Tag Archives: google chrome

Daily Update for May 22, 2013

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

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Daily Update for May 22, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 22 May 2013 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Chrome update adds a bit of Siri to OS X

Google's Chrome browser for OS X has had the ability to do voice search for about two years now, but the latest version of Chrome appears to bring something a bit more Siri-like to the mix. Now, when you ask Google certain questions about the weather, sports scores, stock prices, directions and calculations, you get a spoken answer.

The latest version is 27.0.1453.93, which you can update to by selecting About Chrome from the Chrome menu, and approving any updates or restarting the browser if prompted. Once Chrome is up, head on over to the google.com search page and you'll see the familiar microphone in the search field (note that the mic does not appear in the Chrome "omnibar"). Click the mic, respond to any requests to let Chrome have access to your mic and video camera and then start asking questions.

The result is not quite the conversational search that was touted during the Google I/O keynote last week, but it definitely shows the direction that Google is heading and it's bringing a bit of Siri-like functionality to OS X before Apple does. The video below demonstrates several of the searches that I performed -- it's all done in real time, so you get to see the failures as well. The current release seems to have a tendency to display "No Internet Connection" frequently, a problem that reloading the browser will fix. By the way, if you've used the mobile version of the Google search app, this will all be familiar to you.

#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-819496{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-819496, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-819496{width:456px;height:432px;display:block;} Improvements to Google Voice Search on OS Xtry{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-819496").style.display="none";}catch(e){}

Google Chrome update adds a bit of Siri to OS X originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 22 May 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google to bring Chrome app launcher to OS X

Google to bring Chrome app launcher to OS X

Those of us who use Google's Chrome browser for OS X are familiar with how Chrome web apps can be installed and launched from within the browser. Now it appears that Google is working on a way to bring those Chrome apps even closer to the heart of your Mac by creating a Chrome apps launcher for OS X.

Google engineer Fran

Chrome for iOS now includes Google Cloud Print, AirPrint, and fullscreen browsing

Chrome for iOS now includes Google Cloud Print, AirPrint, and fullscreen browsing

Google's Chrome browser for iOS (free) was updated to version 26.0.1410.50 today, providing some new and much-appreciated features.

To begin with, the app now provides support for Google Cloud Print, a way of printing documents to printers from just about anywhere through PCs or Macs that are aware of attached or wireless printers. The app also provides support for Apple's own AirPrint and AirPrint-aware printers.

Any page viewed in Chrome can also be saved as a PDF file to the user's Google Drive through Cloud Print. This is a way to quickly store web pages on Google Drive for download to an iOS device for offline reading.

In addition to the usual stability and security improvements and bug fixes, Chrome also adds fullscreen browsing support for the iPhone and iPod touch. This was implemented in a very intuitive manner; users simply scroll the browser window to the top of the screen to "push" the toolbar off the screen, or scroll back down to view the Google "omnibox."

While the changes are rather limited, they add a tremendous amount of utility to a fast and stable iOS web browser.

Chrome for iOS now includes Google Cloud Print, AirPrint, and fullscreen browsing originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A reasonable response to Java security problems (Updated)

Update: According to The Mac Observer, Apple has acted proactively to block the Java browser plug-in on Mac machines with OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or higher. If you are running an earlier version of OS X, then you should disable Java as noted below.

Update 2: In a remarkably speedy turnaround, Oracle has released a patched Java VM (release 11, listed as b21 internally) that closes this particular hole. Users who need Java installed are urged to update ASAP. You may have to update manually; Mike Rose reports that the auto-update feature on his machine ended up crashing the Java control panel.

A Java security flaw has been reported by CERT (the Computer Emergency Readiness Team). TheNextWeb has a good write-up of the background of the exploit's discovery.

Here's the bad news: there is no "fix" for the bug yet. Here's the worse news: it is believed that malicious sites on the web are already aware of this security hole, and are trying to exploit it.

Is your Mac at risk? Maybe. It is possible that your Mac does not even have Java installed. Apple stopped including Java by default with Lion. However, if you have run into any websites or software that needs Java, it may have prompted you to install it.

