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Chrome 24 Released, Chrome Beta Channel For Android Added

Posted by Soulskill on from the version-increment dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Google has released Chrome version 24 for Windows, Mac, and Linux. You can update to the latest release now using the browser's built-in silent updater, or download it directly from google.com/chrome. The biggest improvement on the user side of things is the speed increase. Google's own Octane JavaScript test shows that this is the fastest Chrome release yet. When the beta came out in November, the company was touting that Chrome had become 26 percent faster on Octane than it was last year. Now it's even faster. Google also announced it is introducing a new Chrome beta channel for phones and tablets running Android 4.0 or higher. You can download version 25.0.1364.8 right now directly from Google Play (since this is a beta, it's not available via search; you'll need to use the link). The release of version 25 is significant because it means Google is attempting to bring Chrome for Android in line with the desktop version. The current release of Chrome for Android is version 18, last updated in November."

20 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. I guess It is about time to move to chrome 26 by micheas · · Score: 4, Informative

    I am posting with from:
    Google Chrome 25.0.1364.5 (Official Build 174090) dev
    OS Linux
    WebKit 537.22 (@138211)
    JavaScript V8 3.15.11.2
     With silent update the meaning of these announcements is that it is time to check Can I Use? to see if any more css3 elements are now in widespread use so you can use them in web development.

    --
    Work bio at MMWD
  2. Fast - good - now focus on... by presidenteloco · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Managing memory better so I don't have to keep shutting down web browsers every day or two. Most power users have many windows and many tabs up, and some are relevant for weeks, but most are unused and could be backgrounded much more effectively in terms of processor and memory use. Hint: Replace with a URL and a snapshot image updated infrequently.

    Also, speaking of tabs. If I use them, I can't easily see visually which pages I have up, in the overview of windows display modes that most OSs offer. There is a usability disconnect here.

    --

    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
    1. Re:Fast - good - now focus on... by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Are you confusing Chrome with Firefox? On my primary system I usually have Chrome running for weeks with like three or four dozen tabs. Many of which are some pretty resource intensive pages. Usually I only have problems after a week or two and then only with pages like tumblr archives that have 200 animated gifs on them visible at once.

      I will concur though that some kind of tab overview would be great. Didn't early versions of Chrome have that?

      --
      I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
    2. Re:Fast - good - now focus on... by Big+Jason · · Score: 5, Informative

      I will concur though that some kind of tab overview would be great. Didn't early versions of Chrome have that?

      Hit Shift-Esc to bring up the Chrome Task Manager. It will give you a summary of each tab's memory, cpu, and network consumption as well as the ability to kill individual tabs.

  3. Re:silent update? by baka_toroi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    By your logic, Chrome should've been mentioned by Slashdot only once, during it's initial release, since it includes a silent updater from day 1.

  4. Improving Chrome for Android is the big news by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Between mobile Firefox being a thing again and Chrome being improved we can finally see some competition for Opera Mobile on Android :)

    The state of the Android browser is fairly pathetic, so this is really quite important.

    Right now the only reason for chromebooks to exist is that Chrome on Android is meh at best. When this changes they can stop deploying ChromeOS. Hopefully they will offer some kind of upgrade path to Android on Chromebooks, so that the community doesn't have to fumble its way through :)

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:Improving Chrome for Android is the big news by bfandreas · · Score: 2

      Why is Chrome on Android so much worse than Opera Mobile.
      I'm actually at a point where I would be willing to pay Opera for its browser even though I manage to crash it every once in a while.
      How long will it take for Firefox on Android to be worthwhile using? Checked 1.5 years ago. Rechecked a couple of weeks ago. There's been definite progress but it still has a long way ahead.

      --
      20 minutes into the future
    2. Re:Improving Chrome for Android is the big news by thammoud · · Score: 2

      Just downloaded on my Nexus 4. The install went without a hitch. The speed improvements are huge. Tried about 10 websites and it looks and feels great.

  5. Re:"You can update to the latest release now using by Dunega · · Score: 3, Informative

    You don't. You can force the update. Otherwise it will update with it's next scheduled check.

