Google Chrome is about to get a major Material Design makeover
The latest version of Chrome, which has been put through its paces by beta testers and developers since July, is nearly ready for public consumption.
Launching on September 4, Chrome 69 packs in a fair few improvements, but the most immediately obvious of these is a shiny new Material redesign that will leave the browser feeling familiar, but undeniably different.
Related: Best web browser
The new Material Design will be present across all operating systems, and bring rounded tab corners, a brighter colour palette and white shading to show which tabs are active.
But it’s not just a visual makeover that’s in store for the world’s most popular web browser. Windows 10 users get the most interesting benefits with touchpad gesture support alongside notification-centre integration.
There are also a handful of useful security measures introduced. The Password Alert extension is now fully integrated, which helps limit the damage of typing your Google password into the wrong site, by prompting a password reset when it’s entered on a suspicious-looking page.
Third-party software that has previously caused crashes is also being targeted, with Chrome 69 set to block any such code by default. That should hopefully lead to a more stable experience.
The last big, noteworthy feature is actually more a case of taking a feature away.
Adobe Flash – which has long been an easily exploitable chink in computer armour – is now disabled by default. If a website asks for permission to use Flash, you’ll have to allow it every time you restart the browser. Expect to see others following suit ahead of Flash’s approaching final retirement date of 2020.
Have you tried the beta version of Chrome 69 or are you waiting for the full release? Maybe you don’t care because you use another browser? Let us know on Twitter @TrustedReviews.