Chrome 109 improves video calls but it’s up to developers to add the changes
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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, these features depend on third-party developers to implement them.
The update gives developers (opens in new tab) new tools to improve interactivity between their software and the browser. Conditional focus (opens in new tab) is added, allowing a video conferencing app to decide whether to focus on a tab or a window when screen sharing begins. If the developers want neither, they can set the recording page as the main screen instead. In a similar way to what Zoom already does, the browser can also mute audio in a video call so people don’t have to mute their microphones. The main difference is that Chrome’s audio suppression seems to work with all video conferencing apps, as long as the developers have modified their software to support it.
For Chrome 109 on mobile, the browser now works with the experimental Secure Payment Confirmation (SPC) standard that allows people to use their phone’s biometric screen unlock feature to verify payments. Instead of going through multiple pages to verify your identity, you can just use your fingerprint (opens in new tab). This feature is dependent on banks, credit card issuers, and payment platforms implementing SPC in their software, so it may take some time for this to gain widespread support.
Other notable developer-focused features, such as the new CSS values, can be found at Chrome developer blog (opens in new tab).
First Party Changes
The Chrome 109 update package contains some amendments of the first party (opens in new tab) that the everyday user will enjoy. If the browser detects that you have downloaded something potentially harmful, it will provide a more detailed explanation of why it stopped the download. For example, the warning will tell you explicitly if the file contains malware that could potentially steal information from your social media accounts. The “From the Internet” function, which informs users about a particular web page, has been renamed “About This Page”, making the function clearer.
17 security solutions (opens in new tab) are present in Chrome 109, but most of them aren’t terrible. Most are patches for some poorly implemented components such as Fullscreen API and permission prompts for a smoother experience. We should also mention that this is the latest version of Chrome (opens in new tab) for Windows 7 and 9.1 There will be no more updates or security fixes in the future.
Experimental features
As for the rest of the features, they’re all experimental, meaning their quality will be a bit questionable. Material U themes are present in Chrome for desktop, allowing you to change the look and feel of the browser on the New Tab page. However, it only seems to be fully functional on the Canary channel (opens in new tab); a special version of Chrome where users can try out experimental features. There’s also Save Tab Groups to transfer tab groups from one version of Chrome (Windows, Mac, or Linux) for use on other operating systems. You can try these and more for yourself by entering “chrome://flags” in the browser’s address bar after updating.
Google warns that trying the experimental features may compromise browser security. For that reason, we recommend checking out Techradar’s best antivirus software for 2023, so that you can safely use the functions without compromising on safety.