CHROME
32 13 - 26 November 2019
Find out what’s new in
Chrome 78
The latest version of Chrome has been
released. Typically, these big iterations
bring major refinements to the browser
but, while there are a handful of
changes in Chrome 78, it lacks the
blockbuster features of previous
editions. Security fixes form the bulk
of the changes – 37 have been patched,
including several marked ‘High priority’
- but many promised extras, such as
the useful password checker, have been
bumped to the forthcoming Chrome 79.
The most eye-catching new feature is
the tab overlay. In older versions of
Chrome, hovering your cursor over a tab
displayed the title of the web page.
When you perform the same action in
Chrome 78, this pop-up now includes
the site’s URL.
Your browser should automatically
update to the new version, but you can
force it to do so by clicking the three-
dot menu, then pressing Help, About
Chrome.
It seems that dark mode is available for virtually every
app, but only a handful of websites offer this easy-on-
the-eyes option, which means you need to install an
extension to get dark mode on your favourite sites.
To remedy this, Google has finally unveiled a new
experimental ‘flag’ that forces dark mode across the
board – no more awkward workarounds or unnecessary
tools clogging up the browser. To activate the feature,
visit the Chrome Experiments page at chrome://flags
and search for ‘dark mode’. Here, you’ll find the setting
‘Force Dark Mode for Web Contents’. Use the drop-
down menu to switch from Default to Enabled, then
relaunch the browser.
To check that the forced dark mode is working, head
over to Google – which you’ll now be able to do at night without being
blinded by the glare of its once-white background. You can turn it off again
by choosing Disabled next to its entry on the Chrome Experiments page.
Focus while you browse
Going online opens up a minefield of
distractions, but there is a way to
keep your focus without using
extensions that block your access to
sites and force you to do your work.
Rather than the stick, Rofocus (bit
.ly/rofocus488) offers the carrot.
Designed to “increase focus and
productivity”, this browser tool plays
ambient background sounds to help
you concentrate.
Start by choosing an ambient
sound – from the Amazon forest to a
Parisian café – then hop across to
the Focus Timer window. By default,
the countdown timer is set to
25-minute intervals, but this can be
changed. The idea is that, by
coupling a predetermined ‘focus
time’ with background sounds, your
brain can de-stress, becoming more
creative and focused.Manage Chrome extensions
more easily
If there’s one complaint about Chrome
extensions, it’s that managing them isn’t
exactly efficient, which is where Chrome
Extension Manager (bit.ly/manager488)
comes in. This easy-to-use browser tool
displays all your installed extensions in
a neat list and gives you a lot more
control compared to the fiddly default
option offered by Chrome.
Along the top of the window, there is
a search bar for accessing specific
extensions without scrolling. Beneath
this are your browser tools, arranged
alphabetically. To the left of each one is
a tick box that disables and enables the
tool; to the right, a three-dot icon that
lets you jump to the Chrome extension-
management screen. Extensions can
also be grouped together by clicking
the cog and selecting ‘New group’.Best New Browser Tools
Apply dark mode to every website