Google released Chrome 76

[German]Google has released the Google Chrome browser version 76. The new version blocks Flash by default, blocks the detection and deactivation of Incognito mode and brings improvements to PWAs. It also closes vulnerabilities.

Chrome update to version 76.0.3809.87

The announcement in the Chromium blog is rather short. It is only announced that Chrome Browser version 76.0.3809.87 (for Android build 76.0.3809.89, see the comment) is available for the desktop (Linux, macOS and Windows). For Android, the update will be rolled out in the Google Play Store in the coming weeks. The update potentially affects 1 billion users. The changes documented on the Chromium page are hard to follow. The article New in Chrome 76 by Peter LePage goes into more detail about the changes.

Fixed vulnerabilities

Within this document Google lists closed vulnerabilities in Google Chrome 76. Five of these vulnerabilities are rated 'High', while others are rated 'Medium'. Critical vulnerabilities closed in Chrome 76 include PDF viewing, audio playback, access to offline pages, and file system access.

Adobe Flash is blocked by default

At the beginning of 2020 Adobe will stop supporting its Flash technology (see Fake News: Flash is dead? Now it's fading out is planned 2020). Google has therefore taken small steps in Chrome browser to deactivate Flash. As early as 2015, 'unimportant' Flash content was paused. Starting in 2016, Chrome blocked Flash content running in the background. Instead, it switched to HTML5.

If a web page with Flash content was called, the browser asked whether Flash may be activated. Starting with version 76, the Google Chrome browser continues by blocking the execution of Adobe Flash content embedded in web pages by default. However, users can still enable Flash manually in the settings (go to the settings menu, then search for Flash – there is an entry under website settings).

Incognito mode no longer detectable

In Google Chrome, you can open a new incognito window or a tab where no information such as cookies, history, etc. is stored permanently. This prevents the surfing history from being saved.

Chrome Incognito mode has been detectable for years, due to the FileSystem API implementation. As of Chrome 76, this is fixed.
Apologies to the "detect private mode" scripts out there. pic.twitter.com/3LWFXQyy7w

— Paul Irish (@paul_irish) June 11, 2019

Websites therefore try to detect this incognito mode and block the display of content. This worked via a File System API. Google has now put a stop to this recognition of the incognito mode. In the tweet above, someone showed how this works weeks ago.

Improvements in PWAs

The Chrome Browser 76 article also mentions improvements to Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). For Web pages that offer a PWA, an icon appears on the right side of the address field. The animated word Install will briefly inform the user about the possibility to install the PWA. A video can be viewed here. There is also more control over the PWA Mini Info bar. Some information about these changes can also be found in this article.

More information and changes

Web pages can query the detection of the dark mode set by the user. Then a web page can react to this setting. Some information about these changes can also be found in this Venturebeat article. A list of the features removed in Chrome 76 or declared obsolete by Google is listed in this article. The Chrome 76 is available for Windows, Mac and Linux and will be updated in the next few days/weeks via auto-update. You can download it here.