The Google Chrome 70 web browser is now rolling out on Windows, Mac and Linux, bringing new security features and an improved sign-in experience.
The update is somewhat less substantive than next month’s Material Design update, but still introduces a number of important features for users. The key new feature here is the ability to sign into Google affiliated services like Gmail, Calendar and YouTube without signing into the Chrome browser itself.
After updating to Chrome 70 , the Advanced Settings will show a toggle switch titled ‘Allow Chrome sign-in’. Turning this off will prevent you automatically logging into the Chrome browser whenever you just want to check your Gmail, for example.
This setting, which takes effect following a restart of the Chrome browser, can be handy if you don’t want your web activity to be associated with your Google account, for example.
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Elsewhere in Chrome 70 (via 9to5Google), Google is building upon the push towards HTTPS adoption, displaying a flashing ‘not secure’ warning when users attempt to input personal data on an unsecured (HTTP) web page.
From this version on, Chrome will also automatically exit full screen mode whenever dialogue boxes appear, while right clicking on a Chrome Extension will show exactly where it is permitted to operate. Users will be able to whitelist certain sites or select ‘on all sites’.
Finally, for macOS users, Chrome 70 also enables websites to access the Touch ID fingerprint sensor present on MacBook Pro devices for use with the Web Authentication API. This goes towards Google’s goal of killing off the password.
The new Chrome 70 browser is rolling out to all users from today, Google says. Some users are reporting the browser is still supporting old Symantec certificates it vowed to drop support for, but this could still change quickly as the roll out becomes more widespread.
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