Tag Archives: GoogleChrome

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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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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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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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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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.

Continue reading Removing Flash from your Mac

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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