Chrome

The search giant says it will phase out third-party cookies in its dominant Chrome browser in 2023, no 2024, erm... actually 2025, reports the Wall Street Journal, citing “ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers.” That assumes the effort to better protect user privacy gets approval from the UK’s CMA and ICO which are monitoring implementation.

Sometimes I need Chrome extensions to do my job. Sometimes I can’t do my job until whichever one’s misbehaving gets out of my face. So please let this be true.

Also, TIL there’s now a paid version of Chrome for enterprise with extra security?

Gecko (Firefox), Blink (Chrome / Edge), and WebKit (Safari) are the engines behind most web browsers, and the developers who make them have collaborated on a new benchmark to measure performance with browsing and web apps.

Announced in December 2022 and already used to optimize the browser engines listed above, Speedometer 3.0 is now available to test “key scenarios” like rendering a news site — if that’s the kind of thing you enjoy doing.

Correction March 11th, 4:29PM ET: An earlier version of this post incorrectly swapped the browser engines for Chrome and Firefox, it has been correct. We regret the error.

A Chrome Canary update spotted by X user Leopeva64 (via Android Police) introduces a new “install page as app” button in the settings menu for all the websites you visit. You can try out the feature before it’s rolled out by downloading Canary and enabling these flags:

• chrome://flags/#web-app-universal-install

• chrome://flags/#shortcuts-not-apps

Following its announcement last month, 9to5Google notes that the latest Chromecast with Google TV update allows users to quickly pair headphones to their TV when in close proximity, and shows a new audio output switcher in the menu.

You can check to see if the STTE.231215.005 update is available by heading into Settings > System > About > System update on your Chromecast with Google TV.

As announced last month, today 1 percent of Chrome users will see a notification when they open Chrome on desktop or Android if selected to try Google’s new Tracking Protection feature. The Wall Street Journal has a writeup on what it could mean for advertisers, with some thinking Google’s moving too fast, some relieved it’s finally happening, and everyone waiting to see how it goes.

In August, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied Google’s attempt to end a class-action lawsuit filed in 2020 that claims it illegally invaded the privacy of millions by tracking browsing activity even with “incognito mode” activated in Chrome and other browsers.

Now, the February 5th trial date is off, as the parties say they have agreed to a settlement and will present a formal agreement for court approval within the next 60 days.

It’s not as slick as the fully reflective, Daft Punk-like helmet Lewis Hamilton had at Suzuka earlier this year, but as Formula 1 drivers take to the improvised racetrack in Las Vegas this week, McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri will be wearing a *Google Chrome helmet, that matches the sponsor’s wheel covers on his car.

Well, if it’s rolled out to you. With Chrome 119, Google has been slowly rolling out the ability to check how much memory that tab is using just by hovering over the tab, 9to5Google reports. 9to5Google also has details on the flag to enable if you want to switch the feature on for yourself. Handy!

That’s all thanks to Chrome’s Core Web Vitals feature, which allows website owners and developers to evaluate how well their site performs. According to a blog post shared by Google, Core Web Vitals and other small tweaks also made the average page load in Chrome 166ms faster.

Back in August, the Chrome browser moved its download notifications from a bar at the bottom of the window to an icon at top. However, if you didn’t like that change, you could still use a flag to change it back. People are now reporting that, with the latest update of Chrome, that flag is gone, and you’re going to be stuck with the new notification icon. Oh, well.

YouTube’s been cracking down on ad blocker usage this year. I’m fine coughing up $14 a month for YouTube Premium, but I can’t help but be amused at the user agent workaround Enderman posted yesterday (spotted by Windows Central).

Using a Google-made Chrome extension, you can put a digital name tag on your browser that basically says, “Hello! My Name is Windows Phone,” and YouTube won’t show you ads.

YouTube hasn’t specifically said that turning your browser into three Windows Phones in a trenchcoat is against its terms of service, but all the same: Proceed at your own risk.