Chrome

If your Mac's storage has been mysteriously shrinking recently and you use Google Chrome, you may have already identified the culprit. The browser has been downloading a 4GB AI model file onto computers without explicit user consent. Here's how to reclaim the space. The file in question is called "weights.bin," which powers Google's on-device Gemini Nano AI model – the engine behind Chrome ...

Google's Chrome browser has often been criticized for being a system resource hog, which has led Chromium developers to provide ways to free up memory and keep things running smoothly when users have multiple windows and tabs open. One of the latest developments in this regard is more transparency into Chrome's tab throttling behavior, by, for example, giving users the ability to view the...

If you're a fan of Google's Chrome browser, you're probably familiar with how easy it is to end up with multiple open browser tabs in a single session. On any other browser, searching for a specific tab can be a hassle as you typically have to click through them one by one, but thanks to a relatively new search feature in Chrome, Google's browser makes it a cinch. You can search for an...

Looking to keep your mobile browsing in Google Chrome private and secure? Keep reading to learn how to lock your Incognito tabs behind Face ID (or Touch ID) on iPhone and iPad. Whatever you think of it, Chrome remains one of the most popular browsers on iPhone and iPad, which is why Google continues to work on new features to differentiate it from Apple's Safari. With this in mind, one of...

Google's Chrome browser has long been criticized for being a system resource hog, which is why Chromium developers have been busy working on ways to free up memory and keep things running smoothly when users have multiple windows and tabs open. The latest effort in that regard comes in the form of Memory Saver, a new feature that deactivates open tabs you haven't used in a while so that the...

With the release of Chrome 90, Google is rolling out a new browser feature that lets you create a shareable link to a section of text you've highlighted on a webpage. Here's how to use it. Sometimes when you share a webpage link with someone, you just want to bring their attention to a specific passage or sentence to make your point, rather than have them read through the entire article. ...

Whenever you browse the web in Google Chrome, the browser stores website data including cookies so that it doesn't have to do so again each time you revisit a site. In theory this should speed up your browsing experience, but there are some scenarios where you might want to clear the cache and start anew. Keep reading to learn how it's done on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. There are a couple of...

Apple's native desktop browser is Safari, but just because it comes pre-installed on every Mac doesn't mean you have to use it. Chrome is actually more popular than Safari by far, and if you're new to Mac, it might already be your preferred browser. If you've tried out Safari and decided you want to switch to Google's equivalent, you can easily import any bookmarks you've used in Apple's...

Google includes a Live Captions transcription feature in version 89 of its Chrome browser for desktop. Live Captions uses machine learning to create a real-time transcription for videos or audio played through the browser, which can make online media more accessible for members of the Deaf community and other people with hearing loss. Once enabled, Live Captions appear in a box in the bottom ...

Apple made a change in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 that enables third-party browsers and email clients to be used as default apps, meaning users who don't get on with Safari or Apple's native Mail app can choose an alternative and it will be opened automatically whenever the system requires it. The latest version of Google Chrome now supports this ability, so anyone on iOS 14 can set Google's app...

In Chrome 66, rolling out now for Mac and iOS, Google has added a password export option to the web browser so that you can easily migrate your login details to another browser via a third-party password manager app. In this article, we'll show you how to export your passwords from Chrome on Mac and iOS. At the end of the process, you'll be left with a CSV file containing all your login...

Google today announced several new features for the Chrome browser that's available on the iPhone and the iPad, with the new additions aimed at providing users with more intuitive ways for finding information and completing tasks. Google Lens now supports searching with images and text at the same time, rather than search being limited to just an image. Users can add words to a visual query ...

The Memory Saver feature in the Chrome browser for desktop now features three different modes, including Standard, Balanced, and Advanced. Memory Saver is aimed at speeding up browser performance by limiting the memory that inactive tabs are using. Standard mode deactivates tabs based on your computer's needs, while Balanced mode considers both browsing habits and the needs of the system....

Google today announced three new AI features that are coming to its Chrome browser, with Google taking advantage of the latest Google AI and Gemini models. Google Lens is now available for the Chrome desktop browser, allowing users to search for what they see on the browser screen with a quick drag and search gesture. Google says that Chrome users can select anything on the page to search...

Google no longer plans to deprecate third-party cookies in the Chrome browser, marking a notable change to a prior decision to phase out third-party cookies by 2025. Google announced its cookie updates in a blog post shared today, where the company said that it instead plans to focus on user choice. Rather than eliminating third-party cookies entirely, Google will introduce "a new experience ...

