Additional Terms for Extensions for Google Chrome. 20.1 These terms in this section apply if you install extensions on your copy of Google Chrome.
While Google isn’t interested in Microsoft Store, and the company has until now tried to stay away from Microsoft’s app push, but given the new features of Windows 10, Google has no option than to embrace the necessary features. Google recently revealed that they are planning to implement support for native notification in Chrome browser on Windows 10 devices.
Windows 10 adoption is growing and Google has no other option than to embrace the key features of the operating system. Action Center is one of the most useful and highly appreciated features in Windows 10. Google is rolling out a new update to Chrome Canary with support for the notification system.
Google’s decision to integrate Chrome into Windows 10’s Action Center could help the company in the long run. You can subscribe to Chrome’s Push Notification for Gmail or Outlook to receive the notifications on the Action Center, just like how you receive a notification on your Windows Phone or Android phone.
No ETA for the stable version has been provided and there’s no official announcement at this point, but Google recently explained the feature on the Chromium bug tracking system. This feature basically allows Google Chrome to send a push notification and it would appear on the Action Center just like a UWP app notification. Google Chrome is actually one of the first browsers that is essentially paving the way for native Windows 10 notifications.
“This allows the user to manually opt into using Windows native notifications instead of Chrome’s version of the notifications. Note: This flag is ignored on versions of Windows old enough not to support native notifications,” Google Chromium engineer Finnur Thorarinsson explained in a blog post.
Native notification support could be offered on Windows 8.1 as well, but since it does not have an Action Center, the feature would not work properly. It might take a while until notification support Google Chrome stable arrives on Windows 10 as Google needs to test the feature and its reliability with Canary users. The feature will soon make its way to Chrome dev, beta, and stable builds.
Since the launch of Android P in March, there has been a lot of discussion about Google’s future design direction. Falling under the general banner of “Material Design 2,” that possible “refresh” is now live in the latest version of Chrome Canary for Windows.
After enabling the corresponding experimental flag and restarting, users will notice that the browser’s top chrome has been refreshed.
Against the dark gray background, tabs lose their current slanted and sharp appearance for a very rounded and bulbous look that’s inline with Google’s current move to more rounded UI elements.
This is further evidenced by the rounded Omnibar, with the address bar design already in testing on Android. Hovering over the ‘Secure’ lock reveals an equally pill-shaped button. This along with the rounded Omnibar reflects similar work in the Google app and other services like Search.
As part of this new design, the ‘plus’ button to open a New Tab has been moved to the far-left on Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS, while remaining on the far-right for macOS. Other changes revealed in a series of slides posted to Chromium reveal upcoming details about a floating effect for the Omnibar dropdown when text is entered and other prompts like permission dialogs.
Lastly, the account avatar icon has been moved to the toolbar just next to the address bar. So far, this is the extent of the “refresh,” with many other interface elements are unchanged as Google works to update everything to match the new direction.
This flag and new design is currently available in Chrome Canary (version 68) for Windows, and not the Mac counterpart. Once installed, visit the following flag and enable the “refresh” option from the dropdown:
chrome://flags/#top-chrome-md
Install Google Chrome Canary
UI Layout for the browser’s top chrome
Google Chrome Canary Windows 10
Toggles between 1) Normal – for clamshell devices, 2) Hybrid (previously touch) – middle point for devices with a touch screen, 3) Touchable – new unified interface for touch and convertibles (Chrome OS) and 4) Material Design refresh. – Mac, Windows, Linux, Chrome OS
A look at the updated Material Design spec on Chromium (spotted by Owen on Twitter) refers to the current iteration of Chrome’s design as “M1” and the likely new one as “GM2.” The document notes that toolbar iconography does not change between the two versions, but the corner radius on highlight buttons do.
Google Chrome Canary Windows 7
However, unlike the one for Secure that we spotted above, it remains a rounded square but with more of a curvature. There are also guidelines about spacing and color.
Ultimately, it’s unclear whether this is the “MD2” refresh previously hinted at by a Googler earlier this year or if that’s even the final name for the initiative, much less the public-facing one. In Chromium, this project is officially named “MdRefresh” with no number appended to it. We’ll likely see more as the year progresses and especially as we head into I/O 2018.
Dylan contributed to this article