Chromium Blog: October 2015

Chrome 47 Beta: Idle time work, splash screens, and desktop notification management

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Splash screens on Android

Mobile devices are typically less powerful than desktops, meaning apps can take a few seconds to load. Splash screens allow apps to show something meaningful to users as the app loads, improving perceived performance. The new version of Chrome for Android brings splash screens to web apps when a site is launched from the Android home screen. The splash screen is shown immediately, even while Chrome itself is loading. Developers can customize the splash screen by setting a name, icon, background color, and notification bar color in the web app manifest. The splash screen disappears once the web app begins to draw to the screen, providing a more polished loading experience.

Cooperative multitasking with requestIdleCallback()

To achieve a screen refresh rate of 60 frames per second, developers must guess when performance-critical tasks like rendering will finish and use timers to schedule around them. Unfortunately, developers can’t guarantee that low priority work won’t hurt performance because events like scrolling cannot be predicted. Now developers can explicitly set work to run during idle time using requestIdleCallback(). Functions registered with requestIdleCallback() are given a deadline and can return before that limit is reached to avoid jank. The function can register for another requestIdleCallback() to continue work during the next idle period.

Auto dismissing notifications

Push notifications have been enabled by service workers since Chrome 42. Sites such as social media or email can generate a large number of push notifications that take up screen space and aren’t particularly relevant unless viewed soon after posting. The new version of Chrome now allows developers to configure automatic dismissal of desktop notifications, improving the experience for these kinds of notifications. Sites can set NotificationOptions.requireInteraction to indicate the notification should remain onscreen until the user dismisses it.

Other updates in this release

Array.prototype.includes() simplifies the syntax for checking array membership.
The rest parameters syntax allows functions with an indefinite number of arguments to be called using arrays.
Cache.matchAll() simplifies bulk searching of the cache and removes the need for polyfills.
RequestInit.referrer allows requests captured by service workers to match the original referrer.
The new Navigator.MediaDevices interface allows developers to enumerate connected media devices such as audio output.
Updated values for request properties in navigation FetchEvents offer improved spec compliance.
MouseEvent.getModifierState() makes input processing more powerful and consistent across MouseEvent and KeyboardEvent.
Developers can now more accurately detect input device capabilities using UIEvent.sourceCapabilities and InputDeviceCapabilities.firesTouchEvents.
Several SVG methods have been removed, including pixel conversions and hasExtension() methods on several elements.
Prefixed encrypted media extensions are now disabled in favor of unprefixed EMEs, which have more capabilities and conform to the spec.
Chrome no longer highlights the gaps between content when painting selections.
The notification center has been removed from Windows, Mac, and Linux to keep Chrome simpler.

Posted by Ross McIlroy, Scheduling Samurai

The newest Chrome Beta channel release includes support for cooperative multitasking, splash screens for sites added to home screen, flexible desktop notifications, security fixes, and more. Unless otherwise noted, changes described below apply to Chrome for Android, Chrome OS, Linux, Mac, and Windows. Splash screens on Android Mobile devices are typically less powerful than desktops, meaning apps can take a few seconds to load. Splash screens allow apps to show something meaningful to users as the app loads, improving perceived performance. The new version of Chrome for Android brings splash screens to web apps when a site is launched from the Android home screen. The splash screen is shown immediately, even while Chrome itself is loading. Developers can customize the splash screen by setting a name, icon, background color, and notification bar color in the web app manifest. The splash screen disappears once the web app begins to draw to the screen, providing a more polished loading experience.

Cooperative multitasking with requestIdleCallback() To achieve a screen refresh rate of 60 frames per second, developers must guess when performance-critical tasks like rendering will finish and use timers to schedule around them. Unfortunately, developers can’t guarantee that low priority work won’t hurt performance because events like scrolling cannot be predicted. Now developers can explicitly set work to run during idle time using requestIdleCallback(). Functions registered with requestIdleCallback() are given a deadline and can return before that limit is reached to avoid jank. The function can register for another requestIdleCallback() to continue work during the next idle period. Auto dismissing notifications Push notifications have been enabled by service workers since Chrome 42. Sites such as social media or email can generate a large number of push notifications that take up screen space and aren’t particularly relevant unless viewed soon after posting. The new version of Chrome now allows developers to configure automatic dismissal of desktop notifications, improving the experience for these kinds of notifications. Sites can set NotificationOptions.requireInteraction to indicate the notification should remain onscreen until the user dismisses it. Other updates in this release

Array.prototype.includes() simplifies the syntax for checking array membership.