Google has agreed to delete data that was collected from customers who used the Chrome browser's Incognito mode, settling a class action lawsuit that started in 2020, reports The Wall Street Journal. The lawsuit claimed that Google misled users about the data collected while in Incognito or private browsing mode, tracking their website usage without their knowledge. Google was keeping data...

Google today announced that it is upgrading Google Safe Browsing with real-time URL protection to keep Chrome users safe from malicious websites. Safe Browsing is designed to protect against phishing attacks, malware, and unwanted software by checking URLs against a master list. The Standard protection for Chrome previously used a list that is stored on device and updated every 30 to 60...

Google Chrome will soon let you install any webpage as a desktop app on your Mac, just like Apple's Safari browser does in macOS Sonoma (via Android Police). The new feature was spotted by X (Twitter) user Leopeva64 in the latest Chrome Canary build, which includes a new option called "Install page as app," which can be found in Settings ➝ Save and share. Websites such as YouTube and...

Google has announced a trio of new Chrome browser features for desktop and mobile that aim to provide more helpful suggestions when searching the web, even over poor data connections. On desktop, users who are signed into Chrome and open a new tab will now see suggestions in the search field related to their previous searches based on similar things others are looking for. For example, if...

Google today announced the launch of a new "Help me Write" feature that is available for the Chrome browser on both Macs and Windows PCs. It is a tool that is able to help users start writing something, or refine something that's already been written. Help me Write uses the Gemini model that Google announced back in December. At the time, Google said that Gemini was its most capable and...

Google today announced plans to add experimental generative AI features to the latest version of Chrome for Mac (M121), helping users organize tabs, create themes, and draft content. The Tab Organizer is able to suggest and create tab groups based on the tabs that are open, an option that can be accessed by right-clicking on a tab and choosing the Organize Similar Tabs option. With a...

Google has issued a critical security update for Chrome on macOS, Windows, and Linux that fixes a zero-day vulnerability in the browser. On Tuesday, Google in a Chrome stable channel update said it "is aware that an exploit for CVE-2023-6345 exists in the wild." Google has not provided further details about the CVE-2023-6345 exploit, which was discovered last week by security researchers in...

Google Chrome users on the iPhone can now opt to move the Chrome address bar to the bottom of the iPhone's display, mirroring a design change that Apple implemented in Safari last year. Chrome for iOS can be customized to have the URL bar at the top or the bottom of the interface depending on where the user prefers it to be. Google says this is a feature that Chrome users have been...

Google today shared some information on updates that it is making to the address bar (or search bar) on mobile devices and the web, with these updates aimed at making it easier to find the website that you're looking for. When you make a typo when putting in a URL, Chrome can detect the typo and show you suggestions of the site you might actually want to visit based on your previously...

Google's Chrome browser for iOS is testing an option for users to shift the address bar to the bottom of the screen, two years after Apple's Safari made the same change. The move, spotted by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser, is currently in beta testing in the Testflight version of the app. Currently the change is optional, enabling users to set the URL bar to the top or bottom by pressing...

Google today announced that it is adding updated generative AI capabilities to its search functionality, with the aim of helping users to "better learn and make sense of information" on the internet. With the Google Search app, there is now a beta option to summarize a long article. The summary feature is able to provide "key points" from a webpage, along with a "Explore on page" section...

A California judge has denied Google's request for summary judgement in a class action lawsuit alleging that it secretly tracked the online activity of Chrome users even when they were using the browser in its privacy-oriented Incognito mode (via The Verge). The lawsuit was filed in June 2020 by users alleging that Google hoovers up user data in Incognito mode through Google Analytics,...

Google today announced a new Chrome downloads experience for its desktop browser, with the update aimed at making it easier to interact with recently downloaded files. Chrome's updated download tray is located to the right of the address bar, and it replaces the interface at the bottom of the display. The new look is closer to the Safari download window, which is also at the top of the...

Google today outlined several new features available for or coming to the Chrome app for the iPhone and iPad, including deeper integration with Google Maps, Google Calendar, and Google Lens. Chrome for iOS now uses AI to detect addresses on webpages and show a location directly on a mini version of the Google Maps app in Chrome, so there's no need to swap apps to see map-related information...

Google today shared details on several optimizations that have been added to the Chrome browser on the Mac, which have made the browser "faster than ever" on Apple's Speedometer browser benchmark. Google says that with the latest release of Chrome, the company went "deep under the hood" to find new opportunities to increase speed and efficiency. Google implemented improved HTML parsing for...

The latest version of the Google Chrome browser designed for Macs includes optimizations that are designed to preserve battery life. In a blog post shared today, Google says that with a single full charge, a 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro running Chrome can be used to browse the internet for 17 hours or watch YouTube for 18 hours. With improvements to Energy Saver mode, browsing time is extended for ...