So what should you do? Well, here are some options:

Stop using the Internet and go live in a yurt. Disable Java Uninstall Java Ignore it and hope that everything will be OK.

Hopefully you guessed that options 1 & 4 are the "Not Good" options, so that leaves us with two choices: Disable or Uninstall?

Here's my suggestion: if you are on Mac OS X 10.7 or 10.8 (Lion or Mountain Lion) have Java installed and you're not just one of those people who goes around installing things willy-nilly, my guess is that you have (or had) some software program that relies on Java. If you uninstall it, something might break and you might not be able to figure out why.

However, if you disable Java in whichever browser(s) you use regularly, you can continue to use your web browser without worrying about this exploit. If you find a website that uses Java, you can turn it on, do what you need to do, and then turn it off again.

Safari Users: you can easily disable Java by going to Safari's Preferences, then choose the Security tab, and uncheck the appropriate box:

Google Chrome users need to go to chrome://plugins

Firefox users: Go to the "Tools" menu, then "Add-ons" (or ⌘ + Shift + A) and choose the "Plugins" tab. Then click the 'disable' button next to Java Applet Plug-in.

"But I need Java for these sites I use every day!"

OK, so that's the reasonable response that I think will work for most people, but if you happen to be one of the people who needs to use Java every day for a specific set of websites all is not lost.

In fact, there's a very easy solution called Fluid.app. This one might seem a little nerdy, but once you set it up, it's quite easy.

We've mentioned Fluid.app on TUAW in the past and it's one of my favorite tools. With Fluid.app you can make a "standalone" web browser with its own set of preferences, including Java. You can find these settings in your Fluid.app browser under 'Settings':

But wait! he said in his best made-for-TV voice There's more!

Fluid.app will also let you say exactly which websites (domains, URLs, etc) that you want to use with that browser. Go to the "Whitelist" preferences and enter the domains, like this:

Now that the rule that I have will allow me to visit any URL that includes www.google.com. You can add more sites using the + at the bottom of the window.

Add all of your known and trusted sites which use Java. If you come across a link to a different site, it will automatically send you over to your regular browser (where you have disabled Java). Using this system you can have the security of having Java disabled, but still have the convenience of being able to use it on sites that you trust.

A reasonable response to Java security problems (Updated) originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Jan 2013 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chrome 19 found to be fastest browser on Mac

Chrome 19 found to be fastest browser on MacGoogle's Chrome browser has quickly become the choice for many web denizens searching for the fastest browsing experience. And while the latest browser report from New Relic confirms that Chrome is indeed your best bet for speed, the latest versions aren't actually getting any faster.

The data shows that Chrome version 19 -- version 23 was released today, for those keeping track -- is actually the fastest browser on OS X. In fact, the top five fastest browsers are various versions of Chrome, with version 19 followed by versions 21, 22, 20, and 18. Firefox finally appears in the sixth spot with its 15th version.

The firm's research also shows that approximately 61 percent of web traffic from Mac machines is done using the default Safari browser. Chrome comes in second with 21 percent and Firefox pulls up the rear at 18 percent. Safari also dominates in the mobile arena, with 87 percent of on-the-go web traffic -- on all mobile platforms -- coming from Apple's portable browser.

[Via TechCrunch]

Chrome 19 found to be fastest browser on Mac originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 06 Nov 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google API hopes to help iOS app links open in Chrome

Google's Chrome browser for iOS has a lot of features to love, but unfortunately for most of us who use it, we still find that clicking a link in another app only opens that link in Safari. Google is hoping to rectify this issue by providing developers with sample code that checks whether or not Chrome is installed on an iOS device, and then adds an option to open links with it when it is installed.

The Verge notes that this is similar to adding an "open in Dropbox" option to a Word or PDF document in an app. Hopefully a lot of iOS devs will choose to add the necessary code to their apps so that doing something as simple as tapping a link in Twitter gives users the option of opening that link in Chrome.

