14 DAY TRIAL // Google has finally launched Chrome 86 on all supported platforms, including both desktop and mobile, and this time the focus is on mobile improvements.
The new version of the browser, which is the first to include the native Windows spell checker on devices running Microsoft’s operating system, now comes with mixed form warnings on desktop PCs and Android phones and tablets to warn whenever users are submitting a non-secure form embedded in an HTTPS page.
This obviously adds a new security layer on devices running Chrome, and Google explains that this approach helps deal with the risks that could be created by ways developed to bypass HTTPS implementations.
“Secure HTTPS pages may sometimes still have non-secure features. Earlier this year, Chrome began securing and blocking what’s known as “mixed content”, when secure pages incorporate insecure content. But there are still other ways that HTTPS pages can create security risks for users, such as offering downloads over non-secure links, or using forms that don’t submit data securely,” Google says.
More security improvements and memory optimizations
Then, Chrome 86 can now block insecure downloads that are started from secure pages, as this is part of a gradual rollout that Google has already announced for its browser.
“Chrome 86 will block or warn on some insecure downloads initiated by secure pages. Currently, this change affects commonly abused file types, but eventually secure pages will only be able to initiate secure downloads of any type,” the company says.
Chrome 86 also introduces a new option to quickly change a password that is believed to have been exposed, while also introducing background tab throttling, a feature that was previously supposed to go live in Chrome 85.
This new tool makes it possible to reduce background tabs to 1% CPU time after being inactive for at least 5 minutes, essentially reducing the resource usage of the browser on a computer.