If you’re a developer looking to bring your content to the big screen, head on over to the Google Developers Blog for a deep dive into the nuts and bolts of it all. Meanwhile, for everyone else, a current list of apps that work with Chromecast can be found at chromecast.com/apps. Happy casting!
Posted by Ambarish Kenghe, Chromecast Product Manager and Cast Master
To learn more about Google Now notifications in Chrome and how to configure your settings, please visit the Help Center. If you’re not already using Google Now on Android or iOS, head over here to get started. Google Now notifications in Chrome will just be available in English initially, with other languages supported soon. Let us know what you think in the comments!
Update 3/24/2014:Starting today and rolling out over the next few weeks, Google Now users in all languages will be able to get these notifications in all channels of Chrome. To enable this feature, simply sign in to Chrome with the same Google Account you’re using for Google Now on Android or iOS.
Travis Skare, Software Engineer and Always in the Know
Note that this will disable any extensions, apps and themes you have installed. If you’d like to reactivate any of your extensions after the reset, you can find and re-enable them by looking in the Chrome menu under “More tools > Extensions.” Apps are automatically re-enabled the next time you use them.
Some hijackers are especially pernicious and have left behind processes that are meant to undermine user control of settings, so you may find that you’re hijacked again after a short period of time. If that happens you can find additional help uninstalling such programs in the Chrome help forum—and remember even if you don’t see the prompt, you can always restore Chrome to a fresh state by clicking the reset button in your Chrome settings.
We’ve added a few new features to make it easier to build and explore this digital world of LEGO creations. To start, you can now sign in with a Google+ account to help find stuff that people in your circles have created. A new categorization system for completed Builds will help you sort and filter for specific types of structures.
To hone your engineering skills and prepare for the upcoming “THE LEGO® MOVIE™,” you can explore the Build Academy, a series of short tutorials and challenges featuring characters and structures from the film.
If it feels more natural to use your hands—rather than a mouse—you can build your creations using a touchscreen on your phone or tablet with Chrome for Android support for WebGL on devices with high-end graphics capabilities.
As big fans of LEGO, we’re excited to see what you come up with to fill this new world. Share your creations on Google+ and we’ll reshare the most inventive ones.
Posted by Adrian Soghoian, Product Marketing Manager and Beginning Builder
In the U.S. alone, more than a fifth of adult smartphone users now do most of their online browsing on their mobile device.1 Around the world, we’re seeing a similar trend towards more mobile browsing. That’s why we’ll be rolling out a new feature on Chrome for Mobile to help you reduce data usage and save money on your mobile plan. When enabled, Chrome’s data compression and bandwidth management can reduce data usage by up to 50% while browsing the web on Chrome for Android and iOS. This feature also enables Chrome’s Safe Browsing technology which helps protect you from malicious webpages.
To start saving data and turn on an even more secure browsing experience, visit “Settings” > “Bandwidth management” > “Reduce data usage.” Then simply turn the toggle to “On.” From this menu, you’ll also be able to track how much bandwidth you save each month as you browse on Chrome.
Translate for iOS
Parlez-vous français? Not to worry. We heard your requests and will be introducing Google Translate in Chrome for iOS in the coming days. With this update, you can now translate webpages in Chrome with the click of a button on your iPhone and iPad, just as you’re used to on Chrome for desktop and Android. To translate a page into your phone or tablet’s native language, just look for the translation bar and select “Translate.”
Application shortcuts on Android
Lastly, this upcoming release of Chrome for Android will allow you to create shortcuts to your favorite websites right from your homescreen for faster and easier access to the web. When visiting a site you’d like to save, simply select “Add to homescreen” from the toolbar menu.
Then anytime you’d like to open the saved website, just tap its icon on your homescreen. For certain websites, the shortcut will open in a full-screen experience and appear as a separate app in the Android app switcher.
To try out these features on your Android and iOS devices, download the latest releases of Chrome for Mobile coming soon to the Play Store and App Store. These updates will be rolling out over the next few days.
Posted by Matt Welsh, Software Engineer & Data Squasher Extraordinaire
November’s Chrome beta introduced improvements to help make your browsing quieter, safer and sleeker. In the latest Chrome release we’re making these available to everyone:
You can now track down noisy tabs: You can now visually scan your tabs for a speaker icon to quickly find the ones singing in the background. You’ll also be able to see which tabs are currently using your webcam or are being cast to your TV.
Playing audio
Using your webcam
Casting to your TV
Safe Browsing's malware warning has gotten stronger: If you see this message in the download tray at the bottom of your screen, you can click “Dismiss” knowing that Chrome is working to keep you safe.
Try out supervised users for your family members: You can now use a beta preview of supervised users to help family members who may need some guidance browsing the web. Once you create a supervised user, you can visit chrome.com/manage to review their browsing activity and determine site restrictions.
Chrome on Windows 8 “Metro” mode gets a new look: Manage multiple Chrome windows and quickly get to your favorite Chrome Apps with an integrated app launcher. On the desktop, we’ve updated the default styling of UI elements like form controls and scrollbars to match the sleek design of the new Chrome Metro interface.
Yuri Wiitala, Software Engineer and Tenacious Tab Tracker
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