Google API hopes to help iOS app links open in Chrome originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Training Developers on Making iOS App Links Compatible with Chrome


Google ChromeCurrently, when you open a link to a webpage in an app, such as a link to a developer’s site, those webpages automatically open in Safari, which is the default browser for the iPad and the iPhone.

With the release of Google Chrome for iOS, Safari ceased to be the OS’s only viable browser, but as there is no way to set it as the default, links are still opened in Safari even for those who have switched to Chrome.

As a result, Google has developed sample code to show developers how to add Chrome support to their iOS apps. The code checks to see if Chrome is installed on the device, and if it is, the code gives users the option to open links in Google’s browser instead of in Safari.

Google’s code adds a button that’s similar to options to open links and apps in other apps, such as “Open in Dropbox,” or “Open in Instagram” from a separate photo app.

It is difficult to get away from Safari in iOS. Even users who have chosen Chrome will still need to deal with the browser in some capacity, but if Google can get developers to integrate the browser with their apps, it will be easier to eschew Safari all together.

Chrome for iOS: A quick hands-on look at Google’s mobile browser

Many iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users know of only one browser -- Apple's Mobile Safari. But the recent introduction of Google Chrome for iOS (free) brings a new and powerful web browser to the platform that provides some compelling functionality not found in Safari. Let's take a look.

Chrome is a 12.8 MB universal app that runs on any device running iOS 4.3 or later. Once loaded, you'll be asked to log into your Google account to synchronize Chrome between your desktop, laptop, and mobile devices. You don't have to do this, but when you do, the synchronization feature not only makes sure that your bookmarks are synced between devices, but also your open browser tabs, passwords, and "omnibus data."

Synchronization is very powerful! When it's set up by logging into a Google account from all of your devices, an "Other Devices" button appears at the bottom of the Mac OS X and Windows browsers. With a click, you see all of the open tabs on all of your other devices, and if you wish to pick up browsing on one device that you started on another, it's just a click or tap away.

Gallery: Chrome for iOS

A perfect example of this was when I was doing some research for a book yesterday. I had three open tabs in Chrome on my iMac; when I went outside to eat dinner, I brought along my iPad. Tapping the new tab button at the top of the screen, I was greeted by a window showing the most visited websites in Chrome on the iPad, my bookmarks (which are the same between devices), and a list of other devices. With a tap I was able bring up the tabs from the iMac on the iPad and continue reading.

One of the features I like the most on the iOS app is the ability to search by voice. Chrome, of course, doesn't have a separate search bar -- you simply type your search terms into the "omnibox" of the browser, and the results appear. The iOS version of the app has a small microphone icon -- with a tap, you are prompted to speak your search term and results appear in seconds. While voice search isn't perfect (i.e., a search for Canadian hockey legend Guy Lafleur camera returned "keep looking or"), it's surprisingly accurate.

I didn't find Chrome to be any faster in terms of response, not surprising since both are built on the iOS WebKit. Jacqui Cheng over at Ars Technica noted that Safari is "almost four times faster than Chrome in JavaScript," mainly due to the fact that Safari uses its own Nitro JavaScript engine which isn't available to outside apps.

I did see a few bugs in this first version of iOS Chrome. For example, one of Chrome's new features is "Incognito*" mode. This is Google's implementation of private browsing, where pages viewed don't appear in your browser or search history and don't leave cookies. When I opened a new Incognito* tab on the iPad, the browser locked up. This was a repeatable error, although it didn't happen every time I used Incognito* mode. You're reminded, by the way, that you're in Incognito mode by a little "spy" icon that appears in the upper left corner of the browser window.

I like the way that Chrome handles tabs on the mobile devices. On the iPhone, tapping a "tab" icon shows all open tabs stacked vertically. To delete one, you can either tap the close box or swipe the tab in either direction. Tapping on any of of the tabs brings that window to the front for viewing.

