The Google developers who are in charge of its web browser spend a significant part of their time improving everything that is not seen. Like the motor and gears of something mechanical, if the internal components are not right, the overall experience can be diminished. But in the Chrome 117 which I arrive last Tuesday if there is something that will attract attention when opening the browser after the update.
Years ago, in 2014, Google introduced Material Design, and I remember that moment because the way they used to explain how layers worked implied, or gave it to me, that the display hardware could be different. Already in 2021 they presented the evolution known as Material you, and that is the most notable novelty of those that have arrived with Chrome 117. From now on we will find parts of the browser with a modernized design.
Chrome 117 highlights
Material You in Chrome 117 can be seen in the top bar, which has become blue, in the three-dot menu, which has increased the margin or "padding" so that there is more space between the elements, and the icons have been retouched to better understand what is what.
La Privacy It is another section in which there have been improvements, or that is what they say. That controversial novelty, which is not so controversial for fans of the brand and its services, is a first step to truly eliminate third-party cookies, and in Chrome 117 a few more steps have been taken in that direction. The theory says that everything remains on our device, and that advertisers only have access to information that may interest them. In practice, the information they can access is our complete history. There is more information in the article we published about it, as well as how to deactivate these "topics", all in theory.
Also related to cookies, Chrome 117 allows you to temporarily activate third-party cookies, which is reminiscent of the use that can be made on mobile devices. Sometimes there is a web page that does not work with content blockers, and they can be disabled momentarily, causing the page to reload without whatever could be causing the problem. In Chrome 117 this can be done, also provisionally, with third-party cookies.
Among the rest of the new features, it stands out that the HTTPS icon in the URL bar has changed to avoid confusion and the advanced control of groups of tabs has given another twist to the option of organizing sessions, which now allows saving groups of tabs to open them later.
Now available
Chrome 117 It is now available since official website. Linux users whose distribution adds its repository after the first installation should have already received the new version. Users of Arch Linux and derivatives have it in AUR in the package name google-chrome.