  6. Slow for SVG with display='none' by Bill+Dimm · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've noticed that for large SVG files where much of the content has display='none' (so it is only displayed when something is clicked to trigger a change in the display property) Chrome seems to take several seconds to become responsive after the SVG page load is initiated, while other browsers seem to handle it almost instantly. Since a display value of none "indicates that the given element and its children shall not be rendered directly (i.e., those elements are not present in the rendering tree)" it seems Chrome shouldn't be spending so much time processing such stuff. Version 24 doesn't seem to fix that issue.

  7. I'll wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'll wait for Chrome 31.1 for Workgroups. Hurr durr.

  8. Chrome's attitude by arisvega · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Chrome's functionality sounds great, but I do not like its attitude: it establishes numerous connections "on the side" talking back to Google central all the time, almost constantly transmitting all sorts of information: Google intercepts and highjacks most of the traffic when someone uses Chrome, that much is obvious.

    --
    The three laws of thermodynamics:(1) You can't win. (2) You can't break even. (3) You can't even quit.
    1. Re:Chrome's attitude by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 2, Informative

      Chrome's functionality sounds great, but I do not like its attitude: it establishes numerous connections "on the side" talking back to Google central all the time, almost constantly transmitting all sorts of information: Google intercepts and highjacks most of the traffic when someone uses Chrome, that much is obvious.

      Use Chromium instead.

    2. Re:Chrome's attitude by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
      If you don't want Chrome phoning home, disable that functionality. If you go to the settings, there's a "privacy" section with 4 checkboxes (at least in my version of Chromium):

      • Use a web service to help resolve navigation errors
      • Use a prediction service to help complete searches and URLs typed in the address bar
      • Predict network actions to improve page load performance
      • Enable phishing and malware protection

      Uncheck all of them and it should stop contacting Google except for automatic updates (not sure how disabling those works; Chromium doesn't have them as updates go through my package manager instead).

    3. Re:Chrome's attitude by LordLimecat · · Score: 2

      Every time someone has made this allegation, and Ive taken the time to bust out Wireshark and sniff my network traffic, the allegation has proven false.

      The only things AFAIK that they transmit-- unless theyve snuck something in in the last year-- is the following:

      1. Keystrokes to your default search engine, if you have suggestions turned on (like every other browser that uses search suggestions)
      2. URLs and page contents if you are using the auto-translate feature-- just like would normally happen if you use a web page translator
      3. Essentially, if you use feature X which uses google resources, data necessary to perform feature X is transmitted to google

      Its only "talking back to google central" if you leave the "please use all the google features" boxes checked in Chrome options. Here, Ill make it easy for you:
      Menu --> Settings; Advanced settings, uncheck everything under "privacy" except the DNT setting.

      Of course, youll be losing out on features that generally are taken for granted in other browsers, which have the exact same privacy implications in other browsers, but whatever.

    4. Re:Chrome's attitude by LordLimecat · · Score: 2

      undo close tab is "ctrl shift t".

  9. Re:silent update? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

    My understanding is that the silent update mechanism checks in with the mothership periodically, either as-scheduled or with some consideration for system load/onbattery vs. on AC/etc. The Chrome release team has their own schedule that the update mechanism has no knowledge of.

    So, if your silent update mechanism is active, you will automatically receive the newest release; but only when the updater next phones home. Depending on when it last phoned home and when the release occurs, this might be a matter of several days. If you force a check it should happen about as fast as bandwidth allows.

  10. Undisplayed elements still in DOM by tepples · · Score: 2

    Even if an undisplayed element is not in the rendering tree, it's still in the DOM.

  11. Re:silent update? by cristiroma · · Score: 2

    With these kind of release numbers, 100 is a more appropriate major release.

  12. Re:relevant for weeks? by nuggz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Some people don't like bookmarks, or they use their browser like "todo" lists.
    Not that I advocate such an approach, but I understand it.

    For any particular project I might have a handful of links that are open at one time.
    I typically don't have 100 tabs open, but 20-40 is pretty typical.