary channel ; a special version of Chrome where users can try out experimental features. Theres also Tab Groups Save to transfer tab groups from one version of Chrome (Windows, Mac, or Linux) for use on other operating systems. You can try
these out and more for yourself by entering "chrome://flags" in the browsers address bar after updating.

Google warns that trying out the experimental features can compromise browser security. For that reason, we recommend checking out Techradars best
antivirus software for 2023 , so you can safely use the features without compromising on safety.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/chrome-109-improves-video-calls-but-its-up-to-d evelopers-to-add-the-changes


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