On the iPad, tabs are added by pressing a small parallelogram button, and they appear across the top of the browser as they would on an OS X machine. On both devices, tapping a small icon emblazoned with three lines brings up a quick way to add a bookmark, reload a page, create a new tab (or Incognito tab), look at bookmarks, see what tabs were last opened on your other devices, email a URL to a page, find something on a page, request a desktop site (rather than a mobile site), change settings, or pull up a Chrome help site.

I find myself using Chrome on my Macs more and more often. Some web pages simply won't run properly in Safari, a bank site that I frequent being the most annoying example. It works perfectly in Chrome, on any of the devices. That's not only surprising, but what I expect to see with a mobile browser.

Chrome for iOS is just in its infancy, but so far I'm impressed with what Google has managed to develop. If you've loaded and used the new browser, let us know what your impressions have been so far by leaving a comment.

Chrome for iOS: A quick hands-on look at Google's mobile browser originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Finally Unveils Chrome for iPad and iPhone


After months of rumors claiming Google was developing Chrome for the iPad and the iPhone, and several third party attempts to get the browser on iOS, it’s officially here.

Just this morning, Google made its official announcement: Chrome for iOS is a reality, and it’s available today.

iOS users have been hoping for Chrome on the iPad for quite some time. It is, after all, one of the most popular web browsers, with more than 310 million users worldwide.

Chrome for iOS will offer the same browsing experience as both the desktop and Android versions of the software, and when signing into Chrome, you can sync your browser between all of your devices.

In addition to Chrome, Google has also announced a Google Drive app for the iPad and the iPhone. Drive is Google’s cloud storage solution, and is now available across all platforms.

The new Chrome and Drive apps are not yet available, but they will go live today, so keep an eye on the App Store.

» Related posts: Chrome for iPad and iPhone in the Works? Google Releases Chrome Browser for Android, a Solid Mobile Safari Challenger iPad and iPhone Bring Over 40-Percent of Google’s Mobile Profits, Over $1.6 Billion

Forthcoming Chrome browser update to support Retina display on MacBook Pro

It might be a while before most apps are rewritten to take advantage of the new Retina display MacBook Pro, but Google isn't waiting. According to Anandtech, the nightly-build channel of Google's Chrome browser -- Chrome Canary -- already includes basic support for the 2880 x 1800 pixel display, rendering text and images much more sharply. Canary isn't "the next version" of Chrome, as some reports have it; it's the bleeding-edge development version that trades stability for new features.

Of course, those lucky few who will be receiving their new MacBook Pros early next week have other options for apps that aren't Retina-happy. Apple's provided a number of scaling options that will allow users to view a variety of apps and sites in the best possible light.

The regular build of Chrome will be Retina-happy pretty soon, though. Writing on the Google Chrome Blog, "Chief Apple Polisher" Nico Weber says that "We have further to go over the next few weeks, but we're off to the races to make Chrome as beautiful as it can be." There's a reason for that; despite the escalation in tensions between Apple and Google, a lot of Google employees use MacBooks.

[via Electronista]

Forthcoming Chrome browser update to support Retina display on MacBook Pro originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 14 Jun 2012 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An In-Depth Look at Yahoo’s new Axis Browser App


Search engine giant Google controls more than 65 percent of the U.S. search engine market, while poor Yahoo, powered by Microsoft’s Bing, lags behind with just a 15.59 percent share.

It’s tough to compete with Google, since it does everything that a search engine needs to do, but Yahoo is attempting to cut into Google’s market share with its newly released search engine/browser app and extension, Yahoo Axis.

Axis aims to steal some of Google’s popularity not with imitation, but by creating a new browsing experience. Axis is designed to be a visual browser, displaying search engine results as images instead of text.

When opening the iOS app, you’ll be taken to a simple browser with a search box. Entering a search term, such as “kittens,” will display snapshots of individual pages that come up in the search results. From there, you can scroll sideways to see more results (rather than up and down) and click on a page image to visit the website in full screen mode.

While in full screen mode, you can browse as normal, but you can also return to your search results at any time by swiping downwards, which is really handy. I love both the downward swipe to see immediate results and the side scrolling, but I did think that the interface was cluttered compared to text-based search results.

