14 DAY TRIAL // While Google is getting ready to move Chrome 15 from the dev channel to the beta channel, Chrome developers have already moved to the next version, Chrome 16.
It's only available as Chromium 16 right now, but if you really want to keep up with the latest developments, this is what you need to be using.
The most recent builds have introduced an interesting new feature which, while still experimental, could become something much bigger than it seems at first glance, a "pre- and auto-login" flag.
"When enabled, connecting a profile to a Google Account will add the account's credentials to the profile's cookie jar, so that retyping the username and password in the browser is not necessary," Google explained, in the description for the new flag.
"Visiting a Google Account login page will also trigger an infobar allowing easy sign in with the connected account," it added.
"Pre- and auto-login are always disabled if the profile is not connected to a Google Account, regardless of this flag," it said.
The idea is simple. If you already use Google Chrome sync, then you've provided your credentials and linked your Google account to the particular Chrome install.
With auto-login enabled, users won't have to log into their Google accounts anymore, since they will automatically and permanently be logged in courtesy of the sync feature.
This means not ever having to type a user and password ever again. It's pretty convenient but, then again, most people rarely have to do this anyway.
Most users simply log into Google, or any other big website, once and then simply don't log out. This way, they may never again have to provide their credentials if they use the same browser regularly.
However, where things get interesting is with third-party sites using the Google credentials. Many sites accept Google logins, as an alternative to users setting up new accounts for any website they use.
Google has already built identity into Chrome, with support for multiple profiles and Chrome sync, of course. It's only the next logical step that Google could enable users to log into other sites using their Google Accounts credentials provided by Chrome directly, something that Mozilla is already working on, although it's taking a different approach.