Improve Chrome 86 With These Recommended Settings
I love it when a new browser update arrives because it’s always fun to see which features discussed are active and which require a bit of coaxing . This is the case with the recent launch of Google Chrome 86, which was available to everyone yesterday.
At least I hope so; It took me until the very end of the day to get an official update for my desktop browser (via Help> About Google Chrome ). However, I now have Chrome 86, and while you update your browser, here are the main features you need to be aware of, including our recommendations for other settings, add-ons, and configuration changes you might want to make. in addition to the new goodies of Google Chrome.
Use background throttling to control the effect of tabs
One of the best reasons to upgrade to Chrome 86 is its new background throttling feature, which promises to reduce the maximum load on all tabs you are n’t viewing to one percent of your CPU. These tabs must be inactive for at least five minutes for throttling to work.
Lifehacker recommendation: I would combine this feature, which turns on automatically after updating to Chrome 86, with another add-on ( or two ) to save as much memory as possible on tabs. You can even use an add-on like OneTab to reduce clutter whenever possible. Consider Chrome throttling a useful setting when you need it, but don’t let it become your ticket to lazy tab management (he says by looking at 30+ tabs in his browser).
Check your crappy Chrome passwords to make sure they’re ok
If you’re using Chrome’s password manager – and you should at least use it to manage complex and unique passwords – then a brand new option will allow you to quickly check to make sure anything you’ve saved hasn’t been compromised. To get started, go to Chrome Settings> You & Google> Passwords> Check Passwords . If Chrome detects an unsafe login, it might even prompt you to change it by clicking a button that takes you directly to the site’s “password reset” page. (It all depends on whether the site is configured to use this ” well-known URL ” feature.)
Additionally, Chrome’s password check feature should be available on Android and iOS. If you don’t see them in your settings, you need to enable chrome://flags/#password-check (and while you’re at it, enable chrome://flags/#safety-check-android or chrome://flags/#safety-check-ios too.
Lifehacker recommendation: I usually don’t use Chrome’s password manager because I really like 1Password . And I’m going to keep using 1Password because I think its alert capabilities are much stronger than Chrome’s. Case in point: I entered some old passwords into Chrome that I know had been cracked on the Internet and Chrome decided they were okay. 1Password, however, flagged them as vulnerable (and noted that there was a data breach somewhere) and encouraged me to change them.
This is a small example, but I think the dedicated password manager is just more thorough. Also more expensive, but password security is the only thing worth spending a few dollars a month on; you can opt for one less coffee or burrito to keep your most important digital information safe. If you don’t have anything else , use Chrome, but don’t assume that its password manager is completely accurate. It is much more valuable to have a larger breakdown, for example in 1Password (yes, I will find a way to change them):
Keep using HTTPS whenever possible
Most of your web browsing is done on HTTPS sites, not HTTP sites , but that doesn’t mean we should stop using less secure, unencrypted sites. Sometimes, if the site is confusing enough, you really don’t have a choice. However, I bet most people don’t look at the tiny padlock next to their browser’s address bar to check if you’re using HTTP or HTTPS; You’ve probably forgotten that it even exists.
As of Chrome 86, the browser will now alert you whenever you are about to submit form information over an HTTP connection. Yes, this can happen even if the form itself is submitted on an HTTPS site. And the warning couldn’t have been more obvious, as Google highlighted on their blog :
LifeHacker’s recommendation: you should use HTTPS whenever possible to prevent all kinds of man-in-the-middle attacks and other shenanigans when websites are mixing content (using content that is loaded over HTTP and HTTPS on the same page). Renowned security researcher Troy Hunt has a great old explanation if you’re interested in learning more:
While you probably don’t need it at this time, it really never hurts to install the HTTPS Everywhere extension in your browser to make sure you are at least using your preferred secure version of the website whenever possible. And if it annoys you that you physically no longer see “HTTP” or “HTTPS” in Chrome’s address bar, you can edit that as well. Visit this Chrome flag (by copy / pasting the link into the url bar) and set it to Disabled to get them back:
chrome://flags/#omnibox-ui-hide-steady-state-url-path-query-and-ref-on-interaction
Speed up browsing a bit with forward / backward caching
Back in Chrome 79, Google checked a fun little checkbox in the browser that allows you to enable the new back / forward cache setting. As Google at Addi Osmani wrote at the time :
“At the Chrome team we are exploring a new back / forward cache for caching pages in memory (preserving JavaScript and DOM state) when the user leaves. This is definitely not a trivial activity, but if it succeeds, navigation back and forth will be very fast.
The back / forward cache (bfcache) caches entire pages (including a bunch of JavaScript) when navigating from a page, so that the full state of the page can be restored when the user navigates back. Think of it as pausing the page when you leave and playing when you return. “
Lifehacker recommendation: Assuming this feature doesn’t cause browser instability, Osmani noted that enabling it could improve your browsing performance by up to 19 percent. This is enough for us to try it right now in Chrome (using chrome://flags/#back-forward-cache ), and also in Android Chrome 86 version, where this feature has just appeared, and can be found using that the same flag.
Android: Customize your Chrome overflow menu.
When you click on the three-dot icon in the upper right corner of the Android Chrome browser, you get a large and cumbersome options menu. This is not very elegant:
However, you can add icons to this menu and group its contents by enabling two flags in Chrome 86:
-
chrome://flags/#tabbed-app-overflow-menu-icons -
chrome://flags/#tabbed-app-overflow-menu-regroup
They transform your eye-catching menu into a beautiful new look:
Lifehacker recommendation: do it. Why not?