Despite the clunky interface, once you get used to the gestures and the buttons, it’s easy to browse in Yahoo Axis. You can create multiple tabs by tapping the tab button in the bottom left corner of the app, which allows you to browse more than one page at once. This actually works better than typical tabbing systems because you can quickly scroll through your tabbed webpages using the menu bar at the bottom of the screen.

The top of the browser has all of the standard browser tools, including a favorites list, a set of bookmarks, a read it later list, and a share button that allows you to link webpages to your favorite social networks. All of these tools make it easy to keep track of your favorite websites, so this is a fully featured browsing tool that could easily replace your current iOS browser.

Axis is the only mobile browser that syncs with your favorite desktop browser using the Yahoo Axis plug-in. The plug-in supports Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer, and with a Yahoo, Facebook, or Google+ account, you can log in to both the iOS app and the browser in order to keep track of your favorite websites on all of your devices.

With the browser extension and the app, you can begin reading an article on your PC and then pick up right where you left off using your iOS app. It keeps tabs of everything that you’re reading in real time for a seamless reading experience.

Yahoo Axis is a clever mobile browsing app that has the tools to give Google some serious competition. It’s fantastic if you like visual search results, and its website tracking and integration are unparalleled. Axis provides an amazing mobile browsing experience, and I suspect it will have many people switching to Yahoo search in no time, at least on their mobile devices.

What I liked: This app has navigation gestures that are intuitive and simple to use. It’s great for browsing multiple pages thanks to the ability to access both search results and tabs at any given moment with a simple swipe or tap.

What I didn’t like: The layout is cluttered, clunky, and not quite as visually appealing as other browsers. There’s also a definitive lack of privacy options, and Yahoo still needs to work on providing search results that are as relevant as Google’s search results.

To buy or not to buy: Yahoo Axis is free, and it’s definitely worth your time to download it and take a look to see if it suits your browsing habits.

App Name: Yahoo! Axis Version Reviewed: 1.0.1 Category: Productivity Developer:Yahoo! Price: Free Score:

Chrome for iPad and iPhone in the Works?


Google ChromeFor those looking for an alternative to using Safari for browsing the web, it may soon be an option to use Google’s Chrome web browser on all of your iOS devices. Of course, third-party web browsers seems doomed to fail.

While Apple does allow this software to be installed and used, they do not allow you to change your default web browser settings which means “all links in emails, texts or other apps will always open in Safari, regardless of what other browsers are installed.”

As I recall, this model did not work well for Microsoft all of those years ago (though it would appear Windows 8 does the same thing as happens on iOS by favoring Internet Explorer). Now, if only Google had their open mobile operating system where they should be able to make the rules…

While the idea of having options is always a nice one, I am struggling to think of a reason why a person would need to use Chrome over Safari on their iPhone or iPad. Certainly bookmarks can be synced between devices with both browsers, and Chrome does offer the ‘open tabs’ syncing which allows you to move from device to device without losing your browsing history and locations –but Apple is likely to add this functionality as well with the forward movement of the iCloud.

One speculation is that Chrome coming to iOS is actually good for Apple and I agree –as users see features in Chrome they will begin to demand them in Safari, driving their native web browser onward and upward.

For those who are a little more privacy conscious, you may want to do a little research on Chrome before you set to using it. Google has recently come under fire with allegations that they knowingly circumvented privacy settings in an effort to promote the use of their Google+ social network.

» Related posts: Google Releases Chrome Browser for Android, a Solid Mobile Safari Challenger New Magsafe and Headphones Connectors for iPad and iPhone in the Works? Get a Taste of Google Chrome on your iPad with iChromy

Protect yourself from being tracked by Google, Facebook, and others

There have been a lot of stories lately about websites trying all sorts of things to keep track of people and invade their privacy. First it was Facebook, and now Google.

I protect myself from Facebook tracking me by using a Fluid browser for Facebook. Because I paid the US$5 to register the app, I can use separate cookies from Safari.

