Everything New in Chrome 103
As reported by How-To Geek , Chrome 103 is coming to all Chromium-based browser users today. While the list of new features is small this time around, there are three new options for desktop browsers, as well as one new change for Chrome on Android. If you want websites to load faster and have more notifications blocked, you need to upgrade to 103 ASAP.
(Unlike last year’s Chrome update 102 , 103 does not appear to contain fixes for security vulnerabilities at the moment; if this update also turns out to be a security fix, and not just a feature disable, as it seems at the moment, we update this article)
Websites should load faster
In Chrome 103, the Google browser now supports 103 Early Hints informational responses (103 in each header is just a coincidence). This response code allows web pages to be preloaded before you even click on the link, which can speed up loading by a few hundred milliseconds. This may not seem like much, but over time, this small speed increase can save Chrome users a significant amount of collective download time. How will you spend the extra milliseconds?
You should see fewer notifications
How many websites do you really want to receive notifications from? If you’re like me, the answer is “none of them.” And yet, so many websites send notifications every time you visit them, just in case you want to get constant Chrome updates from them all day long (or accidentally hit yes while trying to turn them off).
Chrome 103 addresses this issue: Using machine learning, Chrome will now automatically block these hints once it decides you don’t want to be notified from a website. Personally, it could block all notification requests right away and I wouldn’t complain, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Web applications can use fonts on your computer
In Chrome 103, for the first time, web apps can use fonts installed on your computer without having to ask for permissions. This is a small change, but it should make using PWA more like a daily app.
Clean up your new tabs on Android (beta)
When you open a new tab in Chrome for Android, you’ll find an “Open” ribbon that shows you alerts and news that the browser thinks you’re interested in. However, most of us are not interested in these highlights, especially if we have opened a new tab for a specific purpose. Chrome 103 beta introduces a new flag to permanently exclude the Discover feed as well as the Follow feed.
If you’re using the beta, go to chrome://flags#feed-ablation and enable the flag. Now, when you open a new tab, you won’t see the Discover or Subscriptions ribbon. If you ever want to see them again, just go back to the same flag URL and disable the flag.
New Features for Developers
With every new Chrome update comes new features for developers. I’m not a developer, so I don’t tend to use these updates, but you can check out the list of goodies on both the developer site and the Chromium blog .
How to update Google Chrome to version 103
To update Chrome, click the three dots in the top right corner of the browser window, then choose Help > About Google Chrome. Allow Chrome to check for new updates: When 103 is available, you’ll see it here. Click Relaunch and Chrome 103 will be installed.
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