The rest parameters syntax allows functions with an indefinite number of arguments to be called using arrays.

Cache.matchAll() simplifies bulk searching of the cache and removes the need for polyfills.

RequestInit.referrer allows requests captured by service workers to match the original referrer.

The new Navigator.MediaDevices interface allows developers to enumerate connected media devices such as audio output.

Updated values for request properties in navigation FetchEvents offer improved spec compliance.

MouseEvent.getModifierState() makes input processing more powerful and consistent across MouseEvent and KeyboardEvent.

Developers can now more accurately detect input device capabilities using UIEvent.sourceCapabilities and InputDeviceCapabilities.firesTouchEvents.

Several SVG methods have been removed, including pixel conversions and hasExtension() methods on several elements.

Prefixed encrypted media extensions are now disabled in favor of unprefixed EMEs, which have more capabilities and conform to the spec.

Chrome no longer highlights the gaps between content when painting selections.

The notification center has been removed from Windows, Mac, and Linux to keep Chrome simpler.

Posted by Ross McIlroy, Scheduling Samurai

Streamlining Notifications on Desktop

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

This past spring, Chrome began supporting push notifications for web pages via the emerging web push standard. However, notifications in Chrome aren’t new; Chrome apps and extensions have supported push notifications on desktop since 2010. In some cases, these desktop notifications would appear while users were gone, so in 2013 Chrome launched the notification center, a place for users to find notifications from Chrome apps and extensions that they’d missed.

However, in practice, few users visit the notification center. To keep Chrome simple, it will be removed from Windows, Mac, and Linux in the upcoming release. The notification center on Chrome OS will remain unchanged.

The new notifications documentation reflects changes that will affect Chrome app and extension developers who send notifications to the center. Notifications sent solely to the notification center will now result in an error, and API events tied to the center will no longer fire. All other notifications will continue to work without requiring any changes.

With the growth of web push, notifications are an increasingly important way for users to engage with web pages they care about. By streamlining the experience on desktop, Chrome can ensure a simple notification experience on every platform.

Posted by Justin DeWitt, Software Engineer

Replying to reviews in the Chrome Web Store

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Today, we’re providing both you and your users the ability to reply to comments in the Reviews tab, in order to ensure that you can openly and clearly communicate about all relevant feedback.

To strengthen relationships with your users and ensure that the Reviews tab provides accurate information about your product, we recommend that you begin closely monitoring user reviews for bug reports and feature suggestions. Be sure to reply constructively to both negative and positive reviews, notify users when you have addressed their feedback, and thank the users who are your biggest advocates.

Before replying to user reviews, please read the commenting guidelines to ensure that your use of this feature is compliant with Chrome Web Store policies. Also remember that when posting reviews, your name and Google account will be shown publicly so that prospective users can see that you consistently provide high quality customer support. Head over to your reviews tab and start connecting with users today!

Posted by James Wagner, Product Lead and Reviews Wrangler

When we launched the Chrome Web Store Support Tab in 2012, our goal was to provide a communication channel that would enable you to have an open discussion with the users of your apps and extensions. Developers like you have reported that the tool has helped identify bugs faster, obtain ideas for new features, and prioritize work based on user impact. But we’ve also seen that many users continue to leave their feedback in the form of comments under the Reviews tab. Until now, the Web Store has not provided an option to respond to these comments, which has had the effect of leaving many users’ bug reports and feature suggestions unanswered, even after the issues have been addressed.
Today, we’re providing both you and your users the ability to reply to comments in the Reviews tab, in order to ensure that you can openly and clearly communicate about all relevant feedback.
To strengthen relationships with your users and ensure that the Reviews tab provides accurate information about your product, we recommend that you begin closely monitoring user reviews for bug reports and feature suggestions. Be sure to reply constructively to both negative and positive reviews, notify users when you have addressed their feedback, and thank the users who are your biggest advocates.
Before replying to user reviews, please read the commenting guidelines to ensure that your use of this feature is compliant with Chrome Web Store policies. Also remember that when posting reviews, your name and Google account will be shown publicly so that prospective users can see that you consistently provide high quality customer support. Head over to your reviews tab and start connecting with users today!
Posted by James Wagner, Product Lead and Reviews Wrangler

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