Here's how I setup Facebook in Fluid. This is how I created the app:

Once the app is created, launch it, and separate the cookies from Safari:

And then set it so that any link off of Facebook will open in another browser (note: this is the default, you don't have to change anything to get it to do this):

Fluid for Google

I do a similar thing for Google, but it's actually more restrictive: no JavaScript and no cookies allowed:

No JavaScript means no Google instant, which I loathe, no little popup telling you they are changing their privacy policy.

The whitelist settings only let the browser bring me to Google sites, so any results I click on will open in my regular browser. I've been trying to get Google to open results in a new window for years and they always forget that setting.

You can also change the User Agent which is sent to Google, which can change the format of the results. For example, maybe you prefer the iPad (oh, I mean "tablet") format. You can get that by telling the Fluid app to report itself as an iPad:

Don't want a separate browser? How about a fast logout?

Maybe you don't want a separate browser, but want to make sure that Google isn't associating your searches with your Google login. Well, assuming that Google hasn't found another way to track you even when you aren't logged in, you can make a bookmark shortcut to make sure that you are always logged out before you do a Google search. Just bookmark this link https://accounts.google.com/Logout?hl=en&continue=http://www.google.com/ and click it whenever you want to do a Google search. Or drag this link to your bookmarks bar:

Safe Google Search

"But if I'm always logging out of Google, won't I have to keep logging in to check my Gmail?"

Logging out of Google is easy, but if you want to use Google services like Gmail or Google Voice, you'll probably want to be logged in. There are a couple of ways to work around that.

Option 1: Use a different browser for Google - If you usually use Safari for your regular browsing, use Google Chrome for Gmail, Google Voice, etc.

Option 2: Use Fluid or Mailplane for Gmail - I've been a Mailplane user since its days in beta, and it's my favorite way to use Gmail. Of course you could also use a Fluid browser instead.

Option 3: Use an app instead - This may be too obvious to even suggest, but there are good alternatives for using Google's services in a web browser. You can use Mail, Sparrow or Postbox instead of Gmail, or BusyCal instead of Google Calendar. I vastly prefer GrowlVoice to using Google Voice's website (although there are some Google Voice settings you can't access except through the website, but they aren't ones you'll probably use often).

Option 4: Log in to Google quickly using 1Password - If you use 1Password , you can make a "one click" bookmark for logging into Google/Gmail/Google Calendar/etc. Just drag the entry from 1Password to your the bookmark bar in your browser of choice. Brett Kelly did a nice write-up about that feature.

"I don't trust anyone! I want to delete everything!"

This seems like a huge overreaction, but in just a few minutes of casual web browsing, there are 44 websites which have stored cookies and other cache files on my computer. Are Google and Facebook the only companies out there doing nefarious things with tracking activity online, even if you've told Safari not to accept 3rd party cookies? That seems doubtful. Google and Facebook may be the largest companies, but probably not the only ones.

So maybe it isn't a terrible idea. The question is how to do it. If you try to disable cookies, caches, and everything else from within the browser, you'll find a lot of sites just don't work. Instead, it's probably easier to just let the browser work as designed, but then clean up after it. There are two ways to do this: the manual, GUI way, or the automatic, scripted way.

The manual, GUI way is to use the "Reset Safari..."

That option will bring up a whole host of "cleaning" options:

By default there's no keyboard shortcut for it, but you can make one in System Preferences

Mac OS X’s ‘QuarantineEvents’ keeps a log of all your downloads

Mac OS X users are familiar with warnings like the one shown here. Apple's "quarantine" has been in place for awhile, and it offers some minimal protection against accidentally opening files which have been downloaded from the Internet.

What most Mac OS X users probably don't know is that Mac OS X keeps a log of all files downloaded. Files are added to that log even if you are using "private" browsing in Safari or "incognito" in Google Chrome, and the log does not appear to ever be cleared.

Even so, Don't Panic: there is no evidence that this information is shared with Apple or anyone else. You do not need to be worried about Apple telling anyone that you torrented all of the episodes of Downton Abbey. The only one who has access to this information is anyone with access to your account.

