Over the last few weeks, Google has been testing a bunch of new features for its popular browser Chrome. We've seen evidence of a radically new UI for Chrome's new tab page on Android, a custom share sheet that was spotted in Canary, less intrusive notification prompts, and more. Now, Google has started rolling out some of these features in the latest update for Google Chrome. As per a recent report from BleepingComputer, Chrome 80 has now started rolling out to both Android and desktop. The update brings a wide array of security fixes, bug fixes, and several new features. Here are some of the major changes included in Chrome version 80.0.3987.87.

Back in May last year, Google announced new cookie controls to improve the way Google Chrome managed cookies. With the latest update, Chrome is enforcing the secure-by-default cookie classification system which is designed to treat cookies without a SameSite value SameSite=Lax. Google claims that only cookies set as SameSite=None; Secure will be available in third-party contexts, with the condition that they're accessed from a secure connection. For a detailed explanation of what the SameSite cookie change is all about, you can check the video below.

The Google Chrome 80 update also auto-upgrades mixed content by rewriting the URL to HTTPS. The browser doesn't provide an HTTP fallback and blocks the websites if they fail to load over https://. We learned about this feature back in October last year, and as per the schedule shared on the Chromium Blog, Chrome will now automatically update mixed audio and video resources. Mixed images, however, will still be allowed to load, but they will bring up the "Not Secure" label in the omnibox.

Chrome Not Secure badge

With Chrome 80, developers will also be able to use scalable SVG images as favicons. This could, in turn, help them reduce the number of such resources on any website or app. Additionally, the update also enables authors and users to link a specific portion of a webpage by adding a text fragment from the page to the website URL. When such a URL is opened in the browser, the added text will be highlighted in the page and Chrome will automatically scroll the highlighted fragment into view.

On top of all these changes, the latest Chrome update also brings a selection of changes and improvements to DevTools, along with a fix for 56 vulnerabilities identified in the browser.

Source: Google (1,2), Chromium Blog

Via: BleepingComputer