However, some folks still might find that disconcerting. If you're one of them, you can find the log at ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.QuarantineEventsV2 on Lion or ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.QuarantineEvents on Snow Leopard (where "~" is the path to your home directory). If you upgraded your Mac from Snow Leopard to Lion, you might have both files.

The information is stored in an SQLite 3.x database, which means that you will need an SQLite editor to read the information (you can open it in TextEdit to get a general idea of what's in there, but it's not very easy on the eyes. --Ed). I have written a shell script showdownloads.sh which will dump the information in an easy-to-read format (note: my script excludes downloads from 'PubSubAgent' which I believe are just RSS feeds). Personally, I find this to be really handy as way to find things that I downloaded but can't remember where I found them.

Thanks to Ben Barnett for bringing this to our attention.

Mac OS X's 'QuarantineEvents' keeps a log of all your downloads originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Releases Chrome Browser for Android, a Solid Mobile Safari Challenger


Google ChromeThe good news for those of you running Ice Cream Sandwich is that Chrome for Android Beta was launched, nearly 4 years after Google’s initial release of their desktop Chrome browser.

This mobile version promises a focus on speed and simplicity while offering “seamless sign-in and sync so you can take your personalized web browsing experience with you wherever you go, across devices.”

While the iCloud can offer you bookmarks synced across all of your devices, Chrome for Android will actually keep tabs on all of your tabs –walk away from your desktop and the very same windows will be waiting for you on your Android tablet or smartphone (oh, and it does that bookmark thing too). Google even took it one step further. Once you are logged in on each device, your auto-complete suggestions will even persist saving you typing as much as the frustration of trying to remember things from past browsing sessions.

Other features of Chrome for Android make the design ideal for mobile devices. Link preview should help you to select your link from the virtual crowd by eliminating the “hunting and pecking for links on a web page by automatically zooming in on links to make selecting the precise one easier.” Privacy concerns are also front and center with this new browser, offering a number of user-configurable options as well as “incognito mode” that allow you to surf anonymously.

Other promises remain to be seen (and tried). Google claims that Chrome for Android will be more intuitive and the gestures more natural for browsing on a small screen. The more you swipe, the better you will feel as you avoid trying to tap, tap, tap your way to the proper place.

These new features are significant upgrades over the mobile version of Chrome offering core advantages like GPU acceleration and support for more HTML 5 elements; but don’t expect web apps, extensions or Flash Player to be working just yet (or ever, in the case of Flash).

Google has indicated that Chrome for Android will eventually become the stock browser on all builds of Android (above version 4, which is currently only run by 1% of users) as long as they are coming from OEM or Launch Partners. Those manufacturers taking advantage of the Open Source licensing (like Amazon chose to do with the Kindle Fire) will not be included –the upside is being able to brand their devices without including Google Apps and Google will also become the downside because you can’t pick and choose what’s included, it’s all or nothing.

For those of you unaware, Chrome is built using several pieces of open source software, including WebKit, a layout engine designed to allow web browsers to do their job by rendering web pages– the very same foundation used by Apple for Safari. Even more than that, WebKit has been developed and maintained as part of a group development effort led by Apple; a fact that I am sure brings a small smile across more than a few faces… along with a little concern, because if the features of Chrome for Android work anywhere near as well as advertised, Apple is going to need to step up.

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Removing Flash from your Mac

No Flash IllustrationBack in October, Apple shipped its first MacBook Air models without the Adobe Flash plug-in pre-installed. In the ensuing brouhaha, Ars Technica discovered Flash cut battery life by up to 33 percent on the MacBook Air and possibly other MacBook models. Personally, my MacBook often sounds like it's preparing for space flight when I visit pages that use Adobe's plug-in.

Whether you wish to conserve electricity, silence overactive cooling fans, boost the security of your browsing experience or protest against the use of media plug-ins, you can easily remove Adobe Flash from your Mac. Most often, the Flash plug-in can be found in the "Internet Plug-Ins" folder on your system's hard drive. To get there, switch to the Finder and select "Go to Folder..." from the "Go" menu. When prompted, enter "/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/" and click "Go" to switch to the appropriate location on your system.

Once you are in the "Internet Plug-Ins" directory, make a new folder called "Disabled Plug-Ins." Move the "Flash Player.plugin," "flashplayer.xpt" and "NP-PPC-Dir-Shockwave" files into your new "Disabled Plug-Ins" folder. Or if you really want to kill Flash, toss these files into the Trash. (Note: if you don't find these three files in "/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/" they may be hiding in "~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/".) The next time you relaunch Safari or Firefox, Flash will no longer be enabled.

If you need to view a Flash-enabled page in a pinch, you can install and launch Chrome. This Safari-alternative ships with a Flash plug-in embedded in the browser. You can also install OmniWeb or iCab and copy the Flash plug-in into the browser's plug-in folder. For OmniWeb, right-click on the OmniWeb application and choose "Show Package Contents" to reveal the PlugIns folder. Copy the Flash plug-in to the folder, and you should be good to go. iCab does not contain a PlugIns folder, but you can create one yourself and copy over the Flash plug-in manually.

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Removing Flash from your Mac originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 12 May 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Use AppleScript to open current Safari URL in Google Chrome

I've been using John Gruber's suggestions from Going Flash-Free on Mac OS X, and How to Cheat When You Need It to avoid installing Adobe Flash by using Google Chrome (which includes its own version of Flash) whenever I run into a page that has Flash I want to see.

To make this easier, John suggested turning on the "Develop menu" in Safari's "Advanced" preferences, which includes a sub-menu to "Open Page With" and a sub-sub-menu that shows all of your installed browsers. John suggested using System Preferences to create a keyboard shortcut for "Google Chrome" or "Google Chrome.app" depending on which one you saw in the menu.

Unfortunately, this failed for me quite often. Every time I launched Safari, the keyboard shortcut would not work until I had opened that menu manually using the mouse. I hate using the mouse. After opening the menu, the keyboard shortcut would work until I quit Safari again. That was mildly annoying, but things recently took a turn for the worse.

Here's what the menu looks like for me now:

Notice that the browser listings now include version numbers. This means that a keyboard shortcut would have to include the version number, which means it would break whenever the browser is updated.

I asked a few folks, and it appears this changed in Safari 5.0.4. I haven't been able to find a way to revert to the old behavior, so I started looking for another way.

Continue reading Use AppleScript to open current Safari URL in Google Chrome

Use AppleScript to open current Safari URL in Google Chrome originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Safari used to hijack MacBook Pro at Pwn2Own 2011

A flaw in WebKit, the engine that underlies Safari, Mobile Safari, and several other browsers, was found to be vulnerable in this year's "Pwn2Own" competition, as reported by ZDNet and many others. This is noteworthy for several reasons: first, because the exploit did not use Flash. You will remember that last year's Pwn2Own winner stated "the main thing is not to install Flash" for browser security. Secondly, it is important because WebKit is used not only by Safari but several other browsers, notably several mobile browsers, although it is not immediately apparent whether this same bug could be exploited on a mobile platform. It's also possible that the exploit could make Windows and even Linux computers vulnerable if they are running a WebKit-based browser, but details are not fully known.

Computerworld noted that Google's $20,000 reward for anyone who could break into Chrome on opening day went unclaimed, as the contestant who had signed up did not appear at the Pwn2Own contest. It is unknown whether Google paid to have him assassinated (that's a joke folks, lighten up). Computerworld went on to note that according to the current schedule no one is even going to try to attack Chrome this year, meaning that it could survive a record three consecutive Pwn2Own contests. That is particularly surprising to me since Google Chrome includes its own version of Adobe Flash, but if you're looking to use the most secure browser out there, Google Chrome looks to be your browser of choice.

[via Slashdot]

Safari used to hijack MacBook Pro at Pwn2Own 2011 originally appeared